Kirsten Stead and John Hamer of Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV), the strategic investment arm of agribusiness Monsanto, are set to co-manage a $250m fund for venture capital firm Data Collective (DCVC).
US-based DCVC concentrates on investments in seed and series A-stage companies looking to apply technologies such as deep computing, big data and IT infrastructure to large traditional industries.
The fund in question, DCVC Bio, has a $250m target, according to a securities filing on Friday, and is yet to raise any capital. Its focus will be on companies that fuse artificial intelligence with biotechnology, according to Axios.
Axios reported on Friday that Hamer, MGV’s managing director, and Stead, its investment director had departed from MGV, though the unit’s website still lists both as part of its team. Neither are included as team members on DCVC’s site.
Hamer and Stead will be joined on the fund by two other general partners, Zachary Bogue and Matthew Ocko, Data Collective’s co-founders and managing partners.
DCVC’s past and present portfolio companies include social media company Facebook, ride hailing platform Uber, digital payment technology provider Square, mobile game producer Zynga and domain name provider VeriSign.