Avrio Capital to raise new $125 mln agriculture fund

Canadian venture capital firm Avrio Capital is planning to raise a new fund focused on investing in innovative agriculture and food companies, The Globe and Mail reported.

The report said Avrio is targeting $125 million for the new fund – a larger size than its previous funds, which have ranged between $75 million and $100 million. Backers of Avrio’s previous funds include Alberta Investment Management Co, Export Development Canada and Farm Credit Canada.

Based in Calgary, and with offices in Montréal and Toronto, the firm has invested in 65 transactions since its founding in 2006.

Avrio was active in a number of major deals in 2013, including the financing of Sulvaris‘ new Vitasul production facility in central Alberta, an investment alongside Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in San Francisco-based agricultural technology company VoloAgri, and its investment in Hortau, a St-Romuald, Québec-based specialist in irrigation solutions.

Last week, peHUB Canada reported that Avrio would gain an exit from the sale of Wolf Trax, a Winnipeg-based manufacturer of plant nutrition products. The company is being sold to Compass Minerals for $95 million.

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