Indianapolis, December 17, 2008 – Building on the growing life sciences venture capital market in Indianapolis, today agribusiness venture capital firm IN Partners LLC announced the successful initial close of its inaugural $27.8 million MidPoint Food & Ag Fund.
The fund will focus its investments in bio-based products and processes, human wellness, food safety, animal health, environmental technologies and production technologies. With the advent of the MidPoint fund, Indianapolis is now one of only a handful of cities in North America with professional venture capital dedicated to innovations in food and agriculture, and provides yet another demonstration of Indiana’s national stature as one of the top life sciences regions.
The concept for the fund originated in studies conducted by BioCrossroads, which identified the untapped potential of food and agricultural innovations to create attractive financial returns, new businesses and jobs. The Indiana State Department of Agriculture and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation assisted in the development of the fund.
“Indiana’s venture capital market has increased dramatically over the past five years; we have more funds located here and more investments infusing important early funding into our state’s life sciences companies,” said David Johnson, president and CEO of BioCrossroads. “Adding the MidPoint Fund, with its agribusiness focus, to our growing VC community strengthens our position as a national destination for diverse biotech investment opportunities.”
“The United States, particularly the Midwest, hosts the planet’s greatest concentration of public and private research in food and agriculture, yet has very few venture funds focused on exploiting the resulting opportunities. That is the rationale for the MidPoint Funds,” said Ronald Meeusen, managing partner of IN Partners.
Meeusen is an industry research leader and executive manager with experience in agricultural chemicals, field crop and vegetable genetics and development of novel food and renewable industrial components.
“Agribusiness is one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy and has historically been recession proof,” said Andy Ziolkowski, managing partner of IN Partners. “MidPoint will be uniquely positioned to take advantage of the growth of innovative technologies and business opportunities in agribusiness in the Midwest as well as the rest of the United States.”
A 26-year veteran of venture capital investing and merchant banking, Ziolkowski previously served with Whitehead Associates, CS First Boston and Forest Street Capital, and will move to Indianapolis from Connecticut to co-manage the fund.
About MidPoint Food & Ag Fund L.P.
Indianapolis-based MidPoint operates in the U.S. heartland — the greatest concentration of food and agriculture related research on the planet. MidPoint’s management team brings 50 years of experience in venture capital investing and in turning research into successful food and agricultural businesses. For additional information on IN Partners and MidPoint Food & Ag Fund, LP, visit www.midpointvc.com.
About BioCrossroads
BioCrossroads (www.biocrossroads.com) is Indiana’s initiative to grow the life sciences, a public-private collaboration that supports the region’s research and corporate strengths while encouraging new business development. BioCrossroads provides money and support to life sciences businesses, launches new life sciences businesses (Indiana Health Information Exchange, Fairbanks Institute for Healthy Communities, BioCrossroadsLINX, and Datalys Center) expands collaboration and partnerships among Indiana’s life science institutions, promotes science education and markets Indiana’s life sciences industry.