October 20, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Paris-based Five Seasons Ventures has announced the final close of their second food tech fund at EUR 180 million (US$210 million). Representative of how food tech continues to mature as an investment channel, this fund more than doubles the size of Five Seasons’ first fund that closed at EUR 77 million (US$90 million). 

Food tech in Europe is booming, with EUR 3 billion (US$3.5 billion) invested in the space in 2020 alone, according to the State of European Food Tech report released in March 2021. This demand has only been compounded over the past year or more due to the global pandemic, which in turn has raised health consciousness among consumers to new highs. 

“Food and Food Tech have the possibility to affect two of the most pressing issues of our time –  climate change and human health,” said Niccolò Manzoni, co-founding partner, Five Seasons Ventures. “With this new fund, we continue to focus our attention on food companies that make healthier and cleaner products, that are manufactured and packaged more sustainably, with shorter supply chains and fewer emissions.”

Participating in Series A and B rounds, this fund, like its predecessor, is targeting the highest-potential EU food tech companies with a focus on fast-growing consumer foods that incorporate quantifiable environmental or social impacts into their business model.

Five Seasons is aiming to prove that food tech startups can achieve the same rate of growth and scale as traditional tech startups – and they’re not off the mark. The portfolio companies of the company’s Fund I have achieved combined revenue of EUR 350 million (US$408 million) in 2021 – more than a 20x rate of growth since 2017 (with half of the companies not even yet in existence in 2017).

“There’s no doubt that Food Tech is experiencing a boom in Europe right now,” said Ivan Farneti, co-founding partner, Five Seasons Ventures. “When we launched Five Seasons in 2018, we were the first VC to focus on Food Tech in Europe, and we believe we contributed to making this an attractive asset class. Fund II was quickly oversubscribed as more investors wanted to get exposed to European food tech, seeking high growth and impact.”

High growth and impact are exactly what Five Seasons’ portfolio is achieving. The firm is a backer of This – the top challenger brand of plant-based meat alternatives in the UK; Butternut Box – the first direct-to-consumer maker of fresh dog food in the EU; and Air-Up, the fastest growing food tech company in the EU that makes reusable water bottles that create flavors using retro-nasal scent. This company alone has posted revenue of EUR 100 million in less than two years. 

All together, Five Seasons has invested in 14 companies across Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, and the UK. However, four investments have been made through Fund II to-date:

• her1 – a female wellness company providing probiotic supplements
• Vly – a pea-based protein alternative dairy company
• Barkyn  – producer of customizable dog foods
• And, The Nu Company – makers of vegan, reduced sugar, organic, and high-protein foods. 

As demand grows, Five Seasons has also grown, and is now a team of nine, with the latest addition being a Head of Impact and Sustainable Investing who works alongside the investment team, and supporting portfolio companies to quantify and enhance the positive impacts generated from their businesses.

These goals and benchmarks have been released in the company’s recently published 2020 Impact Report, which outlines the dedication of its portfolio companies to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Five Seasons’ leadership in this process through its practice sharing, scientific reporting, and counseling.

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.