The Yield Lab

What The Yield Lab does

The Yield Lab is a private agrifoodtech investment firm founded in 2014 and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It operates as a network of four geographically distinct regional funds—The Yield Lab Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America—each with its own team, limited partners, and investment focus. The North American fund is operated through Cultivation Capital's Agriculture and Food Technology strategy. Collectively, the funds have backed 90+ early-stage portfolio companies working on crops, animal health, digital agriculture, and agrifood logistics.

The firm has no proprietary technology product; its core capability is the curation, deployment, and support of early-stage agrifoodtech investments across regions. It pools global insights, sectoral expertise, and strategic relationships across funds to support portfolio companies. The Yield Lab Institute operates in parallel as a non-profit affiliate providing educational resources and ecosystem-building support. Strategic partners include Agri-TechE (via the ARISE initiative, 2025), Embrapa, AgriTIERRA, Earthbase, Cultivar STL, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, BioSTL, and Bayer.

The Yield Lab generates revenue through traditional venture capital mechanics: management fees on committed capital across its four regional funds, with potential upside from carried interest on exits (acquisitions, IPOs, or secondary sales of portfolio companies). There are no disclosed product pricing models, customer counts outside portfolio companies, or revenue figures. Marketing and deal sourcing occur primarily through regional fund websites and the Yield Lab Institute's ecosystem platform, reflecting a community-led go-to-market model.

Name

The Yield Lab

Legal name

The Yield Lab

Website

http://www.theyieldlab.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Yield Lab is a St. Louis-based agrifoodtech venture capital firm operating four regional funds (Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America) that invest in and support 90+ early-stage companies across crops, animal health, digital agriculture, and agrifood logistics globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AgriFoodTech Venture Capital

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Agriculture & Food / AgTech Growth Equity (FSANACAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Yield Optimization & Crop Performance Consulting (AFACABAC), Carbon, Sustainability & Farm Certification Support (Agro-Environmental Advisory) (AFACABAL)

Keywords

• Agrifoodtech venture capital
• Early-stage agrifood investing
• Regional investment funds
• Agritech startup funding
• Agrifood innovation investing

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: The Yield Lab generates returns through equity investments in early-stage agrifoodtech companies across their four regional funds (Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America). Returns are realized through exits via acquisitions, IPOs, or secondary sales of portfolio companies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Yield Lab operates a global network of four regional venture capital funds (Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America) that invest in and advance high-impact early-stage agrifoodtech companies. The firm pools knowledge, sectoral expertise, and strategic relationships across regions to support 90+ portfolio companies working to revolutionize agrifood systems. A parallel non-profit, The Yield Lab Institute, provides educational resources and ecosystem-building support for the agrifoodtech sector.

Product overview

The Yield Lab is an agrifoodtech investment organization operating a network of four separate regional funds (Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America), each with its own geographical focus, team, and investor base. The organization supports approximately 90+ portfolio companies and maintains a non-profit branch called The Yield Lab Institute that provides educational resources and ecosystem building support. The funds collectively leverage global insights, deep sectoral expertise, and strategic relationships to enable entrepreneurs to sustainably revolutionize agrifood systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Yield Lab Asia Pacific: Regional fund for Asia Pacific agrifoodtech startups
• The Yield Lab Europe
• The Yield Lab Latin America
• The Yield Lab North America

