China-focused agrifood tech VC Bits x Bites hits final close of fund II at $100m

China-focused agrifood tech venture capital (VC) firm Bits x Bites has held the final close of its second fund at $100 million, exceeding its initial target of $70 million.

Shanghai-based Bits x Bites, which counts Singapore’s Temasek among its investors, previously reached the first close of the fund at $30 million in November 2020.

For the new fund, Bits x Bites attracted capital commitments from new investors like Syngenta Group Ventures, the corporate VC arm of Switzerland’s agricultural science firm Syngenta; animal nutrition company Adisseo; Cavallo Ventures, the VC team of Wilbur-Ellis; and life science firm Esco Lifesciences.

Its limited partners (LPs) also include government-supported investment arms such as DisruptAD, the venture platform of Abu Dhabi-based ADQ, as well as other financial institutions and family offices.

Bits x Bites was founded by Matilda Ho, following a career in agrifood consulting at companies including IDEO and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Shanghai and Washington DC. She is also the founder and CEO of Yimishiji, a Chinese farm-to-table grocery e-commerce platform that integrates digital and physical retail, organic farm tours, cooking studios, and other customer experiences.

Bits x Bites invests across the food supply chain, from precision agriculture, crop, and animal health to protein alternatives and nutrition. With a focus on startups at pre-A Series to B funding stages, the firm claims to screen nearly 1,200 firms annually, roughly half of which are local companies in China.

To date, it has backed startups that are developing gene editing for high-performing crops, agricultural drones, low-GI carbohydrates, and cell-based protein. Bits x Bites said that its portfolios have raised in excess of $460 million after its initial investments.

“The appeal of agrifood investing for the Chinese market goes beyond its mammoth role in the global supply chain or its vibrant tech activities in AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) and biotech,” said Ho, founder and managing director of Bits x Bites, in a statement.

“What is often overlooked is this tech ecosystem’s relentless drive toward cost-based innovations, building solutions to fuel efficiency and to make sustainable and healthy ingredient options more affordable,” she said. “We believe there has never been a better time to be investing in agrifood for China.”

Since the first close of the new fund, Bits x Bites has injected capital into seven new companies. Four of the newly added portfolios are in China: agricultural drone maker EAVision; Mojia Bio, a biomanufacturing firm that produces nutrients for the feed and food industries; as well as two stealth mode firms involving in precision agriculture and precision fermentation, respectively.

The firm has also backed international portfolios through the new fund, including Singapore’s Next Gen, which owns TiNDLE plant-based chicken, and two herbicide discovery companies – MoA in the UK and Enko Chem in the US.