Sprout's new chief executive to lead agtech and foodtech sectors

Sprout's new chief executive, Gil Meron who will lead the agtech and foodtech sectors from February 2021.

Sprout chairman Marcel van den Assum says new Sprout chief executive Gil Meron will help grow the agtech and foodtech sectors.

"Gil brings global innovation, leadership credentials and investment experience which alongside the proven local team, establishes Sprout as the "go to" investor in deep-tech agri and food sector ventures."

Meron is thrilled to lead the Sprout team and adds that the agtech and foodtech sectors are experiencing tectonic shifts, felt by many big food companies.

"The mega trends include the shift away from animal protein, the growing concern over the environmental impacts of farming and food production, and the consumer demand for cheap, fresh and healthy food are both opportunities and threats for the sector and for the technologies driving it.

"After years of work in this space in technology hot spots such as Israel, the US and UK, I am very excited about the opportunity in New Zealand.

"With a team of such calibre as we have in Sprout, and with my experience and network, I am sure we can help local entrepreneurs build ground-breaking technologies on a global scale."

Meron will take up the reins to lead Sprout in February 2021.

He is bringing his family to New Zealand, where his understanding of the culture stems from spending four months travelling from Cape Reinga to Stewart Island.

Meron's credentials are an MBA from the London School of Business, his experience at IBM, The Boston Consulting Group and co-founding Yarden Group, the boutique management consultancy and investment firm, as well as work with Finistere Ventures.

Sprout is an agtech and foodtech business accelerator and investor that helps entrepreneurs grow.

It backs bold entrepreneurs who are committed to building solutions for problems that reach from farm to fork.

Sprout's goals include growing its investor network globally and creating a space to commercialise world-class IP, among other things. It is a seed-stage investor and accelerator that exclusively focuses on agtech and foodtech.

Sprout has $1 million of funding for seed-stage companies that have a unique vision of how to solve ag and food's big problems and want investment partners to make their vision a reality.

Sprout's investor group, Finistere Ventures, Our Crowd and Fonterra, with the support of Callaghan Innovation has sufficient resources to complete up to 40 investments.

• www.sproutagritech.com