Natural Ventures Announces First Close of $100m fund to address food and water security globally.

Summary

• Natural Ventures, a venture capital fund with offices in the UAE and the Netherlands, completed the first close to focus on global food and water security.
• The fund is backed by investors, including HELM AG, a strategic UAE investor, and Chemovateq, a Swiss-based family office.
• The fund launches with an existing portfolio of four companies and a strong pipeline of opportunities globally.

July 23,2024 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Natural Ventures, an impact-focused venture capital fund that addresses global food and water security, is pleased to announce the first close of its inaugural fund.

Natural Ventures takes an impact-driven approach to investing in and supporting the drive towards a more sustainable future and stable climate by focusing on high-technology solutions. Addressing the interconnected challenges of climate change, population growth, and the transformation of water and food systems, the fund aims to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, healthy, and economical food and water supply.

The team, comprised of seasoned investors with an excellent track record, experienced water and food experts, entrepreneurs, and leadership developers, invests in scalable technologies with proven commercial traction that directly impact water and food security.

The fund selected Abu Dhabi and the ADGM as its headquarters due to the region's strategic importance in food and water. The recent launch of the AgriFood Growth and Water Abundance (AGWA) cluster, led by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), shows the region's commitment and is expected to result in USD 34 billion of investment by 2045.

Natural Ventures anchor investors include Helm AG of Germany, Chemovateq, a Swiss-based family office, and a strategic UAE investor.

Stephan Schnabel, Chairman and CEO of Helm, comments, “As a business, Helm is always actively looking to find partners that enable the growth of new technologies that address the challenges our customers face and to support companies that provide enabling technology platforms and products to future-proof our customer businesses. Our investment in the Natural Ventures fund reflects our commitment to addressing these future needs and is another excellent example of our commitment to growing through partnerships.

The fund benefits from close strategic partnerships with two global sector specialists. AgBioScout, the world's leading global Agtech scouting and advisory company with deep technical AgTech sector knowledge,  and Isle Utilities, the world’s leading innovation consultancy specialising in the development and commercialisation of emerging technologies in the water & environmental sectors, provide the fund with unique market access and due diligence capabilities.

Stephen Pearce - Co-founder and Managing Partner of Chemovateq, commented - “Between AgBioScout with its broad sector knowledge in Agriculture, Isle with its sector expertise in Water and its global footprint and Chemovateq with its associated knowledge and networks, we collectively have a level of sector expertise, resource and experience with networks of scale that is truly unique and positions this fund to be a best in class investment proposition for all participants. “

Mark Jenkins, a Managing Partner of Natural Ventures, added, "As an impact-driven team, Natural Ventures welcomes our exceptionally strong strategic investors and leading AgTech and water industry partners to our collaborative investment model. Our combined strengths and alignment of purpose are striking as we look to invest in exceptional management teams with innovative solutions to solve global issues of water and food security. We look forward to working together to support our portfolio companies."

Natural Ventures Fund I launches with an initial portfolio of four leading technology companies, including Active Membranes, Brevel, Constellr, and N-Drip, and a strong pipeline of new investments.