Prince Khaled's KBW Ventures Joins Organic Gardening Company's Funding Round This marks as another notable investment by Prince Khaled, who is a vocal sustainable food advocate and investor, with investments in Memphis Meats, Rebellyous Foods, and BlueNalu.
By Pamella de Leon •
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KBW Ventures, the venture capital firm founded by HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed, has joined in participating in the seed funding round of US-based organic gardening company, Back to the Roots.
Launched in 2019, the startup aims to make gardening accessible to growers of all levels of experience and in various living environments. It offers ready-to-grow and ready-to-eat products that are available across the US, and with the new capital, the company plans to scale its national distribution and marketing for the seed packet line, and support the growth of its small-space gardening kits.
KBW Ventures founder HRH Prince Khaled Bin Alwaleed
The funding round was led by current investors S2G Ventures and Acre Venture Partners, with participation from John Foraker and Fund Good Jobs. This marks as another notable investment by Prince Khaled, who is a vocal sustainable food advocate and investor, with investments in Memphis Meats, Rebellyous Foods, and BlueNalu. Prince Khaled says that KBW Ventures is location agnostic in terms of investments. On assessing ventures in the sustainable food sector, much like his other investment metrics, he looks at the business model, the founding team themselves, and its potential to scale. He says, "For these ventures regionally, I don't think the wheel needs to be re-invented; I think a good solid business model can often be adopted and adapted for the region."
On the MENA's sustainable food industry, he notes, "I don't think we're quite there yet. Business models in the region -like cafes, restaurants, cloud kitchen brands and so on- are finally now addressing the plant-based market, which is great. That's money to be made, and I love seeing startups that know how to capitalize on unmet market demand. Organic farming is gaining ground, microenterprises for natural products made with sustainability at the core are slowly gaining steam too. I think there is real interest in investing in purpose-driven businesses that are focused on food security and sustainable production, but I haven't been approached with a model like that here as yet."
Related: Plant-Based Investments Get GCC Boost From KBW Ventures Founder Prince Khaled Bin Alwaleed
