The recently launched GNT Ventures professionalizes GNT’s food-tech investments focused on new plant-based food colors and ingredient manufacturing, Finn Rieken, managing director and commercial lead for GNT Ventures and director of strategy at GNT, told FoodNavigator-USA.
In 2025, GNT Ventures plans to invest up to €1 million (or $1.05 million) in two to three startups focused on raw materials, processing, food ingredients and upcycling, Rieken said. GNT Ventures offers different investment and partnership options, including traditional equity investments and co-development deals with milestone payments, he added.
GNT’s Netherlands-based pilot plant — dubbed the Flex Hall — provides a space for startups to develop their products and technologies, Rieken explained. Additionally, GNT is sharing nearly 35 years of expertise to provide commercialization, R&D and regulatory support to early-stage startups.
GNT signed four deals with startups, including food-tech company Plume Biotechnology, which allowed the food additive company to move into the fermentation space, Rieken noted.
‘We see GNT Ventures as an integral part of our overall innovation strategy’
GNT plans to use the venture arm to find innovative sustainability solutions, including raw materials that have cost-saving and climate-resiliency properties, Rieken said.
GNT outlined 17 sustainability targets in its 2030 strategy, including reducing by 25% the environmental footprint of the EXBERRY product range — GNT’s line of natural colors made from fruit, vegetables, plant seeds and algae —and reducing factory CO2-equivalent emission by at least 50%, according to the company.
“We see GNT Ventures as an integral part of our overall innovation strategy and collaboration strategy. And honestly, that has quite a way to go because it is not fully integrated yet into our innovation efforts and into our innovation engine, but we are working on this,” he added.
Minimizing risk by small, diverse investments
GNT Ventures is insulating itself from the risks associated with startup investing by focusing on a diverse range of potential investments — similar to traditional venture capitalist — and investing small amounts early in the company lifecycle, Rieken said.
“We know that there is always risk associated with startup investments, and that is why you typically set up a separate legal entity to do the investments,” he said.
