Toronto, Ontario and Birmingham, Alabama 11 September 2014 – The Kirchner Food Fellowship today announced new details regarding the Fellowship program, the FundtheFood student led investment fund and a proposed follow-on fund. The program will assimilate the Kirchner Food Fellows into an effective investment team and train them as future capital allocators in agricultural related industries.
Final selection for the 2014-2015 cohort of Kirchner Food Fellows will occur over the coming weeks, with the program beginning on October 4th. The Fellows will receive a stipend, expense-paid travel for experiential learning as well as world-class investment training including the deployment of investment capital, all provided via the Fellowship. Supporting resources for the Fellows will include the professionals and networks of the Kirchner Group, and its agricultural impact arm, the Food Security Group. The Hunger Solutions Institute and Universities Fighting World Hunger will also support the Fellows. During the program Fellows will travel to internationally recognized events in Guelph, Ontario; New York; and Lisbon, Portugal.
“Our program is designed to accelerate needed innovations in the capital markets by harnessing the creativity and drive of remarkably talented students that have grown up in a networked world,” commented Executive Director, Alastair Summerlee. “We will arm them with the traditional investment tools and networks, and fully expect that they will use resources in new and innovative ways.”
The FundTheFood student-run investment fund will invest in for-profit companies which can accelerate the day when every person on the planet has reliable access to healthy food. Deal flow will be developed by the Fellows and will include crowdfunding sources, university technology transfer offices, business plan competitions and existing deal sources from the Fellows’ supporting resources. Investment decisions will be made by the Fellows on a fully discretionary basis. Portfolio profits from investments made by the inaugural Fellows will be used for the benefit of the University Fighting World Hunger movement and to grow the funding base for future cohorts.
Companies that receive funding from the Fellows will be candidates for follow-on investments from a supporting, professionally managed, fund currently in formation. Additional information on the follow-on fund will be released soon.
The Kirchner Food Fellowship is also pleased to announce that it recently formalized a partnership with Thought For Food (TFF) whereby the Kirchner Food Fellows will serve as a judging panel at the 2015 TFF Challenge Summit (www.tffchallenge.com) in Lisbon. At the summit, the Fellows will identify prospective investment opportunities and award a ‘Kirchner Food Fellows Prize’ for what they deem to be the most outstanding business plan. Established in 2011, Thought For Food supports high-impact next-generation global leaders at universities around the world to use cutting edge tools to find innovative solutions to global food security.
About Kirchner Food Fellowship Program
The Kirchner Food Fellowship believes it is vital for the next generation of leaders to understand, get involved and aid in funding young entrepreneurial businesses which positively impact global food security. The Kirchner Food Fellowship will provide an opportunity for an elite group of student leaders to be engaged in investment decisions for agriculture-oriented businesses with ground-breaking technologies which can provide long-term sustainable solutions, both environmentally and economically. The students will receive high-level mentoring from networks of investors from across North America. They will also be working directly with our leadership team and our network of thought leaders. www.fundthefood.com
Alastair Summerlee
Executive Director
Kirchner Food Fellowship Program
519.824.4120 x 52986
asummerlee@fundthefood.com
About Kirchner Group
The Kirchner Group has provided traditional merchant banking services since 1985. The Company provides advisory, operational and transactional support to companies as well as asset management services for institutional investors. Kirchner Group’s proprietary platform is built on the premise that pairing deep domain expertise with process experts provides superior results. Our clients and partners range from promising entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies and their investors. Kirchner Group also manages assets for some of the largest insurance companies, commercial banks and institutional investors in the world.
Kirchner Group’s Agriculture and Food team has more than 95 years of collective experience as operators, transaction experts and investors in the sector. Kirchner Group founded its agricultural social impact arm, Food Security Group, in 2011. www.kirchnergroup.com
Steve Dauphin
Managing Partner
Food Security Group
205.602.9845
sdauphin@fundthefood.com