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Givat Brenner, Israel, and Ludwigshafen, Germany, December 12, 2019 – BASF Venture Capital is the lead investor in a funding round for Israeli AgTech startup Equinom. Equinom's computerized breeding technology provides optimized seeds for the food industry to help it meet growing demand for plant-based products used as ingredients, clean label packed goods and healthier lifestyle cuisine. With this investment, BASF Venture Capital promotes BASF’s strategy of applying innovative solutions in agriculture. Existing investors who also joined this round include, among others, Fortissimo Capital, a leading Israeli private equity fund that invests primarily in the technology, AgTech and industrial sectors, as well as Roquette, a global leader in plant-based ingredients for food, nutrition and health markets and a pioneer in new vegetal proteins.

Today, BASF officially launched its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, China, and commenced building its first plants. It marks a milestone of the company’s US$10 billion investment project announced in July 2018. The first plants will produce engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to serve the increasing needs of various growth industries in the southern China market and throughout Asia. 

São Paulo, Brazil, and Ludwigshafen, Germany, November 18, 2019 – BASF Venture Capital is one of the main investors in the first closing of the Brazilian fund AgVentures II having committed US$ 4 million. The fund is managed by São Paulo-based SP Ventures and focuses on startups from the Latin American agricultural and food (AgFood) sector. The fund aims to support 20 to 25 new companies founded and headquartered in Latin America. Besides BASF, other investors include multinational companies as strategic investors as well as financial investors, international development finance institutions and local family offices. For BASF Venture Capital, this represents the first investment in Brazil.