Monsanto and Bunge Join Early-stage Technology Fund

Agribusiness majors Monsanto and Bunge will each invest $1.5 million in a so-called seed fund that will invest in new technologies in energy and agriculture.

The fund, called Nidus Investment Partners, hopes to raise $9 million to $12 million from between six and eight corporations, according to managing partner Victoria Gonzalez. Monsanto and Bunge are the first companies to publicly commit money to the effort.

With the money, Nidus will invest up to $250,000 per new technology in the areas of carbon capture, alternative energy, and biofuels processing, Gonzalez explains. The partnership plans to screen up to 100 technologies per year and then invest in five to 10 of them. The ideas will come from universities, national laboratories, and other entrepreneurs and inventors.

The partners at Nidus are all experienced entrepreneurs, Gonzalez says. "We provide seed money and entrepreneurial talent. The added benefit of corporate partners is to bring the market signal." The corporate partners will have an opportunity to acquire technologies funded by Nidus.

In a parallel effort, Nidus' managers are working to raise as much as $20 million from private and institutional investors to provide follow-on funding for technologies that grow out of the seed funding stage.

The first technology receiving Nidus seed funding comes from the University of Chicago. Molecular geneticist Laurens Mets has developed a process to store off-peak electricity by making methane. The technology uses Archaea microorganisms to convert power and waste CO₂ into methane.

Principal investigators can submit ideas to Nidus at www.niduspartners.com. "Anyone can offer an idea or technology if they think it fits," Gonzalez says. "We listen to presentations every week and give feedback."