Kost Capital, a brand new Danish enterprise capital fund, is out to deliver higher meals to extra individuals.

Basic associate Bodil Sidén began the agency with LPs Kasper Hulthin, Christian Tang-Jespersen, Mark Emil Hermansen and Jacob Lee Ørnstrand.

Kost, which implies “weight loss plan” within the Scandinavian language, nevertheless, it should most like be tough to stay to at least one whereas working there. That’s as a result of Kost Capital shares house with Kost Studio, a meals improvement studio that doubles as a check kitchen for universities and markets to collaborate and develop novel meals merchandise.

Sidén declined to say how a lot of the €25 million was raised to this point, however did say backers embrace Danish sovereign fund EIFO and Kost’s founding restricted companions.

Kost Capital invests in pre-seed and seed startups throughout Europe, specializing in B2B inputs in the way forward for meals. It has already made three investments: Estonian palm oil substitute firm Äio, Numi, a French toddler method firm and Danish ingredient firm Nutrumami.

Sidén’s journey to enterprise capital began in a fairly distinctive place. She was in Swedish politics as a member of the Moderates’ nationwide get together board, a press secretary to the Fredrik Reinfeldt authorities and labored for the Swedish ministers.

“I’ve all the time been very captivated with societal change — my mother and father are migrant academics, so I’ve all the time been very a lot uncovered to justice and world points,” Sidén instructed TechCrunch. “Then I joined the world of tech, engaged on communications within the Nordics for Uber the place I discovered every little thing about massive tech and the way you scale tech firms and marketplaces from a neighborhood setting.”

She then partnered with two Uber colleagues to type a enterprise capital fund in Stockholm that did hands-on firm constructing. For instance working with technical firms that lacked a solution to commercialize.

After two funds, Sidén bought into contact with the buyers behind Kost, who had been on the lookout for a common associate to assist construct a platform and setting technique. That’s what they’ve been doing for the previous yr with the assistance of senior affiliate Paul Archambeau, she mentioned.

Kost’s funding thesis takes a nod from Sidén’s political origins and from the notion that meals is powered by the bioeconomy. Acknowledging a rising inhabitants, local weather change, meals waste, well being points and coverage adjustments, Sidén says extra funding is required into meals tech.

“Trying on the 5 coming years, all macrotrends converse for it, and it’s so below invested,” she mentioned. “If you happen to have a look at the place the cash has gone, it’s really like logistics and types and never even meals. It’s a large alternative, and hopefully additionally generalist VCs will come again into the house. They took just a few hits to start with with loads of B2C, and it was exhausting to evaluate various kinds of enterprise fashions, however I believe which may change now.”

That mentioned, one among Sidén’s milestones is for Kost to “be one of the best co-investor in Europe” with meals tech and generalist buyers on the lookout for a agency with scale-up experience and food-specialized talents.

In the meantime, meals tech is having a second in Europe. Not solely are we seeing larger-than-average investments being made, for instance, into Infinite Roots, which makes proteins from mycelium, however extra funds being raised as properly. This week, Eatable Adventures, an accelerator serving to to create and help meals tech in Spain and Italy, mentioned it closed on half of a €30 million funding car known as Europe Foodtech Acceleration Fund I SCSp.

We’re additionally seeing extra authorities help. For instance, the UK is sinking £2 billion into biotechnology, notably round meals. The European Union has its personal €50 million plans to scale precision fermentation, whereas Aleph Farms was granted regulatory approval in Israel for its cultivated meat.