The ISIF has committed $32.5m to SOSV V and up to $32.5m to SOSV Ireland Biomanufacturing Fund. SOSV is the most active investor in climate tech, agtech, and carbon emission tech companies globally.
SOSV V is a “sustainable economies fund” and invests globally in the Seed and Series A space. The fund’s investment into companies averages $250k with the ability to participate in follow-on investment and they are very active in Ireland with a large team of over 20 in their Cork office. They have been actively investing in Ireland for over a decade. With their latest fund, SOSV hopes to invest in up to 800 companies globally targeting sustainability of energy systems, food, materials, and healthcare and they completed their fundraising recently for Fund V with $306m of commitments.
The Ireland Biomanufacturing Fund is the second SOSV managed fund that ISIF have committed to This is a later stage fund with a focus on larger Series A/A+ investments ($2-$5m) in precision fermentation and biomanufacturing companies. It will focus on Irish companies or corporate spin outs that wish to scale up in Ireland and International companies wishing to locate in Ireland to scale up their operations for EU and International markets. SOSV have long been active in precision fermentation and biomanufacturing and have invested in this area for over a decade. SOSV’s expertise in the space will help to catalyse the emergence of a biomanufacturing ecosystem in Ireland, assisting Ireland in becoming a leader in sustainable food systems. The Ireland Biomanufacturing Fund has a target size of $65m and SOSV are currently active raising additional capital.
Ireland has a substantial opportunity to leverage our history of animal-based protein production, our fermentation abilities in both the biotech and brewing sectors, our bio-science expertise, and our natural feedstocks in tandem with the cohort of companies that are global leaders in protein production, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals to become a leader in Precision Fermentation. This can assist in the delivery of the sustainable manufacturing of a wide array of materials envisaged in national and EU long term innovation and economic development strategies and assist in the objectives set out in Food Vision 2030 for Ireland to become a world leader in Sustainable Food Systems.
