The Netherland’s second largest banking and financial services firm has recently announced a £69.9 million injection into their venture fund arm Rabo Frontier Ventures, bringing their fund to a total value of £129,5 million.
Managing partner, Harrie Vollaard, has headed innovation at the Dutch bank for 9 years, and feels positive about the development.“With more than ten investments in two years, it was time to broaden our horizon further. We see many opportunities all across the globe to invest in companies who align with our strategy of sustainable growth. With our knowledge, network and capital we help ambitious companies to reach the next level.”
Rabo Frontier Ventures intends to use the capital to set up shop in hubs with an innovative mindset outside of the Netherlands, quoting San Francisco, Singapore and Tel Aviv as the strongest possibilities. “We can add value in these innovation hotspots with the assets of Rabobank”, stressed Harrie in a recent press release, referring to the bank’s acumen in food and agricultural business. Their arrival will likely come as welcoming news for decisive Fintech and Agritech startups determined on becoming scale-ups.
Agritech is quickly growing resemblance to Fintech, with larger than life fund raises and tech range which includes robotics, drones, smart machines for agriculture, intelligent crop monitoring, biotech, crop protection hydroponics, farm management software, and even next generation sequencing.
Recent Rabobank Ventures investments
we.trade: Currently the largest blockchain-based digital trade financing company in production, we.trade gives companies access to unprecedented market reach for their international trade needs across 13 countries. The firm currently counts CaixaBank, Erste Group, UBS, Rabobank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Nordea, Santander, Societe Generale and UniCredit as clients or partners.
Peak: investment app which rounds the amount of a user’s transactions down to the next euro and invests the change.
Tellow: an automated accounting app directly linked to a user’s bank account which lets them know when their invoices are paid and automatically processes scanned receipts.
Facturis: an online platform that contributes to optimizing the financial situation of large, medium and small businesses in the Netherlands.
GoCredible: A conditional payment solution specially developed for online platforms, marketplaces and webshops.
Komgo: A blockchain based open platform which digitalises the trade and commodities finance sector.
ProducePay: Provides financial resources, tech tools, and data insights for produce growers, distributors, shippers and marketers.
JoinData: Data platform which offers financial and technical data opportunities for agricultural companies.
