On 18 March, the Top 50 Farmers unveiled their first cohort of farmers in a virtual ceremony. T50F is a platform dedicated to scaling regenerative agriculture by spotlighting and empowering the regenerative farmers leading the way. The initiative is part of The Nest’s Food as Medicine Foundation efforts.
During the event, the farmers joined from across Europe and met with a global audience. Each of the farmers raised their hands to be recognized and thanked for the value they bring to our food system, our soils, and culture. If you missed this moving celebration, you can view the replay. The T50F website is updated with a map of the farms and links to video clips that introduce each of the farmers, including Domaine de Graux’s Emilien Rottiers!
The T50F event offered a meaningful start to spring, a reminder to acknowledge farmers and their hard work for the growing season ahead. We are grateful for the efforts by all the T50F farmers, The Nest’s portfolio, the crew at Domaine de Graux, and the teams our foundation supports. Let’s continue growing a healthier food system together!
From the Journal
We wrapped up our fertilizer series in March with posts on the 4R’s of Right Source, Right Time, Right Rate, and Right Place. The articles reviewed innovations and market opportunities for biological inputs including microbials, fungi, and seaweed and precision agriculture technologies.
Stay tuned for our upcoming series From Seed to Table!
Portfolio News
Biotope by VIB
March was a busy month for biotope by VIB, including recruitment of their 7th basecamp cohort. The application deadline for the upcoming cohort is Monday, April 7th, so you still have a few days to submit your application!
The startup incubator program, which focuses on early-stage startups in agri-food, climate, and biomaterials, just added Elaniti and AgroGrIN to its portfolio. Elaniti participated in biotope’s fall bootcamp. Elaniti provides a big-data-driven platform helps farmers to predict, explain, and adapt to variance in crop performance. AgroGrIN transforms fruit and vegetable by-products into clean-label, high-value ingredients for food, nutraceutical, and cosmetics applications. Upcycling food waste to high value products is a multi-billion market opportunity.
Also this month, the Financial Times named biotope as one of Europe’s leading startup hubs on its 2025 list.
Ardo
Ardo is thrilled to share that their MIMOSA+ program has won the Audience Award at the Changemakers Awards. This prestigious recognition, organized by De Tijd and L'Echo in partnership with BNP Paribas, celebrates Belgian companies that make a real impact through innovation and sustainability.
With MIMOSA+, Ardo’s approach to regenerative agriculture, Ardo empowers farmers to restore soils, protect biodiversity, and build climate-resilient food systems. By financially rewarding farmers for proven regenerative practices, Ardo supports them in securing their future while ensuring long-term food security for our children.
Furthermore, Ardo Belgium, Canada, and Denmark were officially certified as a Great Place to Work®.
Pymwymic
Pymwymic’s latest B Corp score of 142 places them as Europe’s #1 B-Corp-rated investment fund. Congratulations to Pymwymic for the recognition. Pymwymic’s portfolio company TRACT, a supply chain data platform, was also recognized in March as one of the top 10 startups in The Netherlands.
Another portfolio company, FA Bio, announced a partnership with IFF Crop Biologicals to bring sustainable microbial solutions to market.
On 8-10 April, Pymwymic’s Maarten van Dam will give a keynote, “The Mother of All Solutions is the Soil,” at Soil Health Now in Wageningen, The Netherlands.
ReelData
Fifax, a Rainbow Trout facility in Finland, leveraged ReelData’s biomass camera system, ReelWeight, for a months-long trial. The technology will be used to assess average weight estimation and weight distribution accuracy using the AI camera system designed specifically for land-based fisheries systems.
Monarch Tractor
Monarch Tractor has been named to two lists in March, TIME magazine’s list of America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2025 and Forbes America’s Best Startup Employers 2025. The company also added a new Chief Revenue Officer, Steve Peck.
Omnivore
Omnivore’s portfolio company Scimplify, a startup that helps pharmaceutical and agricultural companies access specialty chemicals, raised $40 million in a new Series B funding round co-led by Accel and Bertelsmann India Investments. Scimplify will use the funding to expand in the U.S. and reach new markets.
AgFunder
As egg shortages impact the U.S. market in the wake of an ongoing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak, AgFunder’s The EVERY Co. announced it has cracked the technology to make egg proteins via precision fermentation.
AgFunder’s Jennifer Marston also posted a recap of the RFSI Europe event, including comments from Eric Smith of Edacious.
Astanor
On Friday, 14 March, Pavlos Kalaitzoglou, Scientist in Residence at Astanor, was a jury member at the 2025 MIT Climate and Energy Prize International Semi-Final in Munich. The Astanor team also posted an update on one of its portfolio companies, v2food, an affordable and scalable plant-based protein solution designed for markets with limited meat availability and underdeveloped supply chains.
Foundation
Investing in regenerative agriculture and food
Louis De Jaeger of Eat More Trees joined for a new podcast episode, “A Masterclass with the storyteller of the Regen Space.” He shared why storytelling is critical to promote regenerative solutions.
Other News and Posts
The Nest’s Anouk Schoors will be speaking about Sustainable Farming as an Investment Strategy at FXT Connect on 24 April.
Walden Mutual shared a video partner story for Finicky Farm, which raises grass-fed lamb and lowers energy impacts with “solar grazing.”
Propagate’s latest post covers Agroforestry in Argentine Patagonia.
Synthesis Capital posted key takeaways from the Future Food Tech event in San Francisco.
Opportunities
Astanor posted 49 jobs across 29 portfolio companies including a Portfolio Analyst Intern position at Astanor.
AgFunder posted eight new job openings for its portfolio within the past two weeks, including roles with Propagate and Lumi AI.
Edacious is hiring a Food Systems Sales Account Executive.
Buoyant Venture’s portfolio has 17 job openings.
Omnivore’s portfolio had 187 job openings available across 35 companies.
From the Farm
Food is not the only thing growing at Domaine de Graux this year! The farm has attained a building permit and will be moving forward with some exciting additions, including:
· A 200 m² educational hub: to accommodate schools, educational classes, and immersive workshops to raise awareness on sustainable agriculture.
· Accommodation spaces: 34 rooms to host up to 70 people for events.
· Two independent accommodation spaces with a private kitchen and lounge.
· A unique event space: a large modular hall, accommodating up to 500 people.
· An ultra-local restaurant for guests of the domaine: on the menu, products from our farm and local producers, healthy cuisine that respects the environment.
· Immersive culinary workshops: two dedicated spaces to discover sustainable practices, such as fermentation, food preservation, living cooking...
· An art path: an enriching walk blending nature, art, and learning, designed for our young and old visitors.
· A museum of agriculture: to discover the history of agriculture and the opportunities of agroecology.
The construction will be conducted with circular and responsible approaches, such as reusing as many materials and furnishings as possible. We our partnering with experts in sustainable renovation who align with our mission to keep agroecology, education, and authenticity at the heart of our project.
Work is due to start this summer. We will post updates of the work progress, with our goal of completing the work in 2027.
