Edmond de Rothschild JV vehicle targets €250m

Edmond de Rothschild has partnered with PeakBridge to launch an “agri-foodtech” investment platform that will target €250m in assets.

The joint venture will target five investment categories including ingredient innovation, nutrition and health, digitization, alternative proteins and farming technology.

French financial group Edmond de Rothschild said it is setting its sights on supporting the global food value chain’s transition to a more sustainable production system.

The investment platform will be seeded by PeakBridge and Edmond de Rothschild, a spokesperson told Agri Investor, with institutional LPs and family offices among the investor types expected to make commitments to the vehicle.

“Plans call for initial investments of $3 million to $5 million in companies across Europe, North America and Israel, with additional money reserved to support follow-on financings,” PeakBridge founding general partner Erich Sieber told Agri Investor in an email.

“We are grateful for this vote of confidence from Edmond de Rothschild, enabling us to further our efforts in investing and supporting the rapidly growing infrastructure that is needed to advance foodtech innovation,” he added in a statement.

“We will work in close collaboration together with Edmond de Rothschild to discover, invest and nurture top growth-stage entrepreneurs and technologies that will impact the future of our food systems.”

Edmond de Rothschild chief executive of private equity, Johnny El Hachem, commented: “This partnership, with a professional agri-foodtech fund manager whose strategy and positioning are close to our DNA, demonstrates our desire to constantly improve our offering and further our impact in critical industries such as food and agriculture.

“We have strong confidence that, together with PeakBridge, we can create a long-lasting impact on systematic social and environmental challenges globally.”