Gil Horsky in an interview on FoodHack

1. Why this Venturing Executive from 3 of the largest food multinationals launched
an AgriFood-Tech Fund in a downturn
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 savvy 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 all underpinned by deep-tech. From pre-seed to Series A.
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, what it
takes to get on their radar for collaboration, investment and M&A, it’s Gil Horsky.
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
and Digital Transformation. Who brings a track record of 20 years 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 specialized in Retail-
Tech and media technologies.

2. Esther and Gil are strong believers that entrepreneurs should surround themselves with
people they enjoy working with. So they’re looking to mix approachability, high integrity,
and be the right added-value partners for entrepreneurs when times are good and,
more importantly, when times are tough.
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 can guide them on industry and
consumers' unmet needs, and will be by their side from the beginning.
Why is corporate know-how an added value for startup founders?
Corporates are very important partners for startups, especially in the AgriFood-Tech
industry in which the go-to market can be challenging. 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 company, 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,
Whole Foods, Walmart, Unilever or DSM. They 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. Which Gil is happy to advise on, as he’s been on the other side.

3. 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
• Personalized 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.
The FLORA Ventures team is heading to the HackSummit on 11-12th May where Gil
Horsky will moderate a panel discussion on ‘Food as Medicine’.

4. He’ll be joined on stage by:
Nora Khaldi @ Nuritas who’s using discovery tools and AI to find new functional
ingredients that can be used in food.
Anand Parikh @ Faeth Therapeutics who’s developing diets for cancer patients as a
critical pillar to fight the disease.
Richard Day @ ADM who’ll share how ADM is partnering with startups such as
Brightseed to scale food as medicine solutions.
Ready to be a part of the Summit action? Use code FLORAVENUTRES to save 10%
on your summit pass and meet the team 1-1.