NEW YORK, May 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Big Idea Ventures (“BIV”), the global leader in early-stage alternative protein and food technology investing, has launched its fifth portfolio company through its Generation Food Rural Partners (“GFRP”) Fund.
PlantSustain (the “Company”) is dedicated to proving and commercializing bio-based research to deliver eco-friendly products and solutions for more sustainable agriculture.
“As the demand for less toxic crop protection and fertilizer products increases, GFRP is very excited to launch a company focused on commercializing breakthrough endophytic microbe technologies aimed at creating sustainable crop protection and nutrition solutions for farmers,” shares Elsa Swanson Sareen, Vice President of the GFRP fund.
The board of directors of PlantSustain has appointed Simon Hill as Chief Executive Officer. Simon is a seasoned global business development leader with a broad range of experience in scaling and commercializing technologies to global markets.
According to Simon, “The push to adopt more sustainable and cost effective solutions to agricultural challenges is driving innovation. Inspired by the strides made by GFRP in alternative protein and sustainable packaging, I am thrilled to lead PlantSustain in working with renowned research institutions and established distribution partners to identify, develop and commercialize reliable and cost effective microbial products for more efficient agricultural production.”
The GFRP Fund evaluates intellectual property focused on innovations in the agriculture, food, and protein sectors. The GFRP Fund invests to create new companies formed around research with the greatest chance for broad commercialization. These new companies will be headquartered in rural communities, creating living wage jobs to drive economic growth and development.
About PlantSustain
PlantSustain is a platform for progressing biological innovation from research through to commercialization, aiming to replace chemical pesticides and fertilizers with natural endophytic bacteria and fungi solutions. Leveraging the expertise and innovation developed at leading universities and research institutes, PlantSustain boosts plants’ ability to fight disease while increasing nutritional intake for healthier crops and the environment. The Company will license intellectual property from universities and commercialize the technology to address challenges to the agriculture and food industries. For more information, visit plantsustain.com
About Generation Food Rural Partners
Generation Food Rural Partners (“GFRP” or the “Fund”) is a RBIC-licensed investment fund designed to drive economic growth and development in rural communities in the US. The Fund invests in the area of Food, Agriculture and Protein technologies to form new companies based on intellectual property, creating living wage jobs at its portfolio companies. GFRP is backed by members of the Farm Credit System, including Farm Credit Services of America, CoBank, Compeer Financial and Mid-America Farm Credit. GFRP is a part of Big Idea Ventures (“BIV”), the world’s most active investor in FoodTech, investing in the best food technology and AgriTech companies globally. BIV has offices in New York, Paris and Singapore and has invested in more than 100 companies across 30 countries and manages the New Protein family of funds and GFRP. For more information, visit bigideaventures.com