New Anglo-Japanese fund farms $13.67m

Adapt Low Carbon Group, an England-based investment and consultancy firm, and Tsukuba Technology Seed, a Japan-based commercial investment firm, are launching a £8m ($13.67m) fund. Dubbed the Agri-Innovation Venture Capital Fund, it will target small and medium-sized enterprises working on sustainable farming solutions.

The two firms first joined forces in 2012, and are hoping this new fund will lead to companies creating solutions for problems such as pest control and water resource management. The fund is the first of its kind in the UK.

Adapt Low Carbon Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of East Anglia University, and already manages the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF), worth £20m ($34m). It has invested roughly half of that money in 35 companies already, and will run until 2015.

The Agri-Innovation Fund will mean that some of the LCIF money will initially be diverted specifically into agricultural technology. Following the projected end of LCIF, the two partners will seek new capital, and start investing towards the end of 2015.

The new fund will be looking particularly at funding companies working for solutions of water resource management, energy efficiency, precision farming and improved farm management. It will also invest in companies developing technology to control pests and fight diseases and weed. Business working on irrigation as well as lighting and sensors for protected and field based agriculture will also be considered.

John French, chief executive at Adapt, said: “We are very excited about launching the UK’s first Anglo-Japanese Agri-Innovation Venture Capital Fund. This signifies the natural progression of our long term work in the agri-tech sector and innovation funding. And it is the culmination of our strong relationship with Tsukuba Technology Seed, which will benefit innovative businesses here and in Japan.”