Growth Sustainable Food & Agriculture Funders

The Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) is a programme of the Adaptation Fund, implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator in Munich. It identifies, supports and scales locally rooted climate-adaptation solutions that protect food systems and livelihoods in communities hit by droughts, floods, storms and rising temperatures. AFCIA runs four regional cohorts from 2024 to 2029. Each year focuses on a different region. The first cohort (2024) supported ventures implementing in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The Asia-Pacific sprint (2026) includes ventures in Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines. The third cohort targets Latin America and the Caribbean, with a live call for solutions tailored to climate-adaptation challenges in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Peru. The programme contributes to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). It seeks both low- and high-tech innovations from established legal entities (for-profit, nonprofit, social business, NGO or INGO) that already have a presence in the country of implementation and are at least seed stage. Selected teams join a bootcamp, then can enter a nine-month Sprint with WFP support and equity-free funding. Applications for the LAC cohort close 13 September 2026, 23:59 UTC; only English submissions are accepted.

Adenia Partners is a private markets investment firm focused on growth opportunities across Africa. Founded in 2002, the firm invests in high-potential companies that drive economic development while delivering strong financial returns. With offices across key African markets, Adenia Partners works closely with management teams to scale businesses, improve operational performance, and expand regional footprint. The firm integrates ESG and impact considerations into its investment strategy, with a focus on building resilient businesses that contribute to long-term economic growth on the continent.

Alterfin is a Belgian social cooperative that finances social enterprises worldwide, focusing on microfinance institutions and sustainable smallholder agriculture organizations. With nearly 6,000 cooperative members, they invest in organizations that help the most disadvantaged people develop economic activities and generate sustainable incomes across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The organization operates as a cooperative financed by individuals and companies, offering everyone an investment opportunity to generate positive social, environmental, and economic impact. Their mission centers on what they call "Human Yield" - a return measured in improved lives, dignity, resilience, and humanity rather than just financial returns. Alterfin has established itself as a significant player in the impact investment ecosystem over 30 years of operation, with 70.8 million euros in capital and a diverse membership base of 5,711 individual cooperative members and 190 companies and organizations. Their approach enables people to invest in entrepreneurs and farmers they might never meet but whose lives change through access to opportunities in regions where traditional banking channels don't exist or don't meet micro-entrepreneurs' needs.

Aqua-Spark is a Netherlands-based global investment fund dedicated to building a sustainable aquaculture industry. The firm invests across the entire seafood value chain, backing companies that improve how fish and other aquatic species are farmed, fed, and distributed. With a long-term, systems-level approach, Aqua-Spark partners with entrepreneurs to address critical challenges in aquaculture, including environmental impact, animal health, and resource efficiency. Its mission is to make sustainable seafood accessible and scalable while supporting the transition to a more resilient global food system.

Athar Investment Fund is a Morocco-based impact investment fund focused on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that drive inclusive economic growth. The fund targets businesses that create jobs, strengthen local industries, and expand access to opportunity across Morocco and the broader North African region. Through a hands-on investment approach, Athar partners with entrepreneurs to scale operations, improve governance, and unlock long-term value. Its strategy aligns financial performance with measurable social and economic impact, particularly in underserved communities.

Builders Vision is an investment and philanthropy platform founded by Lukas Walton, focused on scaling solutions across food and agriculture, energy, and ocean systems. The platform combines venture capital, private equity, and philanthropic capital to drive large-scale environmental and social outcomes. Through its integrated model, Builders Vision supports entrepreneurs, funds, and initiatives working to transform global systems. Its approach is rooted in long-term partnerships, market transformation, and deploying flexible capital to accelerate sustainable innovation.

The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is an autonomous intergovernmental financial institution established within the United Nations framework. Established in 1989 with its first project approved in 1991, the CFC provides impact finance to small and medium enterprises, cooperatives, and governments in the commodity sector across developing countries. The organization focuses on creating economic opportunities and unlocking potential in commodity value chains, with particular attention to least developed countries and vulnerable markets. With 101 Member States and 9 Institutional Members, the CFC operates through various mechanisms including direct project financing, technical assistance, and specialized funds like the ACT Fund for climate-resilient agricultural systems.

EcoEnterprises Fund is an impact investment fund that has pioneered investing in nature-based solutions for over two decades. The fund uses tailored financial instruments including mezzanine equity and debt to drive growth in companies focused on natural climate solutions that preserve biodiversity while contributing to local economies in Latin America. Their investment portfolio spans regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, certified forestry, circular systems, blue economy, ecotourism, and emerging climate-tech opportunities. With a track record of generating $3.1 billion in sales, supporting over 150,000 smallholder farmers, benefiting 823,000+ local people, and protecting 24.9+ million acres, EcoEnterprises Fund demonstrates measurable impact. The fund emphasizes gender-inclusive and women-led companies, particularly those collaborating with Indigenous communities to boost incomes and create more equitable societies. As a certified B Corp and ImpactAssets 50 Emeritus Fund, they maintain high standards of social and environmental impact.

