Tnuva, an Israel-based food producer majority-owned by Chinese peer Bright Food, has set up its corporate venture capital fund.
Jacob Heen, deputy CEO and chief financial officer at Tnuva, will lead Tnuva Next alongside Shay Cohen, Tnuva’s chief innovation officer.
Tnuva Next formalises its NIS30m ($9.3m) invested last year in startups. The company said it expected to invest about the same amount this year, according to Times of Israel report.
Tnuva has invested in Israeli cultured milk company Remilk and sugar reduction company Blue Tree.
Eyal Malis, CEO at Tnuva, said: “Establishing the fund is part of the group strategy to invest in companies synergetic to Tnuva’s core fields that will produce value while acquiring production and marketing rights. We are looking to invest in protein substitutes companies abroad as well.”
Tnuva already operates the Fresh Start incubator with local beverage company Tempo, crowd-funding firm OurCrowd, and investment firm Finistere. The incubator has eight food tech startups, including one that is developing cell-cultured fish and two that are working on sugar reduction technologies.
Last month, Tnuva partnered with biotech firm Pluristem Therapeutics to launch a startup that will develop lab-grown beef.
Tnuva said the incubator was expected to back about 40 startups in the next few years.
