| Regenerative agriculture, forestry, and agroforestry funds are part of a lesser-known but rapidly growing US$24 billion funding base fueling the next generation of innovations and practices to address climate change |
The TRANSFORM Regenerative Agriculture and Forestry Funds List is the most comprehensive listing of funds focused on net-positive agriculture, ranching, agroforestry, and related food systems, and the first time such a list has been made publicly available.
The list was developed by GatherLab, which was founded by the team that originally created the groundbreaking Social Capital Markets (SOCAP)conference. SOCAP catalyzed the “impact” investment category by bringing together mission-driven investors with social entrepreneurs and enterprises in the then-nascent sector.
The rationale behind creating the regenerative funds list is similar: to kickstart and accelerate the development of solutions addressing climate change. It will provide the essential clarity every emerging market needs: information on what deals are being done, at what size, with which companies, with what investment theses.
The regenerative funds list will be formally launched at this year’s inaugural TRANSFORM: Climate, Communities, and Capital conference, taking place May 22-24 in San Francisco, CA.
With the help of the database, entrepreneurs will be able to identify how funds that label themselves regenerative are investing, while investors will find co-investors and partners. At the same time, individual high net worth investors and family offices will be able to better understand the market landscape.
The list features entities and funds that explicitly focus on regenerative approaches, or otherwise aim to achieve net-positive returns for ecosystems, communities, and investors. Forms of investment include venture (both seed and later stage); private equity; REITs; and others.
Notable funds include US-based Farmland LP, SLM Partners, and Moringa Partnership. Family offices include: Armonia, Cienega, Meyer Family Enterprises, Grantham Family Foundation. And European leaders include the Althelia Climate Fund; and the Livelihoods Fund.
Investments include farm and forest lands; organic and regenerative food production, distribution and sales; processing; holistic management grazing, improved biodiversity and forestry management practices, and the transition of land from conventional to organic agriculture.
Kevin Jones, a partner in GatherLab and the content lead for the Transform conference says, “In terms of wider consciousness, regenerative agriculture and forestry investments are a relatively new category. But for many fund managers and investors – particularly those focused on “impact” and mission-driven investing – interest in regenerative approaches has been significant for years. In creating this list and bringing together this data, we wanted to boost awareness of the category and catalyze its growth – both in terms of the number of enterprises focused on regeneration, and the funds working with entrepreneurs. We believe that sustainability is no longer enough: we need to be working toward regeneration, not just maintaining the status quo.”
Ethan Soloviev, who spearheaded the research for GatherLab, notes, “We were heartened to see how robust this area is. There are many new entrants, and some extremely well-established players with significant expertise in the space. The time was right to bring all the funds together so that impact investors, family offices, and global businesses showing that there’s a critical mass of experience ready for accelerated growth.
The research is available on the Transform site and beginning June, 2019, will be housed as a database on the Artha Platform where it will be both kept updated and available to a network of hundreds of investors.