Erin VanLanduit is head of corporate ventures at Cargill, a multinational food and agriculture company. Having joined the company in 2021, she helped establish the unit when Cargill shifted from each business unit making its own startup investments to a centralised strategy.
Since then, Cargill has made around 40 investments, including Israel-based cellular agricultural developer Aleph Farms, which raised $105m in a series B round in 2021; Grão Direto, a digital commodity trading platform, which raised an $8m series A in 2022; and Cocuus, a manufacturer of industrial machinery for plant-based meat alternatives, which raised $2.7m in a pre-series A round in 2022.
She helped establish the unit when Cargill shifted from each business unit making its own startup investments to a centralised strategy.
The Cargill CVC team invests in food and agtech, IT, life sciences and clean technology sectors. Recent investments include backing the growth-stage funding round of Enough, a UK-based startup producing mycoprotein.
Before joining Cargill, VanLanduit managed Tyson Ventures’ $150m investment fund, CVC team and portfolio company partnerships. She was also previously a director in New Ventures at SC Johnson, a US-based manufacturer of household cleaning supplies.
She has had a long career across the food industry, having also worked at Canada-based frozen food distributor McCain Foods, as well as at US-based food manufacturing company Kraft Foods and US-based beverage manufacturer Terlato Wine Group.
VanLanduit attended The United States Military Academy at West Point where she graduated with a degree in legal systems, with a focus in nuclear engineering and has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
VanLanduit sits on the boards of several of Cargill’s portfolio companies. She is a veteran of the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist, having been included in 2020, 2022 and 2023.