From peHUB:
Possibly some tangential relationship:Cultivation Sandbox Venture Partners isn’t your typical VC operation. For one, with partners in Chicago and Indiana, it’s quite a distance from the West and East Coast venture capital hubs. For another, with a focus on agricultural technology, Cultivation’s partners are targeting a sector that has historically attracted only a tiny portion of VC dollars.
Yet the firm has made some progress cultivating limited partners’ interest, with an exit under its belt and another portfolio company in registration for an IPO. This week, partners disclosed in a securities filing that they also have raised $58 million toward a planned $200 million fund, Cultivian Sandbox Food & Agriculture Fund II.
The fund brings together expertise from two venture investors: Cultivation Ventures and Sandbox Industries. Cultivation, based in Carmel, Indiana is an agriculture-focused venture firm founded in 2008 by Ron Meeusen, a former biotech research executive, and Andrew Ziolkowski, a banker and life science investor. First operating under the name MidPoint Food & Ag Fund, the two raised about $28 million for their first fund to invest in such areas as animal health, food safety, pest control and biomass-based fuel.
Sandbox, based in Chicago, builds businesses internally through an incubator program and also makes external investments, mostly at the early stage. The firm makes these investments out of an $18.8 million fund, according to its website. In addition to agriculture, Sandbox is heavily involved in healthcare. The firm invests in emerging companies deemed of strategic relevance to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association through a pair of dedicated funds....MORE
Venture Capital Down on the Farm
Venture Capital: "Selling Agriculture 2.0 to Silicon Valley"
Silicon Valley to Focus on Ag in Central Valley and Beyond
"Yup, I used to raise corn for ethanol. But then the topsoil blew away and I couldn't even get enough juice to run my tractor or get drunk on Saturday. Then this stranger came to town. Ordered something called a 'la-tay' and called himself a 'vee-cee.' Said he'd give me $20 million to come to Californee and herd algae. So we packed up our furniture in his little toy car and came west. Now I've got a regular bonanza of the slimy critters and the kids got shoes. Hain't looked over my shoulder back east since."
-from our post "Algaen Gothic"
