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A Visit to CCTI’s Cutting-Edge Feed Mill in Meizhou, China
Conti’s Paul Fribourg, Ari Gendason and Yin Chen visited with the management team of our joint venture CCTI (Conti Chia Tai International) in Shenzhen and had the honor of attending the dedication and grand opening of CCTI’s newest 490K ton feed mill in Meizhou, Guangdong Province, one of the largest modern feed mills in China. It was a wonderful morning spending time with local government officials from Meizhou and the operating team of the feed mill. The Conti team also visited CCTI’s growing genetics business in Meizhou and witnessed how CCTI’s localization of Danish genetics paired with accurate nutrition, farm services and logistics help our customers in the hog and pork supply chain in China bring high quality and affordable food to the population. Conti and the Charoen Pokphand Group have been partners for 44 years in CCTI and it is amazing to witness the continued growth in the business. We very much appreciate the hard work and efforts of CEO David Wu and the whole CCTI team and the long andprosperous partnership with the CP Group.
Agroberries acquires shares in BerryWorld
Agroberries, a leading, vertically integrated producer and marketer of berries, with a best-in-class portfolio of proprietary and exclusive berry genetic varieties, acquired a minority stake in BerryWorld’s EMEA and APAC businesses. The transaction will provide BerryWorld, a leading global marketer of berries and fresh cut fruit, with a solid foundation for growth with a diversified global footprint spanning across the entire value chain. Agroberries, a leading, vertically integrated producer and marketer of berries, with a best-in-class portfolio of proprietary and exclusive berry genetic varieties, acquired a minority stake in BerryWorld’s EMEA and APAC businesses. The transaction will provide BerryWorld, a leading global marketer of berries and fresh cut fruit, with a solid foundation for growth with a diversified global footprint spanning across the entire value chain. BerryWorld’s largest shareholder Argent, who supported the company’s growth since it was founded, has welcomed Agroberries’ investment and is excited about this next phase of growth. Jorge Varela, Co-Founder and CEO of Agroberries, highlighted: “I’m excited about the possibilities arising from this investment; it will enhance our global reach and broaden our exposure across berry categories.” Adam Olins, Founder and CEO of BerryWorld added: “Our respective organisations share common values, culture and a commitment to sustainability, and we are confident about the possibilities that Agroberries’ investment opens for our growers and customers, in a constantly evolving market environment”. About BerryWorld Founded in 1994, BerryWorld is one of the world’s largest berry suppliers, with an extensive and expanding global footprint. Its industry renowned management team focuses the business on meeting the evolving needs of local consumers across the 37 countries it supplies, supported by its vertically integrated operations. BerryWorld is recognized for its world-leading breeding program, developing award-winning proprietary varieties, supported by a strong and innovative pipeline. This, coupled with its own growing and long-standing grower network, ensures year-round supply of all four major berries to service relentless demand. The company’s proprietary data and insights expertise is unparalleled and relied upon by retailers to continually drive the category, whilst the company’s own-branded products offer retailers a premium differentiated offering. With operations not only in berries, but also in prepared fruit manufacturing, and supplying the non-retail sector with first-class quality fresh produce, the business’ activities truly stretch the entire supply chain, orientated around a unique consumer and market-led approach. www.berryworld.com Contacts BerryWorld: Charlotte Knowles – [email protected] Agroberries: Catalina Vives – [email protected]
Sentera Series C Funding Expansion
We are proud investors in Sentera, an industry-leading provider of ag analytics, and are excited to announce a successful expansion of its Series C funding led by Conti Ventures and S2G Ventures. Sentera’s data science ecosystem combines aerial data collection with machine learning engines that deliver more accurate plant-level measurements and insights to help ag researchers, product developers, and retail agronomists solve their toughest agronomic problems. “We believe Sentera has unlocked value for its enterprise customers and partners with differentiated technology illustrated by its accelerated growth and blue-chip customer list,” said Conti Ventures Co-Head Chris Abbott. Learn more here:
We were thrilled to host Conti Connect, bringing together our network of partners, leaders and top innovators in the food and agriculture space
We were thrilled to host Conti Connect, bringing together our network of partners, leaders and top innovators in the food and agriculture space. Our industry finds itself at a crossroads. To continue feeding a growing population, we need to do more with less. This requires innovation in the food space and technology to grow and develop crops. Recent geopolitical events have also put the spotlight on food and ag and have highlighted food supply chain vulnerabilities in new ways. This presents a unique opportunity to bring together great people, technology, and capital to help build the future of the world’s food system and think differently about partnerships and competition. Bringing people, ideas and resources together to help feed the world has been our purpose for over 200 years, and businesses have a powerful role to play to ensure the sustainability of our global food supply and security. We were honored to welcome Jim Messina, political strategist and CEO of the Messina Group and Fabrizio Freda, CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies as keynote speakers, along with many inspiring panelists and contributors. Key insights from Conti Connect include the importance of being a part of the discussion to promote collaboration in business and in politics. As Jim Messina quoted, “You are either at the table or on the menu”. Fabrizio Freda spoke about his experience being the first non-family leader to be brought in as CEO and discussed how he balances driving long-term, profitable growth while continuing to uphold and build on the heritage and values of the family and The Estée Lauder Companies brand. We also heard from many founders and CEOs of companies on the forefront of cutting-edge technology in agriculture and human health and learned how startups and big companies can work together to promote broad change at a faster pace. The power of fostering strong partnerships with long-term alignment and maintaining those relationships over time was a constant theme throughout the conference. The whole is more than the sum of the parts when you can collaborate with like-minded partners. A big thank you to all who participated. We can’t wait to see the ideas and conversations that came out of Conti Connect come to fruition and look forward to continuing to connect the dots!
