Venture capital fund · 22 deals
Venture firm backing early-stage agri-food startups
Manly, NSW
Every published round Tenacious Ventures took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
Companies Tenacious Ventures has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SwarmFarm Robotics | Builds small, self-driving farm robots (SwarmBots) with the SwarmConnect platform to help… | 1Q 2021 | 3 | 1 |
| Vow | Cultivated meat company | Jan 2021, Seed | 3 | 0 |
| Earthodic | Startup developing lignin-coating technology for packaging | 31 May 2023, Pre-seed | 2 | 1 |
| Jupiter Ionics | 18 Mar 2024, Series A | 2 | 0 | |
| Nbryo | Queensland agtech startup focused on advanced reproductive technologies | Nov 2025, Seed | 2 | 2 |
| Agovor | 12 Feb 2026, Pre-seed | 1 | 1 | |
| Azaneo | Electric pulse weeding technology company | 2023, Pre-seed | 1 | 1 |
| Cecil | Spatial datasets API for ESG and nature risk analytics | 1 Mar 2022, Pre-seed | 1 | 1 |
| Geora | 7 Feb 2022, Seed | 1 | 1 | |
| Goterra | Sustainable biotech startup processing food waste using insects, now in liquidation | 2020, Series A | 1 | 1 |
| Nybro | Queensland beef genetics biotech | 19 Aug 2026, Seed | 1 | 0 |
| Phyllome | Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| RapidAIM | 1Q 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| Regrow | AI company in a whitespace industry, likely agriculture-related | Aug 2021, Series A | 1 | 0 |
| SwarmFarm | Farming robots for sustainable agriculture | 23 Feb 2023, Series A | 1 | 0 |
Companies Tenacious Ventures's own portfolio page lists that no published round yet places it in. The page is the source; the round is being looked for.
| Company | Site |
|---|---|
| Vow Food | vowfood.com ↗ |
| Webflow | webflow.com ↗ |
Fund closes reported for Tenacious Ventures, as distinct from the investments it has made.
| Fund | Announced | Committed | Target | Close | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenacious Ventures Fund II | 24 Jun 2024 | $18m | $50m | Interim | Forbes Australia, Startup Daily |
| Tenacious Ventures Fund I | 2 Jun 2021 | $35m | $30m | Final | globalventuring.com, globalaginvesting.com, agriinvestor.com, Dynamic Business, farmingahead.com.au, evokeag.com |
| Tenacious Ventures Fund I | Mar 2020 | $20m+ | - | Interim | globalaginvesting.com, Dynamic Business, evokeag.com |
Investors that coverage says has money in a fund Tenacious Ventures runs. This is a stake in the fund, not in any company the fund has backed.
| Investor | Fund | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Clean Energy Finance Corporation | Tenacious Ventures Fund I | globalventuring.com, globalaginvesting.com, Dynamic Business, evokeag.com |
| Grok Ventures | Tenacious Ventures Fund I | globalventuring.com, globalaginvesting.com, Dynamic Business, evokeag.com |
Companies Tenacious Ventures has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Tenacious Ventures did.
Stories naming Tenacious Ventures. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Weekly roundup: Constantinople raises $62.5m; Blackbird wraps fund six above $1b; Guardhouse buys Mobohubb; SCX.ai debuts on the ASX; plus seed rounds, exits and executive changes across the ecosystem.
Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.
Roundup of agrifood industry news: funding for Farmbot, Nbryo, Oceanloop and others, Homestead Capital's fund close, two acquisitions, executive appointments, and other sector developments.
A Queensland livestock-reproduction startup has grown its seed round to $20 million, drawing $2 million from a newly launched state government fund whose manager had already backed the company.
Queensland's agriculture minister toured Nbryo's Brisbane lab, with a state-backed fund committing $2 million to the cattle-genetics company; the page also recalls earlier $10 million and $8 million closes.
Creditors have voted to wind up Canberra insect-protein startup Goterra after sale and recapitalisation efforts failed, with administrators reporting mounting losses and recoveries likely confined to their fees.
Q&A introducing Adam Taylor, Tenacious Ventures' new insights lead, covering his engineering and consulting background, his interest in agrifood, and plans to expand the advisory offering.
Weekly roundup of ten Australian and New Zealand startup raises totalling nearly $194 million, topped by Neara's $90 million round at a $1.1 billion valuation, with Splose, Operata, HAMR Energy and Adora also covered.
Tenacious Ventures explains why it led Agovor's $3 million pre-seed round alongside Hort Innovation, profiling the startup's compact autonomous farm tractors, founders, new chief executive, and grower savings.
Also AgFunderNews
Tenacious Ventures' 2025 impact report notes Fund II's first close is complete, describes environmental outcomes delivered by portfolio companies, and outlines its ecosystem, education and advisory activity.
Podcast chat in which Hydrowood cofounder Andrew Morgan recounts salvaging timber from a flooded Tasmanian lake and the search for backers, alongside his job leading SFM's plantation estate work.
Roundup of eight funding deals: Synchron's Series D, plus raises by Lumonus AI, Hullbot, Nbryo, Cytophenix, Giftbee, Understanding Zoe and Zeligate, spanning medtech, robotics, agtech and AI.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Cattle genetics startup Nbryo has landed $10 million co-led by Tenacious Ventures and AgriZeroNZ, plus an $18 million research grant, to commercialise its embryo technology.
