Innova has first close on $40 million fund
Innova’s Fund VI is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business Investment Program, which is designed to bring capital and infrastructure support to rural communities.
AgFunder News reports that Innova Memphis has announced a $40 million first close of its Innova Ag Innovation Fund VI and will use the new fund to continue investing in farmtech start-ups.
According to Innova Partner Jan Bouten, “What we saw in the first generation of agtech was technology for technology’s sake. People looked at data from the farmer and tried to leverage it in their individual businesses. We look at it as the reverse: How can the farmer and the grower actually benefit from the use of and the leverage of that data?”
Fund VI will follow the pattern of the predecessor fund, investing in pre-seed, seed, and early-stage start-ups, though Bouten suggests in the AgFunder News article that Innova will write bigger checks this time.
Innova’s Fund VI is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business Investment Program (RBIP), which is designed to bring capital and infrastructure support to rural communities in the nation. Through the RBIP, Fund VI is licensed to operate as a Rural Business Investment Company to make venture capital investments in rural areas.
The $40 million close brings Innova Memphis’ total capital under management to more than $100 million. The firm was launched in 2007 by the old Memphis Bioworks Foundation.
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