Fundraising

The March Agri-Tech Innovation Summit suggested the most impactful near-term development in ag could focus as much on partnering for access to customers as on finding new breakthrough technologies.

Dahab Associates director of research Kevin Connolly says farmland allocations are becoming more common among his investment consultant peers, while he sees opportunities narrowing in the market.

BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group wins the award for Global Fund Manager of the Year as PSP Investments retains its crown for the Institutional Investor of the Year.

The Indiana-headquartered farmland manager has hired Rick Bodio and Finley Merrill this year to support the expansion.

The institutional investors participated in a Series B round for Loam Bio led by Lowercarbon Capital and Wollemi Capital, taking the start-up’s total funding to A$150m.

If approved at the pension’s investment meeting in March, the $1.5bn vehicle will have taken at least $765m in commitments.

The vehicle has received backing from Farm Credit Canada and will target C$75 million.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a VC fund founded by Bill Gates, contributed to a $12m second-phase seed round alongside Harvest Road and other investors.

The firm’s C$30m pilot vehicle invested exclusively in projects that could generate carbon credits and has been able to deliver IRRs in the high teens.

The firm’s natural capital vehicle has invested in a 400ha regenerative almond project in Spain, while its carbon strategy has backed the two million ha Restore Africa initiative.