Matt Foley, principal at Bidra Innovation Ventures, is one of our top 50 Rising Stars in corporate venturing for 2026.
Matt Foley is a former entrepreneur who moved into corporate venturing – a journey that has helped him gain expertise in agtech and agribusiness. Having been an entrepreneur, he is able to place himself in the shoes of founders now that he is on the corporate venturing side.
Foley spent two years at FMC’s corporate VC fund that has now been restructured due to market downturns, before transitioning to Bidra Innovation Ventures in early 2025. He is part of the team that manages the unit’s agtech investments, as well as its venture clienting activities with the parent company OCP Group, a Morocco-headquartered provider of phosphates.
Bidra Innovation Ventures is a $250m VC fund that invests in agriculture, energy, water and mining. It sits at the intersection of venture capital and industrial expertise through the fund’s connection to OCP Group and African research university UM6P. The fund’s portfolio spans early- to growth-stage investments, with a focus on companies that want to enter partnerships with the parent
“Seeing local partners build real solutions in complex environments has been a career highlight. I am grateful to work with colleagues who bring curiosity, humility and local insight to every engagement.”
Foley enjoys collaborating with entrepreneurs who seek to push the boundaries of innovation in an inherently traditional industry.
“The entrepreneurs that do well are the ones that are willing to go out and engage in field work with the farmers – and that has always been a fun profile of people to work with. The site visits also help showcase different cultures and people from different walks of life collectively trying to make food production more efficient. It is fun to wake up and work on those problems.”
Foley’s time at Bidra has also exposed him to Africa in a way that has been personally and professionally formative.
“Seeing local partners build real solutions in complex environments has been a career highlight. I am grateful to work with colleagues who bring curiosity, humility and local insight to every engagement.”
The Rising Stars are early-career corporate venture professionals who are making an outstanding contribution to their teams and the industry.
See the full list of Rising Stars 2026 here.
