Venture fund focuses on ag tech

Burlington Capital and Invest Nebraska announced the launch of a new venture capital seed fund, Burlington Capital Ag-Venture, focused on Midwest AgTech innovation. Burlington Capital Ag-Venture intends to raise $11 million and expects to do so with a final close at the end of the year. This new fund is being built from a producer-first and industry-first approach, with its investors and advisors being comprised of some of the most innovative farmers/producers, ag families, agribusinesses, and ag trade associations.

Burlington Capital Ag-Venture is taking advantage of compelling global trends, a push toward ag-innovation and the lack of a leading Midwest AgTech seed fund to launch this new platform. Both organizations have strong Nebraska and Midwest roots with proven track records in the investment and in the development of agriculture, technology and startups. These two groups bring complementary experiences and skill sets that enhance the platform and maximize the upside potential of the fund. “We are excited to be partnering with Invest Nebraska and other agriculture stakeholders in creating a new platform that will assist in the advancement of agricultural entrepreneurship in the Midwest,” said Lisa Roskens, chairman and CEO for Burlington Capital.

“There’s a graveyard full of AgTech companies from the last decade [that] have failed because of a lack of understanding of their customers: agriculture producers. Though Ag-Venture is not limited by geography, we intend to back founders who are not just technologists, but who are also producers, growers and farmers,” said Ben Williamson, one of the managing directors of Burlington Capital Ag-Venture. “They have walked the fields and shaken the hands of those across the backbone of America. These founders do not just speak the language, they deeply understand the customer and their problems, and they are rolling up their sleeves to fix them.”

This fund isn’t just about Nebraska – the Midwest is full of other states whose agriculture backgrounds compare to Nebraska. To compete with coastal tech investing, the region and itsstrong industries (such as agriculture) must take a regional approach. And while the Midwest captures ~50% of the nation’s agriculture receipts, there is very little venture capital dedicatedto AgTech here. Similarly, AgTech investing has lagged when compared to other industry segments. While GDP related to ag and food hovers around 10%, the sector only receives about 2% of venture funding.

“Burlington Capital Ag-Venture will consist of active and like-minded investors who are interested in providing capital as well as guidance to help these companies and develop and support a larger, more robust AgTech ecosystem. Ultimately, Burlington Capital Ag-Venture will take advantage of the region’s strong agriculture history, knowledge, partners, and innovation, to exponentially advance AgTech in Nebraska and the Midwest.,” said Mike Jung, Burlington Capital Ag-Venture’s other Managing Director and CEO of Burlington Capital International. “We’ve built a strong bench full of people from the front lines of agriculture across the Midwest who are eager to provide advice and be first-customers, advisors, and mentors to these entrepreneurs. Even more exciting, the next generation of agriculture is getting involved.”

The team at Burlington Capital Ag-Venture is confident they can develop this platform to serve as a catalyst in strengthening and broadening the AgTech ecosystem in the Midwest to ultimately plant the flag and become the global leader in AgTech innovation. Over the next five years, Burlington Capital Ag-Venture will invest in a diversified portfolio of seed-stage AgTech companies across the entire ag and food value chain. The fund intends to partner with many local, regional, and national AgTech accelerators and incubators, especially The Combine, Invest Nebraska’s AgTech incubator.