June 29, 2016

Global financial services provider and leading agriculture, food, and beverage investment bank, Rabobank, has partnered with San Francisco-based technology campus, RocketSpace to launch Terra, an accelerator dedicated to the agtech and food industries.

“Companies around the world are responding to an industry that must adapt to tremendous change, from new consumer preferences on one end to a heightened need to feed more people with nutritious food from fewer resources,” said Rabobank North America Wholesale CEO Rajiv Singh in a recent press release. “Increasing access to food, enhancing stability in the global food value chain and improving nutrition are critical pillars of Rabobank’s global Banking for Food strategy, and we think the innovations and technologies that we’ll uncover through this accelerator will move the needle.”

The venture will combine RocketSpace’s global tech and startup networks with Rabobank’s leadership and expertise in the agribusiness and food sectors to create a first of its kind program fostering open innovation between corporations and startups. Housed in RocketSpace’s existing San Francisco location, Terra aims to spark cross-industry innovation by bringing together disruptive startups with cutting-edge food and agriculture corporations through its dedicated product validation program to create a ‘new standard for food and agriculture” according to Terra.

Terra Accelerator joins a series of other recent accelerator launches in the agtech space. Finistere Ventures, Cloud Break Advisors and an alliance of industry leaders that includes Bayer, DuPont and leading Israeli venture capital firm OurCrowd launched the $15 million accelerator fund, Radicle, at Global AgInvesting’s AgTech Week. While May saw the launch of AgTech Accelerator™ with an initial close of $11.5 million, which was led by Alexandria Venture Investments, the venture arm of real estate investment trust, and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. Other investors include some of the leading and most prominent agricultural firms and venture investors in the space such as Bayer, Syngenta Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, Mountain Group Capital, Harris & Harris Group Inc., and Papas Capital.

Setting it apart from existing accelerators, Terra’s eight-week program is a total immersion endeavor, through which participants will be able to witness their product evolve beyond a proof of concept to commercial viability with real-time feedback. Participants will have access to a commercial test kitchen, and exposure to corporate partners for potential investment opportunities, while the program’s production validation phase will provide pilot testing with collaborators.

“Rather than limit innovation to within their four walls, forward-thinking brands are building an ecosystem of collaborators – big and small,” said Duncan Logan, Founder and CEO of RocketSpace. “It’ll be fascinating to see this diverse group come together and build real-life solutions to address tomorrow’s food and agriculture needs.”

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Lynda Kiernan