Helsinki-based Nordic Foodtech VC, an early-stage investor, announced the first closing of its second fund at €40M. The final target size for the fund is €80M.
The second fund is backed by institutional investors such as Tesi and Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company, and by food industry stakeholders such as Valio Pension Fund and Heino Group.
Additionally, the Finnish VC will continue to lead the early seed and pre-seed rounds in the Nordics and Baltics and co-invest in the rest of Europe with ticket sizes ranging from €0.5 up to €2M.
With the first closing of the second fund at €40M, Nordic Foodtech VC doubles its total capital managed. The fundraising will continue towards the €80M target for final closing.
Collaboration with universities
The fund will continue to collaborate closely with universities and research institutions, especially in the Nordics and Baltic countries, to find the best ideas, teams, and technologies that have potential for global scaling.
Talking about collaborating with universities to Silicon Canals, Louise Heiberg, Partner at Nordic Foodtech VC. says, “Most significant solutions are born out of scientific discovery. The close collaboration we have with research institutions gives us a strong deal flow of fresh companies equipped with toolkits that the market has never seen before. Often we help and mentor the teams already long before a company is incorporated.”
The VC’s portfolio tackles important industry problems by creating affordable protein ingredients, functional fats and oils, natural food colors, and aroma compounds.
It also captures nutrients from wastewater and turns waste into fertilisers. Plus, it provides valuable insights about farming and the environment using satellite imaging.
“We work with research institutions and the industry to identify specific needs and challenges where a technological solution would create both significant value in the near term and positive impact towards climate, environment, or human health in the long run. We are not locked into market problems beforehand, but keep all opportunities open as we look for great companies to invest in,” explains Louise.
The VC’s first fund successfully invested in 18 companies from the Nordics and Baltics, including Finnish Enifer and Kuva Space, Danish Chromologics and Evodia, Estonian ÄIO, Swedish Melt&Marble and Ironic Biotech.
“The first fund has invested in companies developing new ingredients from affordable alternatives to cacao to natural food colors and aroma compounds, new low-capex concepts for on-land fish farming, satellite technology to gather daily hyperspectral data from the fields and molecules to enable fortification of foods with bioavailable iron,” adds Louise.
Spotting the right one: From research to global impact
Explaining about identifying the startup, Louise Heiberg says, “You can never really know. But one definitely learns to identify the companies that have the best starting point.”
She also believes that a deep understanding of a critical challenge in agriculture or the food industry is essential, along with a solution that delivers real, measurable value, without relying on trends like green premiums or changes in consumer behavior.
“Some kind of proof of concept for a unique and protectable technology is important. And of course, nothing happens without a capable and motivated team,” she adds.
When evaluating university spinouts, it’s important to validate the technology with industry players to make sure it addresses a scalable, real-world problem, says Louise.
“A spin-out company does not need to have a full commercial team in place from the beginning, but the team does need to have the best brains on board to build the technology further and be open to onboarding new skills and expertise,” she says.
Nordic Foodtech VC: Focused on solutions for agriculture and the food industry
Based out of Helsinki, Nordic Foodtech VC is the first Nordic VC fund focused on tangible solutions for agriculture and the food industry.
The firm manages two funds, a €42M fund launched in 2020 and a second, SFDR article 8 aligned fund, launched in 2025.
Nordic Foodtech VC invests in pre-seed and seed-stage companies creating positive impact by solving business-critical problems from the soil to the orbit and from new sources of protein to better ways of eating.
The team, based in Helsinki and Copenhagen, operates across Europe with focus on research-spinouts in the Nordics and Baltics.
“We invest in planet-sized business opportunities in bite-sized chunks. With our whole team’s experience and expertise in investing in this sector, we are able to spot early on the startups that are solving tangible enough to generate good returns within a fund cycle. We are excited to continue supporting both existing and new portfolio companies in their growth paths that all together build towards a food system that fits in the planetary boundaries,” concludes Lauri Reuter, Partner at Nordic Foodtech VC.
