The world’s food system is a $10 trillion industry responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it remains riddled with inefficiencies, waste, and a glaring innovation gap. While many investors have pulled back — European FoodTech investments fell 30% in 2024 — Nordic Foodtech VC is doubling down. The Helsinki-based fund just announced a €40M first close for its second fund, aiming for €80M to back early-stage startups tackling the planet’s most urgent food and agriculture challenges.
Bridging the gap between science and industry
Nordic Foodtech VC was founded in 2020 as the first venture fund in the Nordics dedicated exclusively to food and agriculture technologies. The motivation was clear: “We recognised on one hand the planet-sized business opportunity in solving critical challenges in the food system and on the other hand a critical bottleneck,” explains Louise Heiberg, Partner at Nordic Foodtech VC, in an exclusive interview with TFN.
“Mika had seen firsthand how slowly the food industry reacts to change and how incremental corporate R&D can be. Lauri had worked in biotech research and realised many promising solutions that had never left the labs. Pekka had built food companies, and Jari brought VC fund experience. Together, we saw the need for a sector-specific VC fund to invest in early-stage companies developing new technologies and providing business-critical solutions for the industry,” Heiberg adds.
Nordic Foodtech VC’s strategy is to “work with research institutions and industry to identify specific needs and challenges where technological solutions would create significant value and positive impact on climate, environment, or human health. We keep all opportunities open as we look for great companies to invest in,” says Heiberg.
How Nordic Foodtech tackles tangible problems with science-based innovation
The fund works closely with universities and research institutions across the Nordics and Baltic states, bridging the gap between scientific discovery and industrial applications. Nordic Foodtech VC has partnered with over 22 universities and research institutions, creating a robust pipeline for scientific spinouts. This collaboration is crucial, as “universities and research institutes have limited access to early-stage risk capital,” making Nordic Foodtech VC a key enabler for commercialising promising technologies.
The first fund has invested in companies developing new ingredients, from affordable cacao alternatives to natural food colours and aroma compounds. It has also invested in low-cost concepts for on-land fish farming, satellite technology for daily hyperspectral field data, and molecules for bioavailable iron fortification in foods. “Our portfolio companies represent some of the most promising innovators in the sector, helping drive the transition toward a more sustainable and resilient future,” Heiberg adds.
Nordic Foodtech VC’s focus and notable portfolio companies
The fund invests in diverse technologies: “We invest in everything from satellites to biotechnology and from automation to process chemistry, as long as it solves a tangible problem in agriculture or the food industry,” said Heiberg to TFN. While making early-stage pre-seed and seed investments across Europe, it focuses strongly on the Nordics and Baltic.
The fund leads early seed and pre-seed rounds in the Nordics and Baltics and co-invests in the rest of Europe, with tickets ranging from a few hundred thousand euros to €2 million. It also maintains a reserve for significant follow-on investments, ensuring continued support as portfolio companies scale.
The first fund has backed companies such as:
- Enifer (Finland): Producing affordable protein ingredients from industrial side streams.
- Kuva Space (Finland): Providing essential insights from fields and the environment with hyperspectral imaging from Earth’s orbit.
- Chromologics (Denmark): Developing natural food colours via fermentation.
- Evodia (Denmark): Innovating in food ingredients.
- Melt&Marble (Sweden): Producing functional fats and oils through precision fermentation.
- Ironic Biotech (Sweden): Enabling fortification of foods with bioavailable iron.
- ÄIO (Estonia): Creating sustainable fats and oils.
- Other investments include companies developing new low-capex concepts for on-land fish farming, capturing nutrients from wastewater, and recycling waste streams into fertilisers.
The portfolio tackles major industry challenges through affordable protein ingredients, functional fats and oils, natural food colours and aromas, nutrient capture from wastewater, waste-stream recycling into fertilisers, and field monitoring via orbital hyperspectral imaging.
Why now? Why here?
“Nordic Foodtech VC is a sector-specific investor with five years of experience supporting early-stage companies in this space. Our close collaboration with research institutions has given us strong experience spinning out companies and working with academic founders. This collaboration also provides us with a strong flow of scientifically-grounded companies,” Heiberg explains.
The fund’s investor base reflects its strategic focus, combining institutional investors like Tesi and Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company with food industry stakeholders like Valio Pension Fund and Heino Group. This financial and industry support mix helps startups connect with commercial partners and scale solutions globally.
Summing up the fund’s vision, Heiberg says: “Food security, health and nutrition, and sustainable food systems will be catalysts for this sector.” The fund’s experience helps identify startups solving problems tangible enough to generate good returns within a fund cycle. The impact is clear with portfolio companies diverting 740,000 tonnes of CO2e annually. “We’re excited to continue supporting existing and new portfolio companies on growth paths that build toward a food system fitting within planetary boundaries.”