Also Beef Central / Grain Central·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·nbryo.com·nbryo.com
Queensland cattle-breeding biotech Nbryo has secured $10m in seed backing co-led by Tenacious Ventures and AgriZeroNZ, alongside an $18m research grant from the Gates Foundation and Meat and Livestock Australia.
Also SmartCompany·Beef Central / Grain Central·AgFunderNews·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·nbryo.com
Nbryo closed a A$10 million round co-led by Tenacious Ventures with AgriZeroNZ, QIC, the Murdoch family and Mandalay, and has drawn over $18 million in grants from Gates Foundation and Meat and Livestock Australia.
Tenacious Ventures interviews Bilberry founder Guillaume Jourdain on building the spot-spraying business for sale: its 2021 bridge round, disciplined valuation, and 2022 acquisition by Trimble.
Tenacious Ventures introduces Dr. Madeline Mitchell, an agricultural scientist previously at Breakthrough Victoria and Food Agility, as its new investment principal, discussing deep tech, agrifood innovation and climate science.
Show notes for a Tenacious Ventures podcast episode in which Farmhand Ventures founder Connie Bowen discusses alternative agtech funding models such as redeemable equity; the firm also advertises open staff roles.
Podcast episode in which Farm Health Guardian's chief executive recounts combining his livestock biosecurity business with a complementary rival, covering the decision process and the opportunities the combination created.
Tenacious Ventures' podcast episode interviews Azaneo founder and CEO Liam Hescock about the startup's electrical weed-killing technology for farms.
Beanstalk Ventures' Drought Venture Studio, supported by the national Future Drought Fund, has showcased eight agtech startups from its first cohort and moved four into a longer second phase; a second cohort is underway.
Tenacious Ventures' 2024 impact report celebrates portfolio progress in agri-food, notes a first close of Fund II and over $50M under management, and recaps its ecosystem and thought-leadership work.
Podcast episode introduction from Tenacious Ventures featuring Nbryo CEO Gerard Davis on his path to the startup and livestock genetics as climate work.
Tenacious unpacks its podcast conversation with Kilimo founder Jairo Trad on how the irrigation startup found a workable model by paying growers for saved water, with large corporates as customers.
Round-up reporting Neara's $45 million Series C, Alimetry's US$18 million Series A2, Earthodic's US$4 million seed, and Antler's latest residency intake of startups each receiving $225,000 for 12% stakes.
Also Startup Daily
Brisbane maker of recyclable water-resistant paper coatings has closed an oversubscribed seed round led by FTW Ventures to lift production and enter the US market, with its 2023 pre-seed backers returning.
Also AgFunderNews·SmartCompany
Agtech investor Tenacious Ventures reached an $18 million first close on its second fund, which has a $50 million target; backers include Trawalla Group, Wollemi Capital Group and Macdoch Ventures.
Also Forbes Australia
Roundup of four Australian startups that each announced fresh capital this week: a caregiver healthcare app, a green ammonia producer, a clean energy project modelling platform, and a wellness advice marketplace.
Also SmartCompany
Emissions-free ammonia developer Jupiter Ionics has raised $9 million, adding Breakthrough Victoria, CIMIC Group and Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers to its earlier backers, and also recalls a $2.65 million grant from 2022.
Tenacious Ventures reflects on attending the evokeAG conference in Perth, discussing climate adaptation in farming, weed resistance to AI detection, women in agtech, and its own plans for a second fund.
Tenacious Ventures podcast discussion in which Matthew Pryor, Azaneo's chief executive and a weed scientist weigh herbicide-free weed control, from resistance and regulatory pressure to electric and robotic tools.
Roundup of five Australian startups that secured new capital this week: Amber Electric's $29m Series C, ProcurePro's $6.15m, Yume's $2m seed, Alt.Leather's $1.1m seed, plus an undisclosed Tenacious Ventures investment in Nbryo.
Tenacious Ventures' investment note explains its backing of Nbryo, an Australian startup speeding genetic improvement in beef and dairy via embryo technologies, and notes research funding from MLA and the Gates Foundation.
Tenacious Ventures discusses the shutdown of its portfolio company Nowadays, a plant-based whole-cut meat manufacturer, in a podcast conversation with founder Max Elder and general partners Matthew Pryor and Sarah Nolet.
Tenacious Ventures' analysis says farm autonomy is entering a more practical second phase, citing Guardian Ag's drone deployment for Wilbur-Ellis and its portfolio company SwarmFarm's self-refilling sprayer feature.
Tenacious Ventures explains why it led a pre-seed round for weed-control startup Azaneo, with Agfunder and IP Group investing, and describes the company's chemical-free pulsed electric field technology.
Also AgFunderNews
LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria introduced a $1 million fund backing early-stage agtech startups, and revealed seven companies as recipients of $50,000 equity-free grants.
Weekly roundup reporting eight Australian startups together raised $85.6 million across mining tech, cybersecurity, waste, energy storage, health and micromobility, plus a Google.org grant for Global Sisters.
Goterra, a Canberra venture that recycles food scraps with maggots into animal feed, has banked a $10 million bridge to grow its waste plants serving Woolworths, with a Series B planned this year.
Also AgFunderNews·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·AgFunderNews·AgFunderNews
Tenacious Ventures' analysis of vertical farming's boom and collapses, announcing its backing of Phyllome, founded by Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin, as its eleventh investment.