Emmanuel Faber will not have waited very long to bounce back. Abruptly dismissed from his position as CEO of Danone in March 2021, he announced, Tuesday, October 12, his arrival, as a partner, within Astanor. This Belgian venture capital fund also welcomes 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 Silicon Valley. Three years later, the fund raised 264 million euros. In the round table, the BPI, but also large Belgian families.
Insect breeding
“A large majority of funds are already invested”, underlines Mr. Archambeau. Among the first operations, the acquisition of a stake in the French distribution start-up La Ruche which says yes. Then an entry into the capital of another French company, Ynsect, which wishes to develop insect breeding in order to produce proteins. Among the 29 investments already made, we can also cite the German vertical farm specialist Infarm or the Australian vegetable meat manufacturer v2food.
According to the statement released by venture capital fund Mr. Faber and Mr. Barber, which co-founded Blue Hill, a farm business across the Atlantic, and New York-based Almanac Insights fund, “Both recognized worldwide for their leadership in the transition to sustainable agricultural and food systems join Astanor Ventures with a common mission: to bring together investment and impact to ensure food sovereignty for the greatest number”.
Investors, for their part, have in mind the valuations of agrifood companies recently introduced on the stock market. Like the start-up specializing in vegetable meat Beyond Meat or the Swedish oat milk specialist Oatly. Riding on new food trends, these two companies hit the stock market jackpot.