September 14, 2016

Chicago-based S2G Ventures has led a $6 million Series A round of funding for Blue Prairie Brands, a functional food producer specializing in the manufacturing of gluten-free chicory flour.

Additional investors in the round include Middleland Capital, DSM Venturing B.V., Invest Nebraska, and an unnamed strategic venture fund.

“Completion of an oversubscribed Series A reflects investor recognition of consumer demand for whole-food and natural methods of enhancing nutrition and texture in foods,” said David Woodburn, CEO of Blue Prairie Brands.

Blue Prairie Brands focuses on the production of functional foods that have applications in dietary fiber markets. The company focuses on the production of a gluten free flour made from chicory – a knobby root that is in the sunflower family and a relative of bitter endive and radicchio.

With 80% total fiber, chicory has the highest content of inulin fiber – a prebiotic known to improve gut health, of all cultivated fiber crops according to the company website. However, common chicory varieties are too bitter to be milled into flour. Using proprietary methods and varieties, Blue Prairie mills a vegan, non-gluten chicory flour that is somewhat sweet and offers drop-in replacement potential for traditional starches and added sugars in foods such as breads, pastas, and cookies.

“Fantastically nutritious by itself, our chicory flour serves as the missing link in many gluten-free and ‘free-from’ foods by contributing nutrition, texture, and extended freshness,” said Woodburn.

“Food is the Cheapest Drug”

Lead investor, Chicago-based S2G Ventures launched last year with a “soil to shelf” investment mission and $125 million in capital, making it the largest multi-stage good and ag venture fund in the country.

Co-founded by its three managing directors, Victor E. Friedberg, who was himself a co-founder of the Launch accelerator, Sanjeev Krishnan, formerly with CLSA Capital and the Global Environment Fund, and Chuck Templeton, the founder and former chief executive of Open Table, S2G is a multi-stage venture fund that is targeting and seeking out investment opportunities not only within the ag and food sectors, but with companies that understand what consumers want – exceptional nutrition, organic ingredients, a high level of transparency, and local production. The fund will also pursue investments in innovative companies involved in soil health and land management, controlled environment food production, healthy food retail outlets, and food storage, distribution and transportation systems.

Blue Prairie joins S2G’s portfolio of nine existing companies including plant-based meat alternative company, Beyond Meat, healthy food shopping app, Shopwell, soil health company, Midwestern BioAg, live and fresh-cut herb company, Shenandoah Growers, food processing platform that uses mushroom technology to improve the taste and functionality of foods, MycoTechnology, 100% grass-fed and organic dairy and yogurt company, Maple Hill Creamery, health food endeavor, Sweetgreen, online marketplace and data subscription service for organic and non-GMO commodities, Mercaris, and bio-chemical developer, Terramera.

Discussing the trends that drive the firm’s investment decisions, managing partner, Sanjeev Krishnan told GAI News, “The discussion is going beyond organic and GMO, or non-GMO,” adding that the health food industry is venturing into personalized nutrition and micro-nutrients and health insurance companies are increasingly incentivizing healthy diets and preventative measures.

“Food is the cheapest drug,” he says.

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Lynda Kiernan