Accelerating the
world’s food ecosystem
transformation.
Food at the intersection of taste, planetary and human health.
Mission
There is an increasing awareness among consumers that our food system is broken and would not be able to scale to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to live on earth by 2050, without compromising the health of the planet, and our survival as a species. The food industry is now changing at its core as we are rethinking everything we are doing since the agricultural revolution.
Together with our corporate food partners, Great Circle Ventures is identifying, investing and accelerating the growth of the companies that address this market shift and the transition to a climate smart and healthy food system.
Team
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Managing Partner
Jacob Afriat was a Director at Danone Manifesto Venture ($500M+ AUM) - the venture arm of Danone S.A - a $30Bn revenue company and the largest B Corp in the world. He was a founding member at Symbrosia, a CleanTech startup reducing methane emissions with seaweed. He is a mentor at IndieBio, Big Idea Ventures & Techstars – Farm to Fork. He received his MBA from INSEAD and studied Finance at YU.
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Managing Partner
Rani Aliahmad was a managing Partner at Venvest Capital for 10+ years - an opportunistic equity investment & buyout firm and a Director at Craftsman Capital Advisors providing venture structure, financing, and merchant banking services for entrepreneurs and venture investors in the technology, biotechnology, and food industries. He received an MBA from MIT in entrepreneurship and a BA from Yale University in Economics.
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Venture Fellow
Rachel Feller is an MBA student at the Wharton School passionate about the intersection of food/sustainability and human health. This past summer, Rachel was an MBA Intern at Acre Venture Partners, investing in early-stage companies with a food systems and climate focus. Rachel was the Manager of Strategy & Operations at Tomorrow Farms. She spent 3+ years at Deloitte Consulting conducting growth strategy engagements for healthcare, technology and retail/CPG clients. She is also a member of Wharton Venture Partners, and a co-host of The Pulse Podcast by Wharton Digital Health.
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Venture Intern
Victoria Hsieh is currently a Senior at Stanford University studying computer science. She is highly interested in the world of social impact investing, and has previously interned at Schmidt Futures, centered around philanthropic projects at the intersection of science and technology. She has extensively worked on data privacy research and policy and managed communications and development for various climate nonprofits. Victoria hopes to pursue her higher education in either Law or Sustainability.
Thoughts & News
Contact
Great Circle Ventures is a proud member of Venture Access Alliance by NYCEDC and part of RECAST Capital program (cohort 8).
