Backed by General Mills, MassMutual, and Bank of America, the firm invests in early-stage food technology companies
LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2023 — Supply Change Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in the future of food, today announced the close of its inaugural $40M Fund. One of the largest Latina-led funds, the firm has deployed over $13 million across 15 early-stage food and agriculture technology companies since June 2021. Investments include deep tech food, agriculture and ingredient companies, supply chain technology, and enterprise software. Latinx, Black, and/or Female Founder/CEOs comprise 80% of the portfolio.
“Supply Change Capital represents the future of food and the venture industry,” said Johnny Tran, managing director, 301 INC, the venture capital arm of General Mills. “As a leading investment firm in early stage food and agriculture technology companies, Supply Change Capital has a pulse on the cultural, demographic, and sustainability shifts needed to usher in the next wave of groundbreaking innovations for our industry.”
Limited Partners in Supply Change Capital include 301 INC, MassMutual through its First Fund Initiative, the Office of the Illinois Treasurer through the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, Bank of America, Illumen Capital’s Catalyst Fund, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Supply Change Capital is female and Latina-owned, a rarity in the world of venture capital. According to Pitchbook just 16.1% of venture capital decision-makers are female;1 LatinxVC reports that only 2% of venture capitalists are Latina/Latino.2
“From our intersectional set of investors to our robust portfolio, we’ve seated a venture firm platform that can endure and thrive. Ultimately, each LP, founder, and stakeholder in our community understands the same thing we do: we are on the precipice of a transformative change at the intersection of food, culture, and technology,” said Noramay Cadena, Founder and Managing Partner of Supply Change Capital. “With 40 years of combined operating and investing experience, we’ll be the team leading investments through this evolution to a more inclusive and sustainable food system.”
Supply Change Capital is led by Noramay Cadena and Shayna Harris, two industry veterans who met in business school at MIT Sloan in 2009. With four degrees from MIT and a Fulbright Scholarship between them, the partners have made more than 100 investments to date. Cadena is a mechanical engineer who spent over a decade bringing complex space programs to market at Boeing and then pivoted to venture capital in 2015, investing across sectors and stages. Harris is a sought-after food industry expert, with C-Suite executive leadership and strategy experience in fast-growth food and software startups, and a tenure as a global lead for sourcing and impact at Mars.
Cadena and Harris evaluated the market and uncovered the overlooked and underinvested-in trends that were impacting the $10 trillion global food industry.3
“Supply Change Capital invests in the technologies that underpin a more resilient food system. We invest through the lens of climate and culture, table stakes given the current existential crisis that our planet and society faces,” said Shayna Harris, Founder and Managing Partner of Supply Change Capital. “The food industry is responsible for a third of climate emissions. Multicultural citizens account for nearly all of US population growth; by 2050 there will no longer be a ‘minority’ in the US. However, according to Pitchbook, 98%4 of venture capital dollars go to male founders while Diversity VC estimates that 70% of venture-backed founders are white5, leaving the remaining population nearly untapped for early stage funding and creating a significant opportunity loss for further innovation.”
The Supply Change portfolio illustrates the pivotal opportunity to invest with a sustainability, health, and diversity lens in the food and agriculture industry.
- 100% of the portfolio companies have positive impacts on environmental, health, and/or diversity outcomes.
- 73% are focused on positive environmental outcomes related to the atmosphere, soil health, biodiversity and/or water.
- 60% of the portfolio offers products and services to improve health.
“As an early investor, Supply Change Capital has been an instrumental partner since our pre-seed round,” said Michelle Ruiz of Hyfé, a biotechnology company repurposing food processing wastewater to alternative feedstocks for biomanufacturing. “Noramay and Shayna bring valuable investing, operator, and industry expertise to the cap table. We have recommended other founders to Supply Change and they are one of our strongest investment partners.”
About Supply Change Capital:
Supply Change Capital invests in the future of food. With a lens for culture and climate, investments focus on early stage technology companies that are responding to the seismic shift that is occurring in the $10 trillion global food industry. The firm is women and Latina-owned. Backed by 301 INC (the venture capital arm of General Mills), MassMutual through its First Fund Initiative, the Office of the Illinois Treasurer through the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, Bank of America, Illumen Capital’s Catalyst Fund, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management, they have invested in 15 companies to date out of their debut fund; Latinx, Black, and/or Female Founder/CEOs comprise 80% of the portfolio.
The firm is led by two GPs who combine food domain expertise with tech and investing experience. Noramay Cadena is an aerospace engineer turned investor. She’s been investing for the last 8 years, including as the GP of a micro VC firm that invested in over 20 manufacturing and supply chain companies. Shayna Harris’ career spans two decades as a pioneering operator and visionary builder. As Chief Operating Officer, she built venture-backed Farmer’s Fridge to tens of millions in revenue. As an intrapreneur, she developed the sustainable commodities program at Mars. The duo met in business school in 2009 and share 4 degrees from MIT and +100 investments between them, including 15 in the Supply Change portfolio. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles and Chicago.
Learn more at www.supplychange.fund
1https://files.pitchbook.com/website/files/pdf/2022_All_In_Female_Founders_in_the_US_VC_Ecosystem.pdf
2https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/613a3a58a5faf7d03f5df48f/6157581069a40d7be7375a2d_LatinxVCs_state.pdf
3 https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/food/worldwide
4 https://files.pitchbook.com/website/files/pdf/Q4_2022_PitchBook-NVCA_Venture_Monitor.pdf
5https://venturebeat.com/games/diversity-vc-reports-1-87-of-venture-capital-allocated-to-women-and-minority-owned-startups/
SOURCE Supply Change Capital
