Tenacious Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Tenacious Ventures is Australia's first and only specialist agrifood tech venture capital firm. Founded in 2019 by Sarah Nolet and J Matthew Pryor, the firm operates at the intersection of capital, innovation, adoption, and systems change, aiming to accelerate the transition to a resilient, regenerative agri-food future. Their thesis holds that Australia has an unrealised competitive advantage in agtech given its scale, harsh growing conditions, and sophisticated primary production base, and that solving for Australian farming conditions (drought resilience, remote-operations automation, low-connectivity environments) produces technology exportable to agriculture globally. The firm explicitly looks beyond software, with stated expertise in hardware, supply chains, and manufacturing.
Sector Focus
The portfolio spans several agrifood sub-themes the firm names internally: Lower Intensity Production (precision and autonomous farm equipment, non-chemical weed and pest control), Enhanced Natural Capital (carbon and natural-capital measurement and finance), Embedded Finance & Risk (agri-supply-chain fintech), Waste & Resource Recovery (organic waste processing, bio-based materials), Democratized Infrastructure (modular and decentralized production systems), and Sustainable Protein (alternative and cell-based protein, livestock genetics).
Stage Focus
Tenacious invests at Pre-Seed and Seed, positioning itself as a founder's first institutional check in the agrifood category, with selective follow-on participation in later rounds (e.g., Nbryo's growth raise).
Check Size
Typical initial checks run roughly $200K-$1M AUD, scaling with follow-on reserves for winners; larger portfolio rounds (e.g., Agovor's AU$3M pre-seed, Nbryo's AU$10M raise) are typically syndicated with co-investors rather than solely Tenacious-funded.
Lead Tendency
Mixed: the firm has led rounds outright (Agovor) and co-led alongside other institutional investors (Nbryo, with AgriZeroNZ and QIC).
Recent Activity
Tenacious closed its debut fund, Fund I, oversubscribed at AU$35M in mid-2021 (cornerstoned by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Grok Ventures), then began deploying Fund II with an AU$18M first close in June 2024 against an AU$50M target, backed by CEFC, Grok Ventures, Robyn Denholm's Wollemi Capital, Carol Schwartz's Trawalla Group, Macdoch Ventures, and Hutcheon and Pearce. Since inception the firm reports investing AU$23M+ across its portfolio, which has gone on to attract AU$240M+ in follow-on capital. Most recent disclosed deals: Agovor's AU$3M pre-seed (February 2026, Tenacious's second Fund II investment) and Nbryo's AU$10M raise (closed November 2025).
Portfolio Highlights
Thirteen active portfolio companies span autonomous farm robotics (Agovor, SwarmFarm Robotics), non-chemical weed control (Azaneo), natural-capital and agri-finance platforms (Cecil, Geora), bio-based materials (Earthodic), decentralized waste processing (Goterra), green ammonia production (Jupiter Ionics), livestock genetics (Nbryo), modular indoor production (Phyllome), AI-driven pest detection (RapidAIM), regenerative-agriculture measurement (Regrow), and cultivated meat (Vow Food).
Team
- Sarah Nolet, Managing Partner - globally recognised food systems innovation expert; has developed agtech strategy for Australian organizations and startups.
- J Matthew Pryor, Founding Partner - serial agtech entrepreneur across Australia and the US with experience building, scaling, and exiting companies.
- Vela Georgiev, COO - engineer and operations leader with a track record scaling global businesses.
- Maddie Mitchell, Investment Principal - deep agricultural sciences background connected to Australian farming.
- Simon Uzcilas, Independent IC Member - 25+ years investing in venture and growth companies across tech, life science, food, and manufacturing.
- Adam Taylor, Insights Lead - mechatronic engineering background with commercialization and strategy consulting experience across the agri-food value chain.
Decision Process
The firm maintains a formal investment committee that includes at least one independent (non-partner) IC member, indicating a structured committee-based decision process rather than solo-GP or informal partnership sign-off.
Founder Preferences
Tenacious backs founders solving practical problems specific to Australian (and comparable) farming conditions - drought resilience, automation for remote/low-labor operations, and technology built to work in low-connectivity environments - and is comfortable with hardware- and supply-chain-heavy business models, not just software.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Australia, with at least 80% of Fund I capital required to go to Australian-domiciled startups; the firm has also invested outside Australia into adjacent markets, such as New Zealand-founded Agovor.