Gil Horsky, FooTech expert, interviewd in Foodhack about the founding of FLORA Ventures - AgriFood-Tech VC. Full article: Why this Venturing Executive from 3 of the largest food multinationals launched an AgriFood-Tech Fund in a downturn

1. The market is tough, valuations are down, it’s a hard time to fundraise.
But, it’s also the best time to invest.
With almost 2 decades of corporate and venturing experience behind him at
PepsiCo, Kraft and Mondelēz International, Gil Horsky has decided that now is
the best time to launch a new AgriFood-Tech VC.
Throughout his career in the food industry, he’s seen first-hand the successes
and failures of AgriFood startups. He believes that one of the greatest
opportunities for FoodTech entrepreneurs is to be from the beginning more
commercially focused and problem-orientated in solving unmet needs for the
consumer and industry.
And now he’ll be funding the next generation of AgriFood-Tech startups.
As the Founding Partner of FLORA Ventures.
By investing in European and Israeli AgriFood-Tech startups at the intersection
of planetary and human health, that adhere to the fund’s manifesto of “Good for
People, Kind to the Planet”. From pre-seed to Series A.

2. At FoodHack, we’ve tracked the investments of 100+ VC funds in 2022. So
what’s different about FLORA Ventures?
Gil Horsky spent the last 16 years working around the globe in senior executive
roles at multinational food corporations. So, if there’s anyone who knows how
they think and what it takes to get on their radar for collaboration, venture
investment and M&A, it’s Gil.
And he’s teaming up with Esther Barak Landes, one of the most famous and
successful Israeli early-stage disruptive tech investors in a variety of verticals:
FinTech, AgTech, Healthcare and Digital Transformation.
Who brings a 20 year track record of identifying and investing in early winners,
and then helping them lay the foundations to become a big company that gets
at one point acquired or goes public. Esther also founded the Nielsen Innovate
Fund, an early-stage incubator and fund that specialised in Retail-Tech and
digital media technologies.
Esther and Gil are strong believers that entrepreneurs should surround
themselves with people they enjoy working with. So, as investors they’re looking
to mix approachability and high integrity, while being the right added-value
partners for entrepreneurs when times are good and, more importantly, when
times are tough.

3. And what’s more, FLORA Ventures is backed by top-tier Strategic and
Institutional LP investors and has a bigger network of strategic corporate
partners and advisors from the entire value chain of the AgriFood-Tech industry.
So, founders backed by FLORA Ventures have early access to design partners
who will guide them on industry and consumers' unmet needs, pilot their
technology and be by their side from the very beginning.
Why is corporate know-how an added value for startup founders?
Corporates are very important partners for startups, and can help them
accelerate their time to market especially in the AgriFood-Tech industry, in
which the go-to market can be challenging and takes a long time.
But it can also be challenging to work with corporates, they can be slow to
respond and drain your resources as an entrepreneur if you don’t set-up the right
collaboration framework.
For example: You might have your champion at the corporate, but they can easily
change roles within the company and then you will start from scratch.
Gil has been on that side of the table for almost 2 decades and now he’s ready
to share his experience with entrepreneurs on how to successfully navigate the
corporate world.
According to Gil, it doesn't really matter if you're working with Mondelēz,
Givaudan, PepsiCo, Walmart, Unilever or DSM. They all have a lot of similarities
in the way they think and operate.
Getting on their radar early, building a collaboration framework, making sure it’s
a win-win from day 1 are all important factors for a successful partnership with
Big Food.
And for founders moving along the collaboration process, whether it’s
graduating from a corporate acceleration program, starting a small R&D
collaboration, to getting an investment or even being acquired, it is important to
understand the implications and risks.

4. Where will FLORA Ventures invest next? And how can you get on their radar?
FLORA Ventures invests across pre-seed to Series A, but it has a sweet spot for
leading rounds of seed stage companies who have already received angel or
incubator pre-seed investment of at least €1M.
And they’re targeting investments based on a gameboard of 7 key areas:
• Food as Medicine
• Planet First Tech
• Food Security
• Digitizing the Value Chain
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Personalised Nutrition
• Discovery, Payments and Distribution Tech
With an investment evaluation framework of the 3 P’s:
Backing the best-in-class purpose driven people with big dreams, global
ambitions, and the grit to execute and succeed.
Funding solutions with high growth potential that serve large markets, and that
have the right industry dynamics and regulatory path to deliver outlier returns.
Investing in ventures with purpose to build a healthier, sustainable and more
resilient agrifood tech system that’s aligned with their ESG and impact
guidelines.