EarthOptics Secures $27.6 Million Series B Funding
EarthOptics Secures $27.6 Million Series B Funding Investment will advance data-driven agriculture through actionable soil insights ARLINGTON, Va., January 18, 2023 – EarthOptics, a leader in soil measurement and insights, today announced a round of strategic investments from both existing and new investors. The $27.6 million round of funding, led by Conti Ventures, will further build out EarthOptics’ GroundOwl™ sensor suite capabilities, accelerate acreage growth and scale service providers. This increase in funding for product and service offerings to farmers and ranchers works to meet growing customer demand. In addition to Conti Ventures, Rabo Food & Ag Innovation Fund (RFAIF), CNH Industrial, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, and CHS and Growmark’s Cooperative Ventures join current EarthOptics investors Leaps by Bayer, FHB Ventures, S2G Ventures, iSelect Fund, Route 66 Ventures, and Middleland Capital’s VTC Ventures. “We believe EarthOptics has a clear advantage in soil measurement technology, as they improve the scalability of measurement while helping to reduce extrapolation error” said Chris Abbott, Co-Head of Conti Ventures. “As we look for technologies that can verify critical soil measurements for growers, we believe EarthOptics stands out in providing agronomic value as well as verification for initiatives like carbon credits.” EarthOptics uses a combination of ground-based sensors, satellites, physical soil samples, machine learning models and agronomic expertise to help farmers and ranchers make better data-driven decisions about their land. This groundbreaking technology delivers insights to help farmers optimize fertilizer applications, make informed tillage decisions, quantify carbon sequestration and more. “Our industry-leading technology has huge potential for farmers and agribusiness,” Lars Dyrud, EarthOptics CEO, said. “This funding will propel our growth and enable us to scale the SoilMapper™ platform.” The Series B funding will expand access to valuable tools and deliver hyper-accurate soil insights, providing immediate cost savings for farmers, who recognize the importance of having comprehensive data about their soil. “The revival of interest in soil is highly encouraging and much needed. Given the fundamental importance of soil health to the food and agriculture systems, we are excited to support Lars and his team in bringing EarthOptics’ truly disruptive solution to our bank’s global network of farmers, corporates, as well our ecosystem services teams of The Carbon Bank and ACORN,“ according to Pieter van der Meche, Head of RFAIF. “With small margins and unpredictable input prices, farmers are looking for ways to improve productivity,” Dyrud said. “Our product does that in a way that fits seamlessly into individual operations. Farmers no longer must rely on expensive soil analysis from labs. Powerful soil insights from EarthOptics can transform the way decisions are made on the farm.” “EarthOptics is a leading agriculture platform that accurately measures key aspects of soil health,” according to James Ramey of Middleland Capital’s VTC Ventures. “Ranging from compaction levels and nutrients through carbon sequestration, the company is perfectly positioned to deliver strong ROI for growers while advancing climate resilience initiatives.” Recently, the USDA announced EarthOptics as a partner in their Climate Smart Partnership for six separate proposals. With this new momentum, EarthOptics continues to evaluate additional partnerships and work. The announcement comes on the heels of a successful 2022 for EarthOptics, which saw ten times growth in acres covered and partnerships with global food companies. About EarthOptics At EarthOptics, we see soil. Differently. GroundTruth Ag, Inc., dba EarthOptics, was founded in 2018 and has offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Arlington and Blacksburg, Virginia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Fayetteville, Arkansas. EarthOptics is an agricultural technology company developing next-generation soil-sensing technologies that give growers revolutionary insights into the physical characteristics of their soil. EarthOptics beat out three finalists and more than 100 international agtech startup entries to win the AGCO Innovation Challenge Award during the 2021 World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit. We believe that below-ground precision and innovation in the soil space is long overdue. Our ultimate goal is to deliver point-of-care soil health insights – related to physical, chemical, and biological attributes of soil – in real time. To achieve this goal, we have assembled a team with diverse backgrounds in engineering, software development, geospatial analytics, data science, machine learning, and logistics and operations. About Conti Ventures Conti Ventures is an investment team within Continental Grain Company and manages the investment vehicle that is leading this round of financing. Conti Ventures makes venture capital and growth equity investments in early-stage businesses that are using cutting‐edge technology to define the future of food and agriculture. Continental Grain Company (“Conti”) is a privately‐owned global investor, owner and operator of companies with more than 200 years of history across the food and agribusiness spectrum. Conti creates long‐term value by applying deep industry knowledge, capital and talent to businesses ranging from established market leaders to promising innovators. Visit www.continentalgrain.com to learn more. To learn more, visit www.earthoptics.com or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/earthoptics/. Media Contact Erika Poppelreiter (785) 458-2953 [email protected]
