Netherlands-based venture capital firm Anterra Capital has pulled in $175m for an initial close of its second food and agriculture technology fund with commitments from pharmaceutical firm Novo and agriculture focused-bank Rabobank.
Anterra F&A Ventures II’s other limited partners include investment and financial services group Fidelity’s Eight Roads Ventures unit, investment group Tattarang and unspecified family offices, sovereign wealth funds and state-owned investment vehicles.
Rabobank committed capital to the fund through corporate venture capital unit,Rabo Investments. The VC firm expects to hold a final close for the fund in the third quarter of 2021.
Anterra is focused on early-stage technology companies operating in sectors such as agriculture, food production and animal health.
The firm was spun off by Rabo Investments in 2013 with funding from Fidelity subsidiary Moonray Investors and is still backed by Rabobank and Eight Roads Ventures. It raised a $75m extension for its flagship fund, in 2018, which then totalled $200m.
Adam Anders, managing partner of Anterra Capital, said: “With the first close, we continue our mission to sustainably transform our food economy, building on our leadership position as an early-stage investor in markets such as plant and animal health, while actively expanding our investment activity across the food and agriculture value chain.”