About · since 2007
We back the earliest round.
Innova is an early-stage venture capital firm. We have written first institutional checks for nearly two decades, and today we do it exclusively in AgTech and FarmTech.
The firm
Capital where it is hardest to find.
Innova was founded in 2007 to close a specific gap. As venture capital has moved later and larger, the earliest round — the one that turns a technology into a company — has become the hardest money to raise. That is the check we write.
Our approach is hands-on. We take board seats, we help build out your team, develop pricing and go-to-market strategies, and we stay close through the years when a company is still proving that customers will pay for what it has built. Most importantly, we are a second set of eyes helping you avoid the inevitable pitfalls. Across the portfolio that work has helped turn $73M of our capital into $200M+ of follow-on investment.
The thesis has narrowed over time. Our two most recent funds invest only in innovation destined for agriculture, because that is where our network, our limited partners and our experience compound. This can come from surprising places though: human medicine, defense technology, etc.; Ag is a great place for dual-use applications. The legacy portfolio is still ours and we still support it — but new capital goes into AgTech and FarmTech.
Funds
Five funds, one direction of travel.
Each fund has moved further toward agriculture. Fund IV was our first dedicated ag vehicle; Fund VI is investing today.
Innova Fund I–III
The firm's first three funds, invested across healthcare, technology and agriculture in Memphis and the surrounding region.
Ag Innovation Fund IV
The first fund dedicated entirely to agriculture, backed by the agricultural finance system and focused on rural America.
Ag Innovation Fund VI
A $45M vehicle investing in AgTech and FarmTech at seed and Series A.
Where we work
The Rural United States.
Innova holds a USDA license as a rural business investment company. Much of our portfolio is nowhere near a coastal venture hub — it is in Iowa, Nebraska, Mississippi, Washington and Illinois, close to the farms it serves.