Cardumen Capital, the European-Israeli Venture Capital manager, has launched together with the Basque Culinary Center, a Venture Capital fund with the objective of investing in AgriFoodTech startups. This fund has the participation of the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government, in its comprehensive strategy “The Food Global Ecosystem” and the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa. The fund will be instrumental in strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in gastronomy at a global level.

This new fund is categorized as a sustainable fund under Article 9 of the SFDR. The fund will invest in the most promising technology companies in the agri-food sector, specifically in technologies that fight climate change and food security. The fund will aim to invest in local and international companies, making it one of the pioneering specialist funds in this market.

The fund will be led by Cardumen Capital, with an expert team in high technology, and will have the expertise of the Basque Culinary Center which, as a knowledge partner, will support the investee companies in their international expansion from its offices and technology center in Donostia-San Sebastián. The fund will invest in around 15 companies with cutting-edge technologies and commercial traction in areas such as precision agriculture, alternative proteins or circular economy.

The Foodtech Fund contemplates making a first closing around March 2023, when it will reach a size of 20 million euros, although the fund’s ultimate goal is more ambitious, between forty and fifty million euros. The first investments will start to be made at the time of the first closing.

As Gonzalo Martínez de Azagra, Founding Partner of Cardumen Capital, says: “This sector is the third largest producer of greenhouse gases after the energy and transportation sectors. The fight against climate change and the reinforcement of food security will bring large investments in this segment, and our fund will be well positioned at the center of these trends to capitalize on it”:

On the part of Basque Culinary Center, Asier Alea, Director of Global Development indicates that, “With the creation of this fund to invest in startups in the AgriFoodtech field, Basque Culinary Center takes a step forward in the creation of an innovative ecosystem with gastronomy and talent as a driver of change. This is a key tool to strengthen our network of incubation and acceleration initiatives for both local and international projects.” The FoodTech Fund is part of the GOe strategy, a future strategy of the Basque Culinary Center focused on innovation, research and entrepreneurship under a common denominator shaped by innovation and talent.

Zigor Urkiaga, director of Strategic Projects of the Basque Government has highlighted that “Euskadi hosts the FoodTech Investment Fund in the framework of the strategy “The Food Global Ecosystem” with the aim of positioning Euskadi as a key territory in innovation and entrepreneurship in gastronomy, supporting companies in the food and agricultural industry”.