Yesterday, September17, 2009 150 investors and industry leaders attended a seminar and conference on the “best practices” for “eco-friendly farming.” The fact that so many venture capitalists, private equity investors, entrepreneurs, government officials, and academics attended the conference indicates that more private and public investments in sustainable agriculture practices may be on the horizon. The conference was co-hosted by NewSeed Advisors and SPIN Farming and was called “Agriculture 2.0.”The conference featured climate change research analyst at Deutche Bank, Bruce Kahn as the keynote speaker. Additionally, a presentation was given by Grayson Hoberg, CEO of organic flour processor Dakota Prairie. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Carol Kramer-LeBlanc led a discussion on the administration’s efforts with regards to sustainable agriculture.
At the conference NewSeed Advisors founder Janine Yorio announced the company is in the process of raising capital “for the first venture capital fund exclusively focused on environmentally-friendly agriculture.” Yorio stated:
‘“The economics underlying the trend toward healthy eating and responsible farming are incredibly compelling, with double digit growth rates across all the subsectors . . . The field is wide open, and as the first and only fund focused on this sector we`ll ferret out and invest in the best possible transactions that combine healthy eating and healthy profits.’”To see the Reuters story on the conference click here.
Posted: 09/18/09
