Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund

What Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund does

Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund is a privately held impact investment fund managed by Hivos Impact Investments B.V., a Dutch private limited company headquartered at Grote Marktstraat 47A in The Hague, Netherlands. The fund deploys seed-stage equity capital (typically €60,000–€500,000 per transaction) into early-stage food, agriculture, and lifestyle companies in Southern Africa, with one legacy investment in Lebanon. Its active portfolio spans six companies: Hortinet (35% equity, fresh produce and tissue-culture banana plantlets), Ziweto (32% equity, livestock healthcare distribution), AgriLED (60% equity, containerized urban farming with LED lighting), GreenFingers Mobile (agricultural SaaS for smallholder farmer management), Lady Bonin's Tea (premium rooibos), and Atelier du Miel (Lebanese honey production).

The fund's institutional shareholders are four European INGOs — Hivos Foundation (Netherlands, founder), Welthungerhilfe (Germany), Cesvi (Italy), and Ayuda en Accion (Spain) — and it has received a €1,000,000 grant from the Dutch Postcode Lottery (2020). Go-to-market combines an event-driven approach (entrepreneur outreach events in Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa) with a community-led model involving INGO partners and online intake applications. Operationally, the team is split between The Hague (fund management) and Lusaka, Zambia (scouting, implementation, monitoring), with half the staff based in Africa. The fund is currently in a portfolio divestiture phase, indicating a wind-down of new investment activity rather than ongoing fund expansion.

Name

Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund

Legal name

Hivos Impact Investments B.V.

Website

https://hivosimpactinvestments.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund is a Netherlands-managed impact investment vehicle that deploys seed-stage equity into early-stage food and agriculture companies across Southern Africa, backed by four European INGO shareholders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Investment Fund

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Finance and Insurance (52)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funds (FSANAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

SDG / Thematic Sustainable Investment Funds (FSANAJAN), Impact Investing (Intentional, Measurable Social/Environmental Outcomes) (FSAAALAC), Impact Investing & Social Finance (Funds, CDFIs, Microfinance) (BPAGALAA)

Keywords

• Impact investment fund
• Venture capital funding
• Early-stage agriculture
• Sustainable food systems
• Equity investments

Headquarters

HQ city

The Hague

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Equity Investment Returns: The fund invests in early-stage food companies in Southern Africa and generates returns through equity ownership. It holds significant equity stakes in portfolio companies (35% in Hortinet, 32% in Ziweto, 60% in AgriLED).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund is an impact investment fund that invests equity capital (Seed rounds, typically €60,000 to €500,000) in early-stage food and agriculture companies in Southern Africa. It provides capital, technical assistance, and strategic support to help portfolio companies scale on both financial and impact metrics, targeting sustainable food systems from farm-to-fork.

Product overview

Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund is an impact investment fund managed by Hivos Impact Investments B.V., a Netherlands-based impact investment management company. The fund invests in early-stage food and agriculture companies in Southern Africa (Malawi, Zambia, and previously South Africa), with one legacy investment in Lebanon. The fund's investment strategy targets sustainable food systems from farm-to-fork, facilitating healthy, diversified diets incorporating local foods produced in ways that increase biodiversity and restore soils. As an investment fund rather than a product company, the fund's primary offering is capital deployment and impact measurement services for portfolio companies, which include agricultural producers, food processing companies, and agricultural technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund (Impact Investment Fund) Impact investment fund providing equity capital (Seed rounds typically €60,000 to €500,000) along with technical assistance and strategic support to early-stage food and agriculture companies in Southern Africa (Malawi, Zambia, South Africa) and one legacy investment in Lebanon. Targets sustainable food systems from farm-to-fork.

Quantifiable outcome

• Kilos of food produced
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Omnivore Partners: Indian agritech and food systems venture fund backing early-stage entrepreneurs. Comparable in the agritech/food-system thesis and early-stage model, but operates in India rather than Africa.
• Sahel Capital: Investment manager focused on food and agriculture opportunities across West Africa, managing FAFIN and other vehicles. Comparable via African food systems investment focus, though geographically skewed to West Africa rather than Southern Africa.
• VestedWorld: Early-stage venture fund investing in emerging markets, particularly Africa. Comparable via emerging-market early-stage impact focus, though broader in sector mandate than Hivos's exclusive food systems focus.
• EcoEnterprises Fund: Impact investment fund that finances sustainable businesses in Latin America, with strong focus on agriculture, food, and biodiversity. Comparable in sustainable food-systems thesis and SME equity funding, though geographically focused on Latin America.

Broad incumbents

• Acumen: Global impact investment fund with a long-established presence across Africa and South Asia, backing early-stage companies serving the poor. Comparable via shared impact investing thesis and early-stage African exposure, though Acumen is significantly larger and more diversified.
• Root Capital: Nonprofit impact investor lending to agricultural SMEs in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Comparable in the African agricultural SME focus and impact-first mandate, though Root Capital is primarily a lender rather than equity investor.

Direct peers

• AgDevCo: Specialist investor in African agribusinesses, providing debt and equity capital to SMEs across the agricultural value chain. Closely comparable to Hivos in sector focus (African agriculture) and impact-first mandate.
• XSML Capital: African impact fund manager backing early-stage businesses in Central and West Africa with a focus on providing growth capital to SMEs. Comparable by virtue of African geography, early-stage tilt, and impact-returns thesis.
• Goodwell Investments: Dutch-based impact investment firm providing growth capital to inclusive businesses in Africa and India. Direct peer due to Dutch domicile, Africa focus, and similar impact investing mandate.
• Novastar Ventures: East Africa-focused impact VC backing early-stage businesses serving low-income communities. Directly comparable to Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund in thesis, stage, and target geography (sub-Saharan Africa).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/hivosimpactinvestments
• Xx.com/hivosimpinv
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hivos-impact-investments

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments2 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Hivos Food & Lifestyle Fund