Australia-based farm-to-fork innovation venture fund Mandalay Venture Partners on Wednesday announced that it has roped in state-owned Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) as an investor.

The fund, which is also backed by Australia’s NRMA Group, said it has secured $26.74 million in committed capital and is aiming to deploy it to businesses solving key challenges in the food industry, including areas such as sustainability, on-farm efficiencies, supply chain automation, autonomous vehicles, future foods, e-commerce and e-grocery.

Since raising its first $20 million last year, Mandalay Venture Partners has invested in four portfolio companies: Naturo (Haelen), Harvest B, Agscent, and FUL Foods. The fund aims to make another six investments this year.

“QIC’s investment is a meaningful endorsement of our fund. To secure their support, we worked through a level of due diligence typically reserved for large global venture funds,” said managing partner Mark Gustowski.

“We’re also passionate about Queensland as a hub for agrifood tech. Queensland’s startup ecosystem has been growing steadily over the past decade, so there’s a real opportunity for agrifood tech  to excel here, given that over 90% of the state is already used in agriculture production,” he added.

“Mandalay’s focus on farm-to-fork, including carbon sequestration, on-farm efficiencies, supply-chain automation, and future foods, taps an important sector in the Queensland economy,” said QIC private equity partner Nicholas Guest.

“By coming together to help close the identified early-stage funding gap in Queensland, we can diversify and grow this sector by making more capital available through a stronger local venture capital industry. In doing so, businesses will not need to leave our state to pursue funding elsewhere – they can establish, grow and remain in Queensland,” he added.

Mandalay is set to complete its final close at the end of June 2024 after which it is targeting to invest in 20-30 startups over the next four years.

Founded in 2020, Mandalay is led by three partners — Mark Gustowski, Philippe Ceulen, and Timothy Hui.