Anterra Capital Hits $100M First Close for Fund III

Jan de Vries · 2026-06-15

Anterra Capital, an Amsterdam-based venture firm that focuses on food and agriculture, just hit a major milestone. It announced the first close of its Fund III at $100 million, with a target of $200 million. ### Who's Backing the Fund? The investor lineup reads like a who's who of the industry. It includes Rabobank, Novo Holdings, and Zoetis, plus operators who collectively farm over 13 million acres. You've also got leaders from some of the world's biggest CPG, bakery, produce logistics, and food retail businesses. "The vote of confidence from our investor base is what gives this close its weight," said Adam Anders, Partner at Anterra Capital. "The combination of leading global asset managers, the institutions that know our sector backwards, and the operators who farm millions of acres all backing the same thesis is an unrivalled force." ### A Decade of Discipline Founded in 2013, Anterra invests in companies that apply life-science and software innovations to food and agriculture. It now manages over $500 million across three funds. Its first two funds generated multiple exits, including one of the largest ever in early-stage veterinary medicine, a Nasdaq IPO, and several acquisitions by industry leaders. ### The Big Picture: Food and Ag by the Numbers Food and agriculture is the world's largest industry, valued at roughly $10 trillion. It employs about 1.3 billion people—nearly 40% of the global workforce. Global investment in food and ag tech hit a record $52 billion in 2021, but then crashed to around $16 billion, close to 2016 levels. What happened? A lot of generalist capital went into flashy but capital-heavy ventures that didn't scale: indoor vertical farms, plant-based processed meat alternatives, and 10-minute grocery delivery. That bubble has burst. ### Why This Time Is Different Anterra's approach is different. It backs science-backed companies with real unit economics, designed to scale through existing industry channels. As the hype fades, disciplined specialists like Anterra are stepping in. Maarten Goossens, Partner at Anterra Capital, explained: "The firm has now successfully navigated two capital cycles in food and agriculture. Each one rewarded the same discipline: backing companies that deliver real returns. What's different this time is that the real-world industries we operate in—large, complex, and historically resistant to change—are now ready to be rewired, and the tools to do it have arrived." ### The AI Revolution in Food and Ag AI's impact is hitting hardest in industries the last generation of software never reached: those still relying on manual workflows, fragmented data, and analog infrastructure. Food and agriculture are the biggest of these. Anterra points to two engines firing at once: - Vertical AI, the fastest-growing category in enterprise tech, with investment tripling in a single year, is finally digitizing how these industries operate. - In biology, AI is compressing R&D timelines, shrinking teams, and slashing the capital needed to reach a first commercial milestone. This combination is unlocking opportunities that were previously out of reach for venture capital. Anterra has spent twelve years building the knowledge and relationships to deploy into both. ### What's Next With valuations reset and AI transforming the economics of building in software and biology, Anterra believes the moment has finally arrived to deploy its thesis at scale. Its core modus operandi is company-building, and it's now positioned to do just that.