To help fund the food companies of the future, two tech industry vets are launching a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage food companies founded by underrepresented people, such as women and racial minorities.
Supply Change Capital was founded late last year by Shayna Harris, who is based in Chicago, and Noramay Cadena, who lives in Los Angeles. Their new firm aims to fund a range of pre-seed and seed-stage companies throughout the U.S. operating in the food space, whether they’re making innovative consumer packaged goods or manufacturing sustainable ingredients.
The firm is currently fundraising and Harris wouldn’t disclose the target fund size, citing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. But once Supply Change Capital begins investing, Harris said the firm will be cutting checks up to $1 million.
“Capital is so catalytic. Capital is so powerful,” Harris said. “And who gets capital and how it is allocated determines a lot for what companies get funded and how wealth is built in this country.”
Harris and Cadena met as graduate students at MIT more than a decade ago. Cadena previously worked in product development at Boeing and later became a startup angel investor. Harris was formerly the chief operating officer and later chief growth officer at Farmer’s Fridge, a Chicago food company making healthy vending machines. Since leaving the company last year, Harris said she has also been focused on investing in and advising other food startups.
“I wanted to bring together the experience of building a fast-growth startup in the food-tech space together with this life-long commitment and passion for sustainable agriculture and sustainable food systems,” Harris said.
Between Harris and Cadena, the two have invested as angels, board members, or through previous funds in about 40 food startups across the U.S., including New York-based Omsom; Madison, Wisc.-based Stika Salmon Shares; and New York-based Pathspot, Harris said.
“The statistics are pretty stark in terms of who gets funding,” Harris said. “I saw a very powerful and important opportunity to lead change by raising this fund and bringing some diversity of perspective to how companies get evaluated and who gets funded.”
Besides physical food products, Harris said Supply Change Capital will look to invest in technologies that help people produce, move and access food. She said the firm will invest in tech startups operating in sub-industries, like farming, manufacturing and delivery.
Harris said the firm being co-headquartered in Chicago is ideal for deal flow because of the region’s history of agriculture and food innovation. Chicago is home to major food companies like McDonald’s, Kraft Heinz and US Foods. The Midwest is also home to farms that are responsible for producing much of the country’s food.
Supply Change Capital is just the latest venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups and diverse entrepreneurs to launch in Chicago. Last year, local investor Samara Hernandez launched Chingona Ventures, which has now invested in nearly 20 startups, according to its portfolio.