Agroberries to Invest ~€40 million to Expand Farming Operations into Morocco and Support European Growth
Agroberries to Invest ~€40 million to Expand Farming Operations into Morocco and Support European Growth November 8, 2022 – It was announced today that Agroberries Limited (“Agroberries”), a leading global vertically integrated producer, marketer and distributor of berries with a best-in-class portfolio of owned and proprietary berry genetic varieties, began operations in Morocco. Agroberries’ farming operations in Morocco will support its fast-growing European marketing platform by complementing its existing offerings for its clients across the United Kingdom and the European Union. As one of the largest berry marketers in the world, the company supplies a broad retail client base from a combination of its own farming operations that span across more than 2,500 hectares globally, and a vast network of third-party growers across all berry categories. The first phase of Agroberries’ strategy in Morocco includes the planting of ~300 hectares of blueberries in three different regions, representing a total investment of €40 million. Planting has begun and will continue through 2023. In the coming years, the company intends to further expand its grower network via licensing of its proprietary varieties with a goal of reaching a total of ~1,000 hectares across berry categories. Jorge Varela, Co-Founder and CEO of Agroberries highlighted, “Our investment in Morocco is a natural next step in our global expansion plan as a leading berry grower and marketer. This move leverages our deep agronomical expertise, partnership approach and will help us to continue supplying our European customers year-round with the highest quality berries.” About Agroberries Founded in 1996, Agroberries is a leading vertically integrated producer, marketer, and global distributor of fresh berries, catering year-round to a blue-chip customer base of leading retailers throughout the world. With headquarters in Chile, and marketing companies in the United States and the Netherlands, the company offers a competitive and top-quality supply of both conventional and organic berries. Agroberries is a globally recognized leader and pioneer in berry production, harvest, and packing techniques. The company owns farms and state-of-the-art packing facilities in both hemispheres and has a strong network of strategic alliances with trusted partners globally. The company’s owners, directly involved as part of the management team are deeply committed to reliability and product quality, and have developed a well-established, controlled, and diversified berry business platform. Visit www.agroberries.cl
Agrolend raised R$ 145 millions in a Series B round lead by Lightrock
Press Release Agrolend raised R$ 145 millions in a Series B round lead by Lightrock. The round will strengthen Agro/end’s capital as the company seeks to build a profitable R$2 billion loan book targeting small/medium-sized farmers. Sao Paulo, November 3rd, 2022 – Agrolend announced today a new funding round (Series B) of R$145 million, led by Lightrock, a global private equity manager with an impact focus that already invested in companies like Creditas, Dock, Frete.com, Buser, Dr. Consulta, Cortex and Konfio. In the Series B round, the company also added new important equity investors, such as Yara Growth Ventures (the venture investment team of Yara, a global leader in crop nutrition), Mago Capital (fund that has the founders of Locaweb as partners), among others. Additionally, the round was followed by all the existing institutional investors: Valor Capital, Continental Grain Company, SP Ventures, Provence Capital and Barn Invest. Agrolend increased its equity (tier 1 capital) to R$220 million and now aims to increase its loan book to R$2 billion in the 2023/2024 crop season reaching a client base of 10 thousand small/medium-sized farmers all over Brazil. Agrolend’s loan book is expected to reach R$250 million by the end of 2022, which represents a growth of lOx when compared to the company’s loan portfolio by the end of 2021. Furthermore, Agrolend raised a new R$150 million securitization vehicle for the loans in the form of a FIAGRO (special investment fund for agribusiness related assets) that brought leading local asset managers such as ITAU AM and JGP as investors. “Agrolend managed to bring together investors with complementary characteristics, joining competences such as growth capital with an impact focus, deep knowledge of the agribusiness sector, global presence, among others. Furthermore, those investors have long-time commitments to invest in Brazil and are willing to invest much more at Agrolend in the following years.”, according to Andre Glezer, co-founder at Agrolend. “This is our first investment in the agribusiness sector in Latin America, and we are very excited with Agrolend’s prospects. We were attracted by a unique combination of a scalable business model that applies technology to provide credit and financial services to growers in a bureaucracy-free, agile, and profitable way.”, explains Gustavo VerdelIi, partner at Lightrock. Digital financial institution focused in credit for farmers Founded less than two years ago by Andre Glezer {CEO), Alan Glezer {CFO), Valeria Bonadio (CCO), Leopoldo Vettor (CTO) and Carlos Fagundes {Head of Sales), Agrolend is focused in supporting millions of Brazilians farmers in the pursuit of the leadership in the global growth of food production. Supported by its 100% digital cloud-native platform, Agrolend offers high scalability to serve this important and massive public in Brazil. Agrolend offers to farmers an easy, fast and bureaucracy-free credit, with the resources being used to buy agribusiness inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. Loans are formalized in a 100% digital manner using the grower’s Whatsapp, and the capital becomes available within very few days. Agrolend has a vast network of more than 100 partners, the majority of those are agribusiness input retailers and industries, and the credit is offered directly at the point of sale what makes the life of the farmer much easier. Outlook for the 2023/24 crop season Before the conclusion of the new funding round {Series B), Agrolend already had a strong cash position of R$75 million and was operating at breakeven. Once approved by the Brazilian Central Bank, Agrolend will operate as a “Sociedade de Credito, Financiamento e lnvestimento” {SCFI) and expects to reach a ROE (return on equity) above 25% for the 2023/24 crop season. Leverage is expected to remain at a comfortable level, and the capital tier 1 ratio should remain close to 18%. Agrolend expects to fund the loans in the 2023/24 crop season by issuing time deposits known as LCA (“Letra de Credito do Agroneg6cio” – special deposit to fund the agribusiness sector) that will be distributed in investing platforms such as XP lnvestimentos (brokered deposits). This kind of time deposit is very attractive for the retail investors given its main characteristics: income tax-free for the individual investor and guaranteed by the FGC (“Fundo Garantidor de Credito” – Brazilian equivalent to the FDIC in the US) up to R$250 thousand per individual investor. Offering a unique combination of growth and profitability for a digital bank, Agrolend aims to reach a leading position in the agribusiness sector. Taking into account this is a market with more than 1 million small/medium-sized farmers and more than R$500 billion in outstanding credit, the founders believe that Agrolend could reach 50 thousand clients and expand the loan book to R$10 billion. Given the strength of the agribusiness and the lack of publicly listed companies for the sector, there is a soaring interest among investors at Agrolend given that it also operates in the junction of three important pillars of the country: agribusiness, technology, and financial services. “The agribusiness sector represents around one third of the Brazilian GDP and offers more growth and resilience than other sectors. Farmers are currently very profitable and we expect a strong expansion of credit in the sector in the coming years. Agrolend and the private banks will be in a favorable position to meet those needs. Nevertheless, small/medium-sized farmers are not properly served by the incumbent private banks and, for this niche, Agrolend will make an important difference”, explains Alan Glezer, co-founder of Agrolend. About Agro/end Agro/end is a financial institution that was born to revolutionize the agribusiness market for small and medium-sized farmers in Brazil, by granting fast, easy and bureaucracy-free credit. The company operates through partnerships with industries and distributors of ag inputs, equipment, and farm implements, and also works with agtechs in the financing of technology. Farmers have access to credit through an electronic platform and operations are originated and formalized in a totally digital environment, just using the smartphone. Agro/end is present in more than 10 Brazilian states and in several segments such as soybeans, corn, coffee, sugar cane, fruits,
Our Chairman and CEO, Paul Fribourg, together with other senior Conti leaders joined the 7th annual Olin Business School Family Symposium
Our Chairman and CEO, Paul Fribourg, together with other senior Conti leaders joined the 7th annual Olin Business School Family Symposium “Building and Evolving a Strategic Family Enterprise: A Deep Look at Conti & the Innovation of Food” at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. The Family Symposium explored how a family enterprise can stay true to its foundation over generations while evolving to match the demands of a fast-changing global economy. The group also examined the strategic role of professionalized non-family members and how Conti has leveraged its robust global network of investors and partners to drive long lasting success across the food and ag sector. Paul Fribourg referred to Conti as a “family in business” as opposed to a “family business” and spoke to this small yet important differentiation that changes the mindset of the entire organization. Paul and Jordana Fribourg touched on Conti’s strategic approach to building a family enterprise and how transformation and relevancy have led to the success of the company today. “We stay true to our core but are ready to be nimble and innovate,” explained Chief Talent Officer, Jordana Fribour. Our leadership team spoke on topics ranging from strategies of families in business, to how to build for longevity and the role of food and ag in driving the Midwest region’s future. We also highlighted the innovation coming out of our Conti Ventures portfolio companies, including Bushel – a software company focused on bringing innovative products and solutions to the agriculture value chain.”
