Cargill Ventures dealmaking is poised to increase after a period of portfolio maintenance, with the corporate venture arm recently completing two undisclosed investments and signaling a busier pipeline as agrifoodtech valuations stabilize.
Head of corporate ventures Erin VanLanduit said the most compelling opening is emerging between early startups that still draw capital and later-stage firms with proven revenue. Companies stuck in the middle, attempting to scale from pilot to commercial, face a “second valley of death” where money alone is insufficient. She said corporates can add technical know-how, infrastructure, customer access, and scaling capability to convert promising science into viable businesses.
Cargill Ventures dealmaking and portfolio focus
Established in 2020, the group has made about 20 investments and manages just under 30 holdings. Portfolio companies include microbiome players Infinant Health and AnimalBiome, Voyage Foods in alternative cocoa, digital commodity platform Grao Direto, Bushel in grain trading, Regrow Ag in agricultural software, drone inspection firm Flyability, cultivated meat companies UPSIDE Foods, Wildtype and Aleph Farms, insect agriculture firm Innovafeed, mycoprotein producer ENOUGH Food, digital food fingerprint company ProfilePrint, silk protein company AMSilk, and Andes, which develops microbial seed coatings that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.
The unit has also backed funds, including Health for Life Capital II managed by Seventure Partners and a vehicle managed by Omnivore that invests in agrifoodtech startups in India. VanLanduit said two additional investments remain under wraps: one in a global fund to broaden geographic reach and one in the next-generation food and feed segment.
Investment mandate and stage preferences
VanLanduit said every deal must deliver strategic value to Cargill’s businesses, though most holdings are intended for partnership rather than acquisition. The team concentrates on Series A and B companies, where Cargill can add the most value without overwhelming nascent ventures. Given today’s funding climate, she said, capital is especially needed to bridge pilot-to-market scale for new capabilities and assets.
While there is no fixed deployment target, activity has tracked market conditions. The brisk pace of 2021 and 2022 gave way to a focus on portfolio execution over the past two years. She expects activity to pick up as recapitalizations and down rounds tied to 2021–2022 valuations move into the past.
Speed, governance, and partnering approach
VanLanduit acknowledged startups can be wary of large corporates, so her team works to set expectations and success criteria upfront and to secure strong internal sponsors who champion pilots. Investment processes are streamlined for an organization of Cargill’s size, she said, with commercial teams owning the strategic rationale and the ventures team handling structure and governance.
A ventures board of senior leaders in technology, R&D, corporate development, and IP oversees decisions, and deals can close in roughly 10 to 12 weeks in ideal cases.
Beyond capital: what corporates add
According to VanLanduit, Cargill brings deep technical and scaling expertise that traditional financial VCs typically lack. Returns are assessed through “total value creation,” which includes cash returns and strategic gains such as new revenue streams or enhanced customer relationships from novel capabilities.
Evolving priorities, AI, and enabling tech
Core investment verticals remain next-generation food and feed, human and animal health, a sustainable and regenerative future, smart midstream and digital platforms, and the farm of tomorrow. Within these, the team is prioritizing enablers like automated plant operations and smart supply chains.
AI is evaluated as a horizontal factor across all opportunities, with active testing and piloting to leverage Cargill’s extensive market data. While AI can accelerate discovery and modeling, VanLanduit emphasized the need for real-world piloting and operational expertise to translate concepts into products.
Precision fermentation and protein strategy
The unit is exploring both enabling technologies that improve supply chain and manufacturing efficiency and portfolio additions that meet customer demand. In protein, Cargill is taking an “all of the above” approach spanning cultivated meat, insect agriculture, mycoprotein, and gas fermentation.
VanLanduit said timing and structure are critical, whether investing, partnering, or forming joint ventures. Cultivated meat remains part of the portfolio, though it is not a current emphasis.
Examples of strategic value creation
VanLanduit cited Flyability, whose drone technology, originally developed for chemical and mining sectors, is being used by Cargill’s remote operations teams for hazardous site inspections. That application has helped Flyability expand into food and agriculture.
She also pointed to Voyage Foods, where Cargill serves as exclusive global B2B distributor for its cocoa alternative, combining Voyage’s technology with Cargill’s scale, sourcing, and customer access.
Another example is Infinant Health, which has a microbial strain targeting infant gut health. While initially interesting for early-life nutrition, the company also has potential in pharmaceuticals for pre-term infant gut health, subject to regulatory pathways.
Although pharma is not central to Cargill’s strategy, VanLanduit said Cargill continues to support the company due to confidence in its technology.
Market outlook and the valuation reset
VanLanduit believes most companies tied to 2021–2022 valuations have now completed difficult recapitalizations, setting the stage for renewed activity. She sees robust pipelines at the earliest and latest stages, with corporates best positioned to help mid-stage firms navigate the second valley of death by pairing capital with scale-up capabilities.