Future Food Fund Research
Investment Thesis
Future Food Fund (FFF) is a specialist food and agriculture impact fund based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. It backs early-stage companies in Western Europe that change the value chain of food and agriculture. The firm frames its mission around the planetary boundaries work led by Johan Rockström: food production drives roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss and land-use change, and creates large nitrogen, phosphorus and freshwater pressure. FFF argues that innovation in food systems can turn them from the cause of overstretched boundaries into the solution. It adds capital, knowledge and network to founders pursuing that goal.
Impact is built into the process. The firm developed its own impact methodology, applied at deal screening, value creation and portfolio management, and ties it to its own impact carry. Fund II is classified SFDR Article 9, so every portfolio company is selected for a measurable contribution to environmental impact and food system transformation.
Focus Categories
Both funds concentrate on three interconnected categories:
- Sustainable farming: biological crop protection, seed innovation and genome editing, digital soil monitoring, yield prediction, autonomous or AI-driven farming systems.
- Resilient supply chains: demand and supply matching, sourcing transparency and traceability, carbon footprinting and verified insetting, waste reduction.
- Sustainable food development: precision fermentation, cell-based production and bioprocessing, upcycled ingredients, bio-based or compostable packaging.
Stage Focus and Check Size
The firm invests at Seed to Series A in Europe. The portfolio also includes pre-seed rounds (Mycoverse raised a EUR 2.4M pre-seed). Check size is not published. With EUR 40M in Fund II across a portfolio of roughly ten companies, initial tickets are likely low single-digit millions of euros, but this is inference, not stated by the firm.
Funds and Recent Activity
- Future Food Fund I: EUR 15M, launched 2017, SFDR Article 8, supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RvO). Dutch early-stage focus. Exits include NoPalm Ingredients and Foamplant.
- Future Food Fund II: EUR 40M, launched 2022, SFDR Article 9, closed February 2024. Investors include the European Investment Fund, Wageningen University and Research, NOM and Oost NL, plus entrepreneurs, family offices and institutions. The operation is supported by the EU under InvestEU.
Recent activity from the firm's news feed: Agreenculture raised EUR 6M (December 2025), TRACT raised an EUR 18.6M Series A (October 2025), Proba raised EUR 1.25M (January 2026), Foodforecast raised an EUR 8M Series A (March 2026), Mycoverse raised an EUR 2.4M pre-seed (2026), and Clear.bio raised EUR 1.7M (September 2025). PitchBook lists VitalFluid as the latest investment in August 2026. The firm published its Impact Report 2025 in June 2026. Fund II appears to be actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
Fund II (2022 to 2026): Mycoverse, Agreenculture, TRACT, Proba, Hemav, Foodforecast, OlsAro, VitalFluid, Extracellular, Plantik, and EV Biotech (marked "we tried"). Fund I: NoPalm Ingredients (exited), Pieter Pot, Pectcof, Sensoterra, Foamplant (exited), AvL Motion, Clear.bio, mOOvement, Soilwise, Phenospex. Companies span Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Team
- Jeroen Kimmels, Founding and Managing Partner: grandson of farmers, long career at food and agri focused Rabobank.
- Jaap Strengers, Managing Partner: background across consulting, start-ups, foundations and corporates.
- Peter Arensman, Founding Partner: lifelong entrepreneur who founded the Future Food Funds.
- Kim Wagenaar, Partner: PhD on microfinance and jobs in impact VCs focused on renewable energy and sustainable food; strategy consulting.
- Silla Scheepens, Partner: B2C marketing and strategy background.
Decision Process and Lead Tendency
The partnership operates as a team of five partners with an investor base that engages personally with founders. Whether it leads or follows is not stated; the portfolio news mentions co-investors but not lead roles, so lead tendency is unknown. Warm intro is not required: the site has a "send us your deck" form.
Founder Preferences
Ambitious early-stage founders with technology-driven solutions and measurable environmental impact. The team pitches itself as specialist F&A investors with farming, growing, logistics, seeds, sourcing and pest-control networks, plus M&A, corporate finance, strategy consulting and B2C marketing experience. They describe themselves as "up-close and personal": present when founders build, fail, scale or sell.
Geographic Focus
Western Europe and North West Europe, with portfolio companies in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the UK. Fund I was Netherlands-only.