Flyover Capital celebrates $63 million sale of its second portfolio firm Agrible
August 9, 2018 | Startland Staff
In a deal that further validates the vibrancy of the Midwest tech scene, leaders at Kansas City-based Flyover Capital are lauding the sale of its second portfolio firm since its launch in 2014.
Flyover — a venture capital firm whose mission is to fuel the next generation of tech startups in the Midwest — is enjoying the sizable exit of Agrible, an Illinois-based ag tech startup, said Flyover partner Keith Molzer. Agrible sold to Nutrien, based in Loveland, Colorado, for $63 million.
“We are excited for the Agrible team,” Molzer said. “They have worked diligently to build a great company and having Nutrien acquire the company is a great testament to their team and the technology they have built.”
The sale is significant not only to Flyover and its partners but also the flyover region it serves, Molzer said. The deal is the second exit in Flyover’s portfolio, with the first being Kansas City-based ZOLOZ, formerly EyeVerify.
Flyover participated in three investment rounds in Agrible, he added.
“This is a great win for the Midwest and further validates Flyover’s goal of helping create the next generation of technology success story in flyover country,” Molzer said. “This exit provides a substantial return for the investors in Flyover Capital as well. As a first-time fund, we focus on finding early-stage technology companies that we can help grow and utilizes the natural resources in the region. In Agrible’s case, being in the heartland and close to the University of Illinois provided them access to the best ag tech talent and helped them accelerate their growth. It is a testament to the region, as Nutrien is keeping the Agrible team in Champaign, Illinois.”
Agrible created a platform that includes a variety of farmer advisory tools, data science capabilities, predictive analytics. Nutrien is a publicly-traded ag tech firm.
Flyover Capital launched in 2014 and features several Kansas City entrepreneurs among its leadership, including Molzer, Thad Langford and Marty Bicknell. The firm has invested in 13 companies in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Maryland.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Climate change innovation, leadership must be built at the local level, Buttigieg tells SXSW
Editor’s note: The following story is part of Startland News’ coverage of the SXSW conference in Austin. Click here to read more stories from the 2022 trip. AUSTIN — The keys to solving climate change could already be in the ignition, Pete Buttigieg said, empowering a crowd of innovation leaders to sit in the passenger…
Sit Foundry takes a stand for ‘lost art’ of upholstery amid fast furniture’s climate threat
Alex Krause Matlack is bringing what she teaches in the classroom to Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as she pursues Sit Foundry — an all-inclusive reupholstery design studio. “In the first week of my Intro to Entrepreneurship class, I tell my students to go out into the world and take notice of the problems they face.…
De-risking a dangerous job: How a window washing startup is raising the bar (and hose) with drones
It’s a nightmare to clean the windows of multi-story buildings, said Andrew Brain. “It’s incredibly unsafe for folks to be hanging on the side of buildings — and it’s incredibly expensive for them to be there. Insurance liability has gone up 300 to 400 percent. … I was thinking that there’s got to be a…
Callie England’s latest venture has no name or website; When odds are you’ll die next week, you learn to prioritize, she says
Sometimes hypothetical questions become all too real, said Callie England, a serial entrepreneur who frequently posed a speculative query to herself and clients: “If you were going to die next week, what decisions would you make?” It was a question she was forced to answer honestly in July 2021, when the veteran Kansas City startup…