VTC Innovation Fund took part in a $15m round for organic meat brand operator Shenandoah Valley Organic, bringing its total to $24.2m.
US-based organic meat brand business Shenandoah Valley Organic (SVO) closed a $15m round yesterday with the involvement of Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) Innovation Fund, the VC fund partnership between VT and healthcare provider Carilion Clinic.
The round was led by NRV with participation from food and agriculture-focused venture fund S2G Ventures and Open Prairie’s Rural Opportunities Fund. VTC Innovation Fund is managed by Middleland Capital.
Founded in 2014, SVO supplies organic chicken products under the brand Farmer Focus that come with a four-letter code tracing their supply chain back to SVO’s affiliate, family-run farms.
The fresh capital will help extend Farmer Focus product availability in US retail outlets and build the brand through marketing and outreach activities. SVO also hopes to ramp up the capacity of its manufacturing plants.
SVO obtained $5.5m of equity from undisclosed investors in August 2018, according to a regulatory filing, after a $3.7m growth funding round in 2017 led by S2G Ventures with contributions from unnamed investors. VTC Innovation Fund was named as an existing investor in the press release.
