Key Takeaways
- • Nordic Foodtech VC, a Helsinki-based early-stage venture capital firm, announced the first close of its second fund at €40 million toward a total target of €80 million, with backing from institutional investors including Tesi and Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company.
- • The second fund, launched in 2025 as an SFDR Article 8-aligned vehicle, plans to invest in 20–25 companies with initial tickets ranging from €0.5 million to €1.5 million, targeting deep-tech solutions in food and agriculture.
- • Nordic Foodtech VC's first fund deployed €42 million across 18 startups from the Nordics and Baltics, including portfolio companies addressing protein affordability, waste-to-fertilizer conversion, and satellite-based environmental monitoring.
- • The firm focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage ventures solving systemic inefficiencies in global food systems, with particular emphasis on backing university and research institute spinouts where early-stage capital remains scarce.
- • Food industry stakeholders including Valio Pension Fund and Heino Group participated in the second fund's financing, signaling strong sector confidence in deeptech solutions for sustainable agriculture and food production.
Summary
Nordic Foodtech VC, founded in 2019 and based in Helsinki, has secured €40 million at the first close of its second fund, with ambitions to raise a total of €80 million. This represents a significant scaling of the firm's investment activity in European food and agriculture technology, building on the success of its initial €42 million fund launched in 2020.
The second fund, launched in 2025 and structured as an SFDR Article 8-aligned impact vehicle, targets early-stage deeptech companies addressing systemic challenges in the global food system. The fund plans to deploy capital across 20–25 portfolio companies with initial investment tickets ranging from €0.5 million to €1.5 million, with additional capital reserved for follow-on rounds. The investment strategy encompasses pre-seed and seed-stage ventures as well as spinouts from academic and research institutions, where early-stage financing remains difficult to access.
Nordic Foodtech VC's first fund demonstrated the viability of this thesis, investing across 18 startups from the Nordics and Baltics, including notable portfolio companies such as Enifer, Kuva Space, Chromologics, Evodia, ÄIO, Melt&Marble, and Ironic Biotech. These companies address critical food system challenges including affordable protein and fat production, waste valorization into fertilizers, and satellite-based environmental monitoring and resource management.
The second fund's investor base reflects growing institutional confidence in the sector. Institutional backers include Tesi and Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company, while food industry stakeholders Valio Pension Fund and Heino Group also participated, indicating that established food corporations view early-stage deeptech innovation as strategically important. Mika Kukkurainen, partner and founder at Nordic Foodtech VC, stated that "the fundamental need for solutions in the food system hasn't changed," emphasizing the firm's focus on companies solving real industry problems emerging from laboratory research.
This capital raise aligns with broader European momentum in agrifood technology investment, positioning Nordic Foodtech VC as a key consolidator of early-stage deeptech risk capital in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The second fund, launched in 2025 and structured as an SFDR Article 8-aligned impact vehicle, targets early-stage deeptech companies addressing systemic challenges in the global food system. The fund plans to deploy capital across 20–25 portfolio companies with initial investment tickets ranging from €0.5 million to €1.5 million, with additional capital reserved for follow-on rounds. The investment strategy encompasses pre-seed and seed-stage ventures as well as spinouts from academic and research institutions, where early-stage financing remains difficult to access.
Nordic Foodtech VC's first fund demonstrated the viability of this thesis, investing across 18 startups from the Nordics and Baltics, including notable portfolio companies such as Enifer, Kuva Space, Chromologics, Evodia, ÄIO, Melt&Marble, and Ironic Biotech. These companies address critical food system challenges including affordable protein and fat production, waste valorization into fertilizers, and satellite-based environmental monitoring and resource management.
The second fund's investor base reflects growing institutional confidence in the sector. Institutional backers include Tesi and Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company, while food industry stakeholders Valio Pension Fund and Heino Group also participated, indicating that established food corporations view early-stage deeptech innovation as strategically important. Mika Kukkurainen, partner and founder at Nordic Foodtech VC, stated that "the fundamental need for solutions in the food system hasn't changed," emphasizing the firm's focus on companies solving real industry problems emerging from laboratory research.
This capital raise aligns with broader European momentum in agrifood technology investment, positioning Nordic Foodtech VC as a key consolidator of early-stage deeptech risk capital in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
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