Sprout

Investment decisions are led by Chief Investment Officer Warren Bebb, supported by Investment Managers Crispin Dye and Irene Hao. CEO Sandhya Sriram oversees the broader organizational and strategic direction, with the board chaired by Marcel van den Assum providing governance.

Sprout targets early-stage agrifood technology startups, operating from pre-seed and seed stages through to growth. Its Sprout Accelerator program is structured to support founders from initial concept to market entry, with additional vehicles catering to continued scaling.

Sprout sources deal flow through its accelerator programs, direct partnerships with research institutions and agribusiness corporations, and its physical presence across multiple New Zealand cities as well as Brisbane and Singapore. The firm positions itself as an ecosystem catalyst, pulling innovation from local science and connecting it to global supply chains.

Sprout operates as a specialist asset manager and accelerator, not a family office. Its structure combines direct early-stage investing with hands-on venture-building programs, making it more akin to a sector-focused venture firm with an operating accelerator arm.

Sprout’s mandate is narrowly focused on the agrifood value chain. It does not invest outside this vertical, explicitly excluding sectors such as enterprise software, fintech, and digital health unless directly applicable to agrifood systems.