Finance Earth is a UK-based impact investment firm and FCA-regulated fund manager focused on unlocking private capital for conservation, climate solutions, and community development. The organization designs and manages innovative environmental finance vehicles that help scale projects delivering measurable benefits for nature, climate, and people. Founded on the belief that philanthropy and public funding alone cannot address global environmental challenges, Finance Earth develops blended finance structures that attract institutional, philanthropic, and private investors into high-impact environmental projects. The organization works across fund management, advisory services, and accelerator programs to create investment opportunities that support biodiversity restoration, sustainable land use, natural capital, climate resilience, and community prosperity. Through its specialist expertise in environmental markets and impact investing, Finance Earth helps governments, nonprofits, businesses, and investors build financing models that generate both environmental outcomes and sustainable financial returns.

The Green Accelerator (GA) is a Hong Kong–hosted, philanthropy-funded nonprofit platform that prepares scalable, bankable green projects in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). It launched in 2026 at the Hong Kong Green Finance Association Annual Forum, with backing referenced in the Hong Kong SAR Government’s 2026–27 Budget. GA is built around the climate-finance “bankability gap”: many technically viable green projects in the Global South never reach financial close because they lack project preparation, proven operating models, and documentation that meet the investment criteria of multilateral development banks, sovereign wealth funds, and international commercial banks. The platform uses philanthropic capital for design, preparation, technical assistance, and capacity building so proven technologies can be assembled into investable portfolios. Work is organized across energy transition, sustainable food systems, circular economy, and water and climate resilience. A Steering Committee of founding members sets strategy; a secretariat and regional teams run day-to-day operations. Founding members named at launch include the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, the HKSAR Environmental Protection Department, GenZero, the Institute of Finance and Sustainability, the Silk Road Fund, and HSBC. The initiative is hosted by Sprinkles (HK) Charity Foundation, a Section 88 tax-exempt charity registered in Hong Kong, with listed office locations in Hong Kong, London, and Singapore.

Icehouse Ventures is a New Zealand venture capital firm backing Kiwi founded companies with the potential to scale into global markets. The platform traces its roots to Ice Angels, launched in 2003 as New Zealand’s first angel investment network. It raised its first fund in 2013 and formally became Icehouse Ventures in 2019, when Simplicity KiwiSaver, Jarden, and Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 joined as shareholders. Today, Icehouse Ventures manages a range of investment vehicles spanning pre seed through pre IPO, supported by a co investor network of more than 3,000 investors. The firm says it has invested more than $800 million across more than 390 Kiwi founded companies. Its portfolio includes some of New Zealand’s better known technology companies, including Halter, Crimson Education, Sharesies, Partly, Hnry, Dawn Aerospace, Tracksuit, Tradify, Ethique, Basis, Fuel50, and Spalk, alongside international investments such as Wayve, Substack, and Nuro. Growth Fund III is currently being marketed as an open investment vehicle. Icehouse Ventures is a generalist technology investor rather than a dedicated climate fund, but sustainability is part of its broader investment framework. The firm publishes a Responsible Investment Policy aligned with the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, and Principal Bex Gidall leads both the Arc Fund and Sustainable Technologies Fund. Its climate and impact related portfolio includes companies such as Neocrete, which develops additives designed to reduce cement use in concrete, and Ethique, a solid personal care brand focused on reducing packaging waste.

The Rockefeller Foundation is one of the world’s largest and most influential philanthropic organizations, focused on advancing human well-being through large-scale investments in energy access, food systems, health, economic opportunity, climate resilience, and emerging technologies. Founded in 1913, the foundation partners with governments, nonprofits, corporations, and local communities to tackle systemic global challenges through innovative finance, data, and technology-driven solutions. The foundation is known for making ambitious “big bets” aimed at improving the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide, particularly in underserved and economically vulnerable communities.

Root Capital is a nonprofit social investment fund that partners with small and growing agricultural businesses to increase farmer livelihoods, fight climate change, uplift women, employ youth, and build rural prosperity. They provide credit tailored to agricultural enterprises' needs, along with free capacity building training, farming resources, and other support services to help these businesses develop and scale. Their mission is to grow rural prosperity and build the resilience of farming families around the world, with a vision of thousands of rural businesses supporting a thriving agricultural sector. They operate through four key pathways: Access to Finance, Climate Action, Women's Empowerment, and Next Generation Jobs, supporting the early development of agricultural enterprises because they believe these businesses can raise up whole communities. Since 1999, Root Capital has been creating transformative impact in some of the world's most vulnerable rural areas across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. They have positively impacted the lives of over 10 million people in farming communities, demonstrating their significant role in fostering sustainable agricultural development and rural economic growth. Their 25-year track record positions them as a key player in the agricultural impact investing ecosystem.

