Food-tech fund backed by Nestlé moves from London to Paris

Five Season Ventures, a food-tech fund backed by Nestlé and Bpifrance Financement among others, is moving from London to Paris.

The fund was founded in 2016 by Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures former partner Ivan Farneti and former Coller Capital chief investment officer Niccolo Manzoni, and has since raised more than €60m ($74m).

The move comes at a time when investors are becoming more involved in the food-tech industry. US bone-broth protein manufacturer Ancient Nutrition raised $103m this month from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Iconiq, which makes investments on behalf of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Last July, SoftBank’s Vision Fund headed a $200m investment in vertical farming start-up Plenty.

Farneti said: “Large institutions want to see what is happening outside their labs. The need for large food corporates is that they need to acquire innovation.”

Five Season Ventures plans to move to Paris this summer and will invest in Series A funding rounds, which is useful for optimising product and user base.

Manzoni hinted that Brexit was not a factor of the move, saying: “France is currently a more friendly ecosystem for venture capital.”

France has been accelerating efforts to increase investment in the technology industry, with French President Emmanuel Macron aiming to turn the country into a venture capital investment hub. Google and Facebook made a pledge in January to invest in Parisian AI labs.

In the first three quarters of 2017, the UK obtained $7.2bn in technology investments while France received $2.8bn. Over that time period, the UK made 726 deals compared to 753 made in France.

Food giant Nestlé aimed to expand its health-science sector, announcing last year a surprise acquisition of Canadian supplements manufacturer Atrium Innovations, worth $2.3bn.

The company has invested in the meal-delivery start-up Freshly, and supports venture capital fund Inventages, which focusses on food and health.

Five Season Ventures seeks to invest in companies concentrating on salt, saturated fats and sugar reduction, personalised nutrition, and gut microbiota.

The fund has attracted other investors, such as InnovFin Equity, Fondo Italiano d’Investimento and the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.