Swimming with the Sharks: a deep dive into raising capital in the agri-food sector

Entrepreneurship is hard. The pressure of building and growing a successful business is immense, with financial uncertainty, long hours, a wide range of responsibilities, the need to build a network (daunting for introverts) and constantly problem solving. It is not for the faint of heart.   

One of the biggest challenges startups and scale-ups face is access to capital, as the private sector typically prefers later-stage investments where the risk is lower and returns are faster. This is exacerbated in agriculture due to high capital requirements, onerous regulations, and in general, longer timelines.  Unfortunately, this is further compounded by macro-economic cycles: 

“There’s no way to sugar coat this: investment in agrifood tech start-ups is at its lowest point in six years,” said a report in AgFunderNews (March 2024). 

Coincidentally, AgriBusiness Global just wrote about this exact issue in relation to biological companies struggling for investment. If entrepreneurship in general is not for the faint of heart, agri-food entrepreneurship is on a level of its own. 

Now, more than ever, agri-food entrepreneurs must stand out and approach raising capital in a professional and competent manner. But how is this done? 

High quality training is often unattainable to startups and scale-ups due to the cost. As well, incubators and accelerators exclude non-innovative companies, leaving a gap in traditional sectors such as food processing. I have seen many training events for raising capital, and although the content may be delivered well, the entrepreneur still comes out lacking the skills needed to execute. Entrepreneurs need real-world practise; you need to “get your reps in.” 

But raising capital is more than just perfecting your pitch. How do you negotiate a term sheet? Do you understand what is in the term sheet? How do you find investors – and more importantly, the right investor?  How do you manage the relationship after funding? (a critical and hugely overlooked element). 

Enter the charismatic investment guru Steve Balaban, founder and CEO of Mink Learning, a CFA Charterholder and University of Waterloo professor. Steve teaches private equity to family offices around the globe (meaning he teaches them how to invest). He has gained a global perspective on what investors need to see to sign a cheque.  

With funding from the ABIC Foundation, Ag-West Bio has partnered once again with Steve to host an investment readiness “bootcamp” called Swimming with the Sharks: a deep dive into raising capital in the agri-foodsector 

This bootcamp has been tailored to help startup and scale-up companies in the agri-food sector successfully raise capital.  

We understand the capital and time restrictions of early-stage entrepreneurs and have taken this to heart when planning Swimming with the Sharks.  

The two days of intensive training will be separated into two sessions, the first on May 29th and the second on June 19th. These will be augmented by three extremely valuable one-on-one sessions with Steve, for the affordable early bird price of $250 (for Ag-West Bio members). To be blunt, participants will only be paying a fraction of Steve’s standard cost.   

This is not a classroom lecture – it is an interactive and highly engaging workshop with real world negotiation exercises, opportunities to practice your pitch – and to experience what it’s like to be in the investor’s shoes, being pitched to. You will also learn various investment structures and core terminology, such as: What are drag-along rights? What is a Most Favored Nation clause? What will my ownership look like as dilution occurs?). 

You want to be in a position to choose your investor. This is paramount to your long-term success. You can have the most promising idea in the world, but if you cannot communicate to potential investors in a clear, concise manner, you are doomed.   

If you would like to learn more about the bootcamp, I welcome interested parties to contact me, or even better, contact Steve Balaban himself (information below).  

Ag-West Bio would like to thank Brent Zettl for his continued financial support of the ABIC Foundation. We also welcome other parties interested in sponsoring ABIC, which is a charitable foundation (tax receipts are available). 

LEARN MORE or REGISTER for Swimming with the Sharks
Contact Steve Balaban (info@minklearning.com) or Kyle Adams (kyle.adams@agwest.sk.ca) for more information. 

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