Impact
Impact Investing with Mark Kahn from Omnivore
In our "Meet the Managers"-series, we introduce you to our universe of SFDR 9-compliant impact funds with ambitious, measurable environmental and social sustainability objectives alongside market-rate return targets.
Omnivore is an impact venture capital firm that supports visionary founders advancing agrifood innovation, rural transformation, and climate action. Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India and over the past decade has backed over 40 startups making farming more profitable, resilient, sustainable, and climate-proof. Together with the company's Managing Partner, Mark Kahn, we talked about their strategy and goals.
What does it take to make successful investments in your sector?
Mark Kahn: The recipe for backing promising agrifood, rural, and climate (ACR) startups isn’t simple but has become more clear over the past decade.
Focus on extraordinary teams addressing huge problems while delivering product-market fit, social/environmental impact, unit economics, and positive cash flow cycles. Such companies are optimally equipped to thrive despite the challenges and myriad uncertainties in the market. Our job is to back the right teams and help guide them towards achieving these crucial elements of success.
What keeps you up at night?
Mark Kahn: The climate crisis threatens the very future of agrifood systems and rural communities across India. The complex web of challenges threatening food security and rural livelihoods demands innovative approaches with potential for systemic change.
The quest is to identify visionary entrepreneurs whose ideas could revolutionize agrifood systems and create a more sustainable, equitable future for communities worldwide.
What was your latest investment and how does it make our world more sustainable?
Mark Kahn: “Two Point O Capital” is a platform to accelerate the climate transition of MSMEs in rural India. The startup’s innovative approach to climate technology financing has the potential to radically increase energy and water usage efficiency by rural MSMEs, especially in sectors like dairy and food processing.
The startup provides flexible financing for distributed clean energy assets in solar, energy efficiency, and water treatment sectors. Their model allows small enterprises to increase profitability without upfront investment, with repayments coming from energy savings. They partner with operational players for lifecycle asset management.
