FMC Ventures’ team has been let go but its portfolio will continue to be managed by the corporate.

Crops going down

FMC Ventures, the corporate VC arm of agricultural chemical producer FMC Corporation, has been disbanded and its staff has been let go.

The unit was founded in 2020 and has been investing off the balance sheet across a number of agricultural technologies including biotech, automation, robotics, drones, and precision spraying technologies, targeting seed through series B startups.

While its team has been let go, the unit itself will remain in place to manage the portfolio under the wider corporate structure.

“FMC remains committed to innovation in agricultural technology. While we have made changes to our organizational structure to optimize operations, FMC Ventures continues to operate and manage its existing portfolio of investments under the leadership of Zack Zaki, vice president of corporate strategy and development,” FMC’s CFO Andrew Sandifer told AgFunderNews.

The portfolio includes farmer credit platform provider Traive, drone-based precision application technology developer Guardian Agriculture and Trace Genomics, a company using DNA sequencing to assess and improve the health of soil.

The outgoing unit chief, Mark Brooks, joined the team in 2022 to effectively relaunch the unit, which was mandated to invest in game changers and reach beyond FMC’s core business, combining synthetic chemistries with digital technologies.

The move comes after a rough two years for FMC’s stock price, which has lost roughly 60% of its value since this time in 2023.

Fernando Moncada Rivera

Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the CVC Unplugged podcast.