Products and services

• The Yield Lab Asia Pacific Fund Regional venture capital fund investing in early-stage agrifoodtech companies in the Asia Pacific region, operated with its own geographical focus, team, and investor base.
• The Yield Lab Europe Fund Regional venture capital fund investing in early-stage agrifoodtech companies in Europe, operating with its own geographical focus, team, and investor base.
• The Yield Lab Latin America Fund Regional venture capital fund investing in early-stage agrifoodtech companies in Latin America, operating with its own geographical focus, team, and investor base.
• The Yield Lab North America Fund Regional venture capital fund investing in early-stage agrifoodtech companies in North America, operated through Cultivation Capital's Agriculture and Food Technology strategy with its own geographical focus, team, and investor base.
• The Yield Lab Institute Non-profit branch that provides educational resources and ecosystem-building support for the agrifoodtech sector, operating in parallel with the investment funds.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Agri-TechEcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Agri-TechE leads the ARISE (AgriTech for Resilience, Innovation & Sustainable Ecosystems) initiative in partnership with The Yield Lab Institute. ARISE is a trilateral platform launched in 2025 and funded by the UK Government Tactical Fund, connecting science, technology, and investment ecosystems across the UK, US, and Latin America.
• EmbrapacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmbrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) is a key partner in the ARISE initiative led by Agri-TechE with The Yield Lab Institute. The initiative advances international collaboration on food security and sustainable agriculture through capability mapping, startup evaluation, and knowledge exchange.
• AgriTIERRAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgriTIERRA is a partner in the ARISE initiative with The Yield Lab Institute, working to advance global collaboration on food security and sustainable agriculture through capability mapping, startup evaluation, and knowledge exchange across seven countries.
• EarthbasecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarthbase is a partner in the ARISE initiative with The Yield Lab Institute, contributing to the trilateral platform connecting science, technology, and investment ecosystems across the UK, US, and Latin America.
• Cultivar STLcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultivar STL is an agtech initiative in St. Louis that launched the Core Facilities Access Fund, administered through the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, to help Latin American startups access US markets. The Yield Lab Latin America is connected through the St. Louis region's existing Cultivar platform linking US and Latin American agtech ecosystems.
• Donald Danforth Plant Science CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Donald Danforth Plant Science Center administers the Core Facilities Access Fund under the Cultivar STL initiative. Breakthrough Energy Discovery supports this fund which awards $2,000 to $20,000 to Latin American startups for research and validation work at the Danforth Center.
• BioSTLminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBioSTL engages with the ARISE initiative through its ReACH Summit as part of week-long programming connecting science, technology, and investment ecosystems across the UK, US, and Latin America.
• BayerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBayer senior leaders engage with the ARISE initiative through week-long programming including visits to the 39 North AgTech Innovation District and collaboration on food security and sustainable agriculture initiatives.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cultivation Capital: St. Louis-based VC that actually operates The Yield Lab's North America fund; competes in the same US agrifoodtech early-stage market and shares deal flow.
• Acre Venture Partners: Early-stage agrifoodtech fund focused on the food value chain, from production to consumer; directly comparable mandate and stage to The Yield Lab.
• S2G Ventures: Multi-stage agrifoodtech investor focused on plant-based foods, digital ag, and supply-chain technologies; directly comparable as a US-headquartered, sector-specialist VC.
• AgFunder: Specialist agrifoodtech venture firm investing globally across the same early-stage agrifoodtech categories (crops, animal health, digital ag, supply chain) that The Yield Lab targets.
• SVG Ventures (Thrive): Global agrifoodtech accelerator and investor with regional funds and corporate partnerships; structurally similar to The Yield Lab's four-region platform model.

Emerging players

• Fifty Years: Early-stage VC that has backed agrifoodtech companies alongside other impact-first sectors; comparable as an emerging thesis-driven fund, though not agrifoodtech-pure.
• AgriTech Capital (AgTech Capital): Emerging agrifoodtech-focused investment firm; partial overlap in target sectors and stage, though smaller scale than The Yield Lab's global platform.

Broad incumbents

• Rabobank Food & Agri Innovation Fund: Banking-backed agrifoodtech investor (part of Rabobank, a leading agricultural lender) with global reach in early- and growth-stage agrifood deals; broad incumbent peer.
• Leaps by Bayer: Corporate venture arm of Bayer focused on breakthrough agriculture and health technologies; competes for agrifoodtech deals at scale and is also a strategic partner of The Yield Lab via ARISE.

Regional players

• SP Ventures: Latin America–focused agrifoodtech VC; direct overlap with The Yield Lab Latin America fund for regional deal share and co-investment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheYieldLab
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheYieldLab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-yield-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments63 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Yield Lab