US-based, agriculture-focused investment and digital media platform AgFunder intends to launch two venture capital funds and an accelerator in Singapore in 2019, chief investment officer Michael Dean has told DealStreetAsia.
All three are set to begin operations in Q3 2019. The accelerator will involve a 12-week schedule and will admit between eight and 10 startups in each cohort, divided equally between agriculture and food technology.
The first fund will be equipped with $12m of capital to support participants in the accelerator, and will provide up to $100,000 for a 5-8% stake in each startup.
The second fund will have between $30m and $50m and will make follow-on investments in the two to four most promising startups in each batch, supplying $500,000 to $2m in seed to series B rounds.
Areas of interest for AgFunder in Southeast Asia include nutrition, animal health products, alternative sources of protein, aquaculture and technologies that can facilitate indoor or small-plot farming.
Dean said: “There is a lot of good research in Singaporean universities. We want to support that and fund startups in the commercialisation phase. We also want to be able to identify the best tech from wherever it is in the world, and allow those companies to launch in [Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries] from a Singapore base.”
