Omnivore, a venture capital firm focused on social impact, has announced a $150 million first close for its third fund. Among the first close investors are KfW, the Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund, FMO, SIFEM, the International Finance Corporation with assistance from the Inclusive Agritech Facility of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, the Dutch Good Growth Fund, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, and Yara Growth Ventures.
For its second fund, Omnivore raised $82 million, with a final close in April 2019. DeHaat, Arya, Stellapps, Reshamandi, Ecozen, Aquaconnect, and Pixxel are a few of the portfolio companies for Omnivore.
With their third fund, Omnivore anticipates making 25 to 30 new investments in agritech startups and MSMEs during seed and Series A rounds, with initial check sizes ranging between $1 million and $5 million. Agriculture is more climate-smart, rural fintech, and agrifood life sciences are some of the major themes for new investments.
Mark Kahn and Jinesh Shah co-founded Omnivore in 2011, and they claim to have backed over 40 startups over the past ten years that are improving farming’s profitability, resiliency, sustainability, and climate-proofed. Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India.
Two agritech startups that Omnivore claims to have exited have given its investors significant returns. The world leader in animal nutrition and aquaculture, Nutreco, acquired Omnivore’s stake in aquaculture Internet of Things startup Eruvaka in July 2022. Later, in March 2023, the fund sold to agricultural machinery tycoon Mahindra its stake in precision sprayer producer MITRA.
