Bidra Innovation Ventures

Amar Singh serves as CEO and Managing Partner, and Mark Kahn serves as Managing Partner. Singh previously led corporate development at OCP Group, Bidra's anchor investor, while Kahn co-founded Omnivore, a pioneering Indian agritech venture fund. Investment decisions are made by the partnership with oversight from OCP's corporate venture leadership.

Bidra Innovation Ventures is a venture capital entity anchored by OCP Group, Morocco's state-owned phosphate and fertilizer company. It operates in close coordination with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), which OCP established. UM6P functions as a research pipeline for Bidra, providing technology licensing opportunities and agronomic expertise, while OCP supplies the capital base and access to fertilizer distribution networks across Africa.

Bidra targets early-stage and growth-equity rounds, with a focus on Series Seed through Series B. The firm writes initial checks in the $1 million to $5 million range and reserves capital for follow-on investments. It deploys through direct equity, convertible notes, and occasionally structured venture SPVs alongside strategic co-investors.

Bidra's mandate centers on Africa, the Middle East, and other arid and semi-arid regions globally. The firm seeks startups whose technologies are suited to dryland farming conditions where OCP's fertilizer products are already distributed. Portfolio companies based in the US or Europe must demonstrate a clear deployment path into these target markets.

Bidra primarily executes direct investments rather than acting as a fund of funds. However, its relationship with UM6P allows the firm to co-invest alongside research spinouts and academic venture programs. The firm has not publicly disclosed any third-party fund commitments as a limited partner.

Bidra does not invest in consumer-facing food brands, restaurant tech, or downstream food delivery. The firm concentrates exclusively on upstream agricultural technologies — soil health, crop inputs, water management, precision agriculture, and supply-chain decarbonization. General enterprise SaaS and fintech are outside scope unless they serve a direct agronomic application.

Bidra co-invests opportunistically alongside other climate and agtech venture firms, particularly where its OCP affiliation provides strategic value to a syndicate. The firm has participated in rounds led by external GPs including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and AgFunder. Bidra's corporate anchor makes it a preferred partner for startups needing industrial validation or distribution in North and West African markets.