Our investments are focused on early stage companies where we typically take a minority equity stake alongside other corporate and financial investors, but we also invest in seed rounds and late stage growth rounds where there is a compelling investment case.
We are seeking investments that are strategically relevant for Syngenta and financially attractive for investors. We understand the venture capital model and seek to maximize our financial return once we are invested in companies. We do not ask for specific rights or options for Syngenta as we recognize the importance of having the interests of all shareholders aligned.
We are able to add value beyond the capital that we invest by leveraging the global capabilities of Syngenta. This can take many forms, but includes:
- offering parallel technical and/or commercial collaborations;
- providing access to Syngenta’s R&D organization of 5,000+ people;
- validating technologies and products through glasshouse and field trials;
- offering technical support in specialist areas such as formulation;
- opening up new sales channels via Syngenta’s commercial organization and third party distributors;
- expanding geographic reach into new territories;
- increasing market visibility and credibility;
- creating new markets by applying adjacent technologies to agriculture; and
- sharing industry insights, knowledge and contacts.
We have experienced first-hand how these elements can dramatically accelerate the path to commercial success for portfolio companies. Many of these benefits come through the active role that we play with our portfolio companies where we typically hold either Board or Observer seats.
Beyond the role we play as an active investor, many of our portfolio companies have a parallel technical and/or commercial collaboration with Syngenta. These collaborations are negotiated by Syngenta and not connected to our investment. Linked to this, we recognize the confidential nature of our activities and maintain a strict firewall with Syngenta to protect any confidential information from being shared. We take this responsibility seriously and can provide references from our portfolio companies to demonstrate this.