Forage Capital Partners

Forage Capital Partners

Forage Capital Partners operates from Calgary, managing a $150 million Ag & Food Business Solutions Fund (per firm website). The team has spent more than 20 years deploying capital into crop inputs, primary food production, branded food companies, and equipment manufacturing. The mandate sits squarely at the intersection of growth equity and operational recovery, targeting businesses that have suffered a significant shock to their commercial model. Portfolio activity demonstrates the firm's preference for established, tangible businesses rather than pre-revenue platforms. Confirmed holdings include S3 Group Ltd., a 58-year-old Saskatchewan-based manufacturer of agricultural equipment components (per the firm, November 2023), and Ostara, a fertilizer company that recovers nutrients from wastewater to produce a controlled-release phosphate product called Crystal Green Pearl — registered for organic farming in Austria and the Netherlands (per Ostara press release, April 2024). S3 Group, led by CEO Richelle Andreas, has manufacturing facilities across Canada and the US and supplies some of the world’s largest tractor brands. Forage’s website describes its investment approach as working alongside management to stabilize operations and set revised growth priorities, suggesting a hands-on operational engagement model rather than passive growth-capital injections. Geographic footprint spans Canada, with Ostara extending the portfolio's operational relevance into European markets. The firm lists twelve team members on its website, with no individual roles or titles specified — a departure from standard fund-marketing practice. Richelle Andreas appears in both the team listing and portfolio-company announcements as CEO of S3 Group, blurring the line between manager and operator. In October 2023, S3 Group opened a 22,000-square-foot engineered-manufacturing center in Medicine Hat, Alberta, supported by a $1.3 million investment from the Government of Alberta’s Investment and Growth Fund (per the firm, October 2023). No separate philanthropic vehicles or co-investor clubs are disclosed. Forage’s structural profile is unusual: a single $150 million fund raised by an operating group that lists a dozen team members without hierarchy. The website states the team is “Canada’s most experienced group of growth equity investors focused on the Ag & Food industry,” yet it provides no fund-performance metrics, no individual track records, and no information on limited partners. The structure appears to blend an independent sponsor model with an operating-company orientation, anchored by executives who run portfolio companies directly.