The former CEO of Danone and the American David Barber join this agri-food investment fund.
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Emmanuel Faber has not waited a very long time to bounce back. Brutally dismissed from his CEO of Danone, in March 2021, he announced, Tuesday, October 12, his arrival, as Associate, within Astanor. This Belgian venture capital fund also hosts another partner, the American David Barber.
“We want to invest in companies that will have a measurable social and environmental impact in the food and agricultural sectors,” explains Eric Archambeau, who co-founded Astanor Ventures in 2017, after spending more than twenty years in the Silicon Valley . Three years later, the fund raised 264 million euros. In the Tour de Table, the BPI, but also large Belgian families.
Insect breeding
“A large majority of funds is already invested,” says Archambeau. Among the first operations, participation in the French distribution start-up the hive that says yes. Then an entry into the capital of another French company, YnSect, who wants to develop insect farms to produce protein. Among the 29 investments already done, we can still quote the German Vertical Farms Specialist Infarm or the Australian V2Food vegetable meat manufacturer.
According to the release published by the Venture Capital Fund, Faber and Mr. Barber, who co-founded, across the Atlantic, Blue Hill, a farm, and the Almanac Insights Fund, based in New York, ” Both recognized worldwide for their leadership in the transition to sustainable agricultural and food systems join Astanor Ventures with a common mission: to converge investment and impact to ensure the food sovereignty of the greatest number “.
Investors, they have at the top of the valuations of recently introduced agribusiness companies. Like the start-up specialized in vegetable meat Beyond Meat or the Swedish specialist of oat milk Oatly. Surfing on new food trends, these two companies have dropped the stock market jackpot.