Cultivian Sandbox Ventures
Chicago, IL · Invests in US · Website
Check size
$1M-$10M
Thesis
Building next-generation food and agriculture technology companies that commercialize solutions for sustainable production, equitable distribution, and healthy consumption. Partners with strategic investors to drive systemic impact in food systems.
Likely not a fit for
Non-food/agriculture technologies, companies without clear sustainability or food system impact focus
How they invest
- Lead or follow
- Leads or follows
- Typical decision
- ~2 months
- Warm intro
- Not required
- Involvement
- Takes a board seat
- Fund status
- Actively deploying
- Assets under mgmt
- $300M
- Decision process
- Partnership vote
Partners & team
5 contacts on file
Andy Ziolkowski
Managing Director, Co-Founder (Cultivian Ventures) · Primary contact
Bob Shapiro
Managing Director, Co-Founder (Sandbox Industries)
Nick Rosa
Managing Director, Managing Partner (Sandbox Industries)
Ron Meeusen
Managing Director, Co-Founder (Cultivian Ventures)
Dan Phillips
Managing Director, Partner (Sandbox Industries)
Portfolio
Vestaron is leading a revolution in crop protection with new peptide technology, producing a pipeline of powerful insecticides based on peptides modified from the venom of spiders and other venomous species.
Nuritas leverages AI technology to discover and unlock bioactive peptides from nature, creating innovative ingredients for healthier and safer consumer products.
Descartes Labs is an AI-powered company specializing in insurance and Earth observation satellite data. It operates a satellite constellation for high-quality Earth observation, focusing on delivering science-grade satellite data for various applications.
Geltor is transforming biodesign into a new paradigm for sustainable, ethically sourced, and effective protein ingredients, focusing on beauty, wellness, and nutrition.
Sound Agriculture is a company focused on agricultural technology, aiming to enhance crop productivity and sustainability through innovative solutions.
Full Harvest is the leading B2B marketplace for USDA Grade 1, surplus, and imperfect produce, connecting growers with commercial buyers to reduce food waste and improve the efficiency of the produce supply chain.
Novihum Technologies is a company focused on online gaming, specifically slot games in Indonesia. Their website offers the popular game SLOT5000, which promises large jackpot wins with a minimum deposit of 5,000.
IngredientWerks is a leading molecular farming developer of plant-based ingredients for food and nutritional alternative proteins. Our plants become protein manufacturing systems, pioneering a new era of food production.
Cooks Venture is a company focused on culinary innovation.
Debut Biotech is a pioneering biotech beauty company that creates high-performing beauty products rooted in science and clinical testing, utilizing bio-based ingredients and advanced biomanufacturing techniques.
Recent activity
- Jan 2026
Agrivida
Series D · Lead
- Dec 2025
Culture Biosciences
Series C · Participant
- Nov 2025
Supergut
Growth · Investor
- Mar 2025
Supergut
Growth/Series B · Participant
Cultivian Sandbox Ventures in the news
glossy.co
L’Oréal invests in biotech firm, betting on a new generation of active ingredients
Jun 2023
AgFunderNews
Nuritas raises $45m to scale its plant-based peptides discovery platform
Nov 2021
Culture Biosciences Raises $80M Series B to Tackle Demand for Large-Scale Biomanufacturing
Oct 2021
Debut Biotech is creating next-gen ingredients through ‘cell-free biomanufacturing’
Sep 2021
Debut Biotech Raises $22.6M Series A Financing
Aug 2021
Company With Benton County Poultry Farm Announces $10M Investment
Jul 2020
Thiel-Backed Breakout Ventures Invests in Phylagen $14m Series A with Cultivian, AgFunder For Microbe-Based Traceability
Feb 2019
60 AgriFood Tech Startups Nominated for 2019 AgFunder Innovation Awards – Vote Now!
Feb 2019
Full Harvest raises $8.5 million to help farms sell their deformed produce
Aug 2018
Sample6 Closes $12.5 Million Series C to Scale-Up Commercialization of World's Fastest Food Pathogen Detection System for Food Safety
Aug 2016
Similar firms
FTW Ventures is a highly specialized venture capital fund that invests exclusively across the entire food value chain—from ingredients and processing to logistics and biotech platforms. Operating as a hands-on studio for food system founders, FTW provides intensive support on regulatory, scale-up, and technical challenges like strain development and food safety, with an evidence-first approach.
Global alternative-protein accelerator with a five-month program (New York, Singapore, Paris), backing consumer and enabling-tech startups and providing direct access to incumbents like AAK, Bel, Bühler, Givaudan, Tyson Ventures. Big Idea Ventures launched the first global fund dedicated solely to alternative proteins in 2019 and has since invested in more than 100 companies across 25 countries through its New Protein Fund I, focusing not only on consumer products but also on enabling technologies like AI-driven microfluids and cultivated fats.
A climate-focused agrifood fund evolved from corporate-backed to institutional VC, offering founders rare food-policy and regulatory expertise through partner Sam Kass. Acre Venture Partners originated as a $125M fund created exclusively by Campbell Soup Company but later transitioned to institutional ownership when Campbell sold its stake to StepStone. The fund positions itself as a climate fund using food and agriculture as its mode of action and features partner Sam Kass, former White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition to President Obama, bringing rare policy expertise at the intersection of food, health, and regulation.
Focuses on impactful companies aiming to positively transform the world's food system.
Mission-driven venture fund explicitly structured to eliminate animals from the food supply chain, founded and backed by long-time animal advocates. CEO Lisa Feria brings operations-heavy background from running large CPG businesses at Procter & Gamble and General Mills. Operates as first-check signaling investor for mission-aligned founders in alternative protein, concentrating portfolio on full-stack infrastructure like ingredients and fermentation platforms. Optimizes for impact on animal numbers as primary screening lens.
Research briefRead more
Add Cultivian Sandbox Ventures to your investor list
Sign up free to save investors, see partner contacts, and track your raise.
Sign up