FoodTech & AgTech Venture Capital with a Purpose
Fixing a Broken Food System
Our food system is failing—stressing planetary boundaries, constraining producer economics, facing lost trust and relevance with consumers, and enabling chronically unhealthy western diets while leaving many people around the world undernourished. Yet food is the single strongest lever to optimize environmental sustainability, population health and life on earth. Germin8 Ventures is a leading FoodTech & AgTech venture capital firm, partnering with bold and brilliant founders actively driving a 21st century food system upgrade.
Featured Founder Stories
Brightseed
Jim Flatt, Sofia Elizondo, and Lee Chae are an accomplished, multidisciplinary team with the shared belief that human health will benefit from dramatic leaps in knowledge about the natural world. They founded Brightseed™ to leverage the vast capabilities of computational intelligence and unlock the mysteries of 99.9% of unresearched small molecules in the plant kingdom. These small molecules, or phytonutrients, have the power to transform today’s foods and beverages into proven sources of health.
“Brightseed was born from the belief that we need a natural and proactive approach to health, and that the hidden nutrients of plants that we can incorporate into our diets are the first place we should look.”
“The concept of food as medicine isn’t new, but it’s largely anecdotal and under-delivers. At Brightseed, we can actually translate food into medicine and are working to not only turn the healthcare paradigm on its head—to full-on prevention through what we eat—but also reinvigorate the entire supply chain.”
“Germin8 has been an unwavering partner to Brightseed from the early days in our journey. Working hand-in-hand and contributing to customer introductions, investor introductions, research needs and strategic discussions, it has been invaluable to have them as part of our team.”
Bushel
Bushel® co-founders, Jake Joranstaad and Ryan Raguse, are technologists with roots in agriculture, are in-touch with system needs, are authentic community-builders and they have a clear vision to be the digital thread that connects and enhances business operations across the agriculture value chain.
“Bushel has taken on the worthy challenge of connecting disjointed systems in the grain industry so that we can provide better business intelligence to farmers and agribusinesses. A unique combination of generation-spanning agricultural knowledge and deep technology expertise throughout our organization has helped Bushel bring industry-changing software to agriculture.”
“The Germin8 team is a trusted Bushel partner. Their guidance and access to resources allow us to move quickly and make things happen within the agtech industry. Germin8 opens doors, provides guidance and challenges us to do more than what we thought was possible. Most importantly, their hands-on, positive approach aligns with Bushel’s cultural values and helps us accelerate our digital offerings to the global agriculture value chain.”
Bushel
Bushel® co-founders, Jake Joranstaad and Ryan Raguse, are technologists with roots in agriculture, are in-touch with system needs, are authentic community-builders and they have a clear vision to be the digital thread that connects and enhances business operations across the agriculture value chain.
“Bushel has taken on the worthy challenge of connecting disjointed systems in the grain industry so that we can provide better business intelligence to farmers and agribusinesses. A unique combination of generation-spanning agricultural knowledge and deep technology expertise throughout our organization has helped Bushel bring industry-changing software to agriculture.”
“The Germin8 team is a trusted Bushel partner. Their guidance and access to resources allow us to move quickly and make things happen within the agtech industry. Germin8 opens doors, provides guidance and challenges us to do more than what we thought was possible. Most importantly, their hands-on, positive approach aligns with Bushel’s cultural values and helps us accelerate our digital offerings to the global agriculture value chain.”
Nobell
There’s a cornucopia of companies manufacturing animal proteins in fermentation, each facing formidable barriers to scale. Plus, we at Germin8 want to eat delicious cheese that comes from a farm, a sustainably run farm by a proud and empowered farmer. Magi Richani, Founder & CEO of Nobell Foods, envisioned a new food system, with a path to overcoming genetic hurdles that would bring economic opportunity to farmers, delicious melt-worthy cheese to our plates, and a sustainable system that is as rich as the cheese itself, all in lock-step.
“At Nobell Foods, we’re pioneering a new category in food with Plant-Grown Proteins. Through our groundbreaking work in teaching plants to make Casein – a dairy protein responsible for giving cheese its stretch, melt, and texture – we’re on a path to unlock a new age of sustainable plant-based products where taste, quality, and affordability are widely accessible while creating additional value streams for farmers.
Since the beginning, Germin8 has supported our mission to harness the power of plants to create delicious, indulgent animal-free cheeses. It was also very evident that driving prosperous outcomes for our vital farming communities is a deeply-embedded mission of the Germin8 team, leading their investment priorities. Nobell’s elegant approach enabling positive outcomes for climate and farmers is something they appreciated and recognized has scarcity value.
Through their consistent, reliable and thoughtful guidance, we’ve furthered our mission, quickly. Germin8 has been an invaluable and trusted partner and we’re honored to continue working with them.”
Portfolio Companies
