February 19, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

The Trendlines Agrifood Fund has made its first investment, committing $1.6 million of a $10 million Series B raised by seed breeder Equinom. The round was led by BASF Venture Capital, and also included existing investors Israeli private equity fund Fortissimo Capital, and Roquette, a leader in the global plant-based ingredients sector. 

“This investment round has been highly successful and combines financial investors as well as strategic investors, as well as VCs from multiple regions around the world,” said Gil Shalev, CEO, Equinom. “It will accelerate Equinom’s expansion globally and allow us to build talent and infrastructure to better serve our clients locally. Already, we have enjoyed phenomenal sales growth across four continents in 2019.”

Founded in Givat Brenner, Israel, in 2012, Equinom is a computational breeding company in the process of developing a full portfolio of non-GMO legumes that have 50 percent more protein content that current varieties on the market. The company is working to shape the future of plant protein through its development of smarter seeds that are more nutritious and offer higher protein and oil content compared to commercial varieties. By using fast-track, technology-driven breed methodology that harnesses the natural genetic variety in plants, Equinom is able to breed seeds with highly-valued characteristics and organoleptic properties by leveraging traditional crossbreeding with computational genetic algorithms.

Global protein consumption is expected to climb at a CAGR of 1.7 percent, reaching 943 million tons by 2054, according to Lux Research. Over this same time period, alternative plant-based protein sources are forecast to command up to one-third of the protein market as they fill the void created by slowing growth in meat and seafood production. To accomplish this, technology will be a major driver and key factor in realizing change and growth in the global food industry, creating a window of opportunity for the Trendlines Agrifood Fund. 

As the first company to design seeds exclusively for the food industry, the success of Equinom’s business is reflected in the fact that it has become the preferred global supplier of sesame seeds, by creating varieties that can be mechanically harvested, and has a high-protein pea variety in the pipeline for release in 2021.

“Equinom will continue working with plant-based food ingredients and food companies to help create tasty, ‘cleaner’ plant-based applications,” said Shalev. “We already have clients producing products with our smart grains, which provide higher quality, improved nutritional values, and lower production costs.”

The Fund

This is the maiden investment for the Trendlines Agrifood Fund. Launched in October 2019 with an anchor of $22 million, the Fund serves as the foundation of Trendline’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, investing in local innovative agtech startups, as well as in foreign agrifood companies.

The $22 million in conditional commitments, which includes commitments previously announced in July of last year, were invested by Temasek, a sovereign holding company of Singapore; Librae Holdings, an entity connected to Vincent Tchenguiz, a UK-based billionaire; and an unnamed investor from Southeast Asia.

“We are excited to have Temasek, Librae Holdings, and the additional investor investing with us in the new fund,” said Steve Rhodes, chairman and CEO of Trendlines, in October 2019. “All of these groups are deeply experienced, active investors which will bring us strategic value, as well as financial backing. We are equally pleased to be able to start the Fund’s investment activities in Singapore and around the world.”

“The growing awareness of the impact of the agrifood industry on climate change is going to be a major driver for innovation in the coming years…” said Rhodes, “… and the need for technological solutions is a critical component and represents a big opportunity for the Fund.”

This sentiment was echoed this week by key fund investor and British entrepreneur Vincent Tchenguiz, who said, “Investing in more sustainable food production systems that mitigate climate change is paramount in tackling the challenges of this century caused by climate change.”

He continues, “Our investment in Trendlines and in the Agrifood Fund represents our firm belief in the potential of technologies in the agrifood portfolio to have a profound positive impact on the global food production footprint. This comes at a time when our plant’s environment is changing so dramatically and the need for sustainable solutions in the production of food is so great.”  

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.