US-based processing company Hormel Foods’s corporate venturing unit has committed to Green Circle Foodtech Ventures as an anchor investor.
Hormel’s 199 Ventures backed the new ventures fund, which is targeting $25m, from investment manager Green Circle Capital Partners.
Bryan Kreske, general manager of 199 Ventures, told Food Business News: “Since committing to invest in the fund, we are looking forward to the many areas of investment, including alternative protein and plant-based foods.”
Managed by Stu Strumwasser, Green Circle Foodtech Ventures will back seed and series A investments in food technology enterprises. Green Circle had co-led the seed round of The Better Meat Co., a producer of mycelium-based protein, in 2019 and which has now struck a partnership with Hormel.
Hormel has been increasingly active working with startups and is part of VC firm Bread & Butter’s Innovation Circle, an innovation initiative made up of 17 corporations with a presence in Minnesota.
