AgTech Accelerator, a Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based startup accelerator vehicle dedicated to emerging agricultural technologies, launched with $11.5m in initial closing commitments.
The initial close was led by Alexandria Venture Investments, the strategic venture capital arm of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on collaborative science and technology campuses in innovation clusters, with participation from Bayer, Syngenta Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, Harris & Harris Group, Inc., Hatteras Venture Partners, Mountain Group Capital and Pappas Capital.
Created in partnership with Accelerator Corporation and led by John W. Dombrosky, CEO, and Jeff Rosichan, Ph.D., chief scientific officer, AgTech Accelerator aims to identify, form, finance and manage emerging agriculture companies, which will gain access to a proven operating model, industry advisors, institutional partners and facilities, as well as committed capital.
Initial capital commitments will be used to start new businesses based on a wide range of technical disciplines and throughout the farm-to-market value chain. As companies grow, the investor syndicate will provide follow-on investment capital and access to governance, strategic, business and individual management expertise.
The accelerator will source opportunities and provide its companies with access to academic research partners such as Duke University; North Carolina State University; Penn State University; Purdue University; University of California, Davis; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Washington State University, to integrate novel technology, research, incubation and product development capabilities.
FinSMEs
06/05/2016