Wheatsheaf leads £12.6m food tech round

Wheatsheaf Investments, the early stage investment arm of the Grosvenor family office, has led a £12.6 million ($20 million; €16.1 million) fundraising round for BluWrap, a maker of food shelf-life extension technology.

The round was joined by Dutch Rabobank Ventures, its spinout firm Anterra Capital and Firelake Capital, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm.

BluWrap provides packaging which suspends the oxygenation process of perishable foods, enabling suppliers to deliver fresh protein products by ship rather than more expensive air freight.

Wheatsheaf has already made one other agtech investment this year into Enterra Feed, a Canadian animal feed producer.

Anterra Capital also participated in a recent agbio round, committing $4 million to Vestaron’s series E round last week.

“We have been very impressed with the progress that BluWrap has made with its technology and market acceptance,” said Anthony James, chief investment officer at Wheatsheaf Investments.  “This investment into BluWrap, will provide the company with the financial resources it needs to become an alternative for shipping fresh proteins around the globe using the most environmentally sustainable methods,” he said.

Wheatsheaf Investments focuses on investments in resource efficiency, especially food and energy.