S2G Ventures is a multi-stage investment firm focused on venture and growth-stage businesses across food & agriculture, oceans, and energy sectors. With over 11 years of track record and $2.8 billion in assets under management, S2G has built a portfolio of over 120 companies driving system-wide change. The firm operates at the seams of sector transition, recognizing that their focus areas, food & agriculture, oceans, and energy, are highly interconnected, commodity-driven, and policy-sensitive with commonly hard-to-abate emission challenges. S2G challenges the typical siloed approach to investing by tapping into similar market dynamics to identify scalable solutions that help change the system rather than just driving positive outcomes.

Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund is a collaborative, multi-donor impact fund dedicated to accelerating solutions that support a healthy and thriving ocean. Administered through ImpactAssets, the fund combines impact investing, grantmaking, education, and community building to support innovative approaches to ocean conservation and restoration. Sea Forward focuses on sustainable aquaculture, biodiversity protection, climate resilience, circular economy solutions, regenerative nature-based approaches, and science-based monitoring technologies. Through both investments and grants, the fund supports entrepreneurs, nonprofits, researchers, and ecosystem builders working to address some of the most pressing challenges facing marine environments and coastal communities. Beyond capital deployment, Sea Forward serves as an ocean impact learning community, bringing together philanthropists, impact investors, scientists, conservation leaders, and innovators to foster collaboration, share knowledge, and accelerate positive change for the ocean. The fund is led by marine biologist and ocean conservation advocate Laura Francis, whose decades of experience in marine education and conservation inform the fund’s strategic approach.

Steward is a mission-driven lending platform that provides flexible financing to regenerative farms and agriculture businesses focused on transforming local food systems. They partner with human-scale producers including farms, ranches, fisheries, and food producers who are implementing sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices. Their mission is to promote environmental and economic stewardship through regenerative agriculture by bridging the funding gap that many sustainable producers face when trying to access capital. Steward operates a community-lending platform that connects mission-driven lenders with agricultural projects, allowing individuals to participate in secured, interest-bearing loans that support regenerative businesses. Steward plays a crucial role in the regenerative agriculture ecosystem by championing the "unsung stewards" who are proving there's a more sustainable way to produce food while taking responsibility for soil health and local communities. They matter because they're addressing a critical need in the agricultural sector where human-scale producers struggle to access traditional financing, thus enabling the growth and scaling of regenerative practices that benefit both environmental and economic outcomes.

The UNICEF Venture Fund is UNICEF’s innovation investment vehicle that provides equity-free funding and support to early-stage frontier technology startups in emerging markets. The fund invests in open source solutions that have the potential to improve outcomes for children and young people globally. Focused on technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, climate technology, digital public infrastructure, data systems, and emerging technologies, the fund backs entrepreneurs building scalable solutions in countries where UNICEF operates. Beyond funding, portfolio companies receive mentorship, technical assistance, and access to UNICEF’s global network of partners, experts, and country offices. A core differentiator of the UNICEF Venture Fund is its commitment to open source technology and Digital Public Goods, ensuring that innovations can be adapted, reused, and scaled to benefit communities worldwide. Since launching, the fund has supported startups across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and other emerging technology ecosystems.

Unreasonable Group is a Colorado-based international company that partners with growth-stage entrepreneurs solving pressing global challenges through capital, community, and storytelling. They operate a Fellowship program that handpicks and privately invites the world's most compelling solutions, focusing on five key verticals: Energy & Environment, Food & Water, Health, and other sectors aimed at transitioning into a more resilient and regenerative economy. Their mission centers on creating trusted partnerships and moving capital to ensure a better future, believing in the power of business and finance to drive lasting, scalable change. They build trust across growth-stage entrepreneurs, institutions, and investors by channeling exclusive deal-flow to investors and partnering with institutions to discover profit in solving global problems. Unreasonable Group has established itself as a significant force in the impact ecosystem, striving to become the world's most trusted community in service of a more connected and regenerative economy. Their approach of focusing on scaling what works has created a substantial network that operates across multiple countries and industries, demonstrating that reasonable ideas seldom change anything while unreasonable ones drive progress.

Verlinvest is an international, family-backed evergreen investment company founded in Brussels in 1995 by AB InBev family shareholders. It partners with entrepreneurs building category-defining consumer brands across food, beverage & FMCG, health, consumer technology, and lifestyle. Portfolio companies have included Oatly, Vita Coco, Tony's Chocolonely, Who Gives A Crap, and Chewy.