Finding New Ways to Finance Planet and People Friendly Food & Ag
- S1E10
- 1:12:42
- January 17th 2023
How do we re-design financial instruments to have maximum positive impact for people and our planet?
Whether it’s a large multi-national and publicly listed corporation, startup or small business, or a family farmer, every business needs financing at one point or another. But the range of financing tools on the market today were not designed with the complexities of food and agriculture or social and environmental impact in mind.
In this episode, we speak with some food and ag investing trailblazers who are trying to create financing structures that better suit industry players, that also enable them to de-risk their loans and investments and increase the impact of their capital.
With our guests in this first “deep-dive” episode on New Food Order, we explore:
- The challenges with current debt financing, venture capital, and public market models for food and agriculture
- Using data and metrics to de-risk investments and ensure they have maximum positive impact for people and our planet
- The returns investors can expect from ecologically friendly ventures
- The challenges farmers face with the current banking system and how to fund their transition to regenerative agriculture
- Making existing investment models more people and planet friendly
- New models for investing in food and agriculture
- Balancing growth with social and ecological impact
- The rise of ESG investing and the manipulation of its standards
- How VC and Family funds can better identify forward-thinking businesses to invest in
- How one group is creating a whole new asset class focused on the natural world that could potentially revolutionize the financial sector
Our guests include: Mad Capital co-founder Phil Taylor, rePlant Capital MD Robyn O’Brien, New Epoch Capital managing director and chairman of Foodshot Victor Friedberg, co-founder of Supply Change Capital Shayna Harris, Acre Ventures partner Sam Kass, and Intrinsic Exchange Group CEO Douglas Eger.
Links & Resources:
Mad Agriculture: https://madagriculture.org/
rePlant Capital: https://www.replantcapital.com/
Supply Change Capital: https://supplychange.fund/
Acre: https://acre.vc/
Intrinsic Exchange Group: https://www.intrinsicexchange.com/
Grow Well Consulting: https://www.growwellconsulting.com/
New Epoch Capital: https://www.facebook.com/people/New-Epoch-Capital/100064220104144/
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Follow us on Linkedin: @agfunder & @foodtechconnect
This series is sponsored by Foodshot Global & New Hope Network
New Hope Network
New Hope Network is a media, events and business intelligence company, covering natural products trends, industry insights and marketplace data that educate the industry about key issues, like regenerative agriculture, sustainability, responsible sourcing and more. Visit newhope.com.
FoodShot Global
FoodShot leverages resources from investors around the world to provide non-dilutive, equity, and post-investment capacities to innovators. Find out more at foodshot.org.
And a huge thank you to everyone who helped us bring this podcast to life:
Production: Cam Gray, Cofruition, Anna de Wolff Evans
Audio Editing: Mercy Barno
Original Music: Rodrigo Barbera
Art: Lola Nankin
Project Management: Patrick Carter
New Food Order
New Food Order is a podcast exploring the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture from AgFunder and Food+Tech Connect.
Through nuanced conversation and debate, its hosts Danielle Gould and Louisa Burwood-Taylor are embarking on a learning and unlearning journey to unearth how we might design business and finance to have maximum positive impact for people and our planet.
Join us as we speak with leading farmers, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and other stewards on key topics like:
- Will plant-based, lab-grown meat, and regenerative agriculture save the world?
- Is carbon neutral enough?
- What are the most people and planet friendly business and finance models?
- How might we best honor and learn from indigenous communities?
- What are the unintended consequences of new innovation, and how might we avoid them?
Danielle Gould is an entrepreneur and activist. She is the Founder and CEO of Food Tech Connect, the first community for food innovation as well as the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Alpha Food Labs, a consultancy where she works with some of the world’s largest companies to create products and innovation strategies that are better for people and our planet. She hopes that ultimately, her work helps unite and catalyze a movement of earth guardians.
A journalist and editor, Louisa is the head of media & research for AgFunder and chief editor of its news site AFN, focused on the foodtech and agtech industry. With 10 years of agriculture reporting behind her, Louisa started her career in other financial markets working for publications like the Financial Times, Euromoney and Private Equity International, where she launched the first-ever publication dedicated to agriculture investment.