FLORA Ventures has announced the launch of its $80M fund with a first closing amount of $50M, marking the largest ever initial closing by a new Israeli VC fund in 2023 across all tech investment sectors, according to data from IVC. The fund represents a significant boost to early-stage start-ups in the AgriFood sector from two of the world’s leading ecosystems, Israel and Europe.
The fund, the largest Israeli-based AgriFood VC, aims to nurture start-ups focused on building a healthier, more sustainable, and resilient AgriFood system, while aiding their efforts to scale on a global level. Uniquely, the fund is the first VC to engage the Israeli Kibbutzim, pioneers of innovative agriculture, as anchor investors and partners.
FLORA Ventures was co-founded by Gil Horsky, a previous Mondelēz executive and a global AgriFood ecosystem leader, and Esther Barak-Landes, a seasoned VC investor and co-founder of Nielsen’s investment arm and incubator. In just four months, the duo identified opportunities to address technology gaps such as food security, digitalization, sustainable agriculture, and food as medicine, securing funding to tackle these pressing issues.
The fund’s inaugural round included strategic partnerships with the likes of Sadot Kibbutzim, a cooperative of over 185 Kibbutzim producing agricultural output worth over $3B and exported to more than 100 countries. The cooperative offers the fund’s portfolio exclusive access to agricultural land, production capabilities, and expertise for initial proof of concept and technology scaling.
Notable anchor investors in the first closing include leading Family Offices and companies such as Haifa Group, a global leader in plant nutrition and special fertilizers, and Harel Group, Israel’s largest insurance and finance group with over $100B AUM. These partnerships provide FLORA Ventures a blend of industry expertise and financial acumen.
Co-founders Horsky and Barak-Landes believe that the ongoing global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the climate crisis, emphasize the urgent need for funds like FLORA Ventures to accelerate innovation in the $8T AgriFood industry.
They drew on their respective backgrounds – Horsky’s leadership roles in multinational food companies like Mondelēz, PepsiCo, and Kraft Foods, and Barak-Landes’s experience in disruptive tech start-up investment – to create the fund.
FLORA Ventures has already made its first investment in Arrakis Bio, an Israeli start-up in stealth mode, which is developing a technology poised to transform the production and utilization of high-quality, pure, animal-free human collagen and gelatin.
