Ryan D. Teksten
Managing Director at Tabard Venture Capital
Boston, Massachusetts
Overview
Work Experience
Founder and Managing Director
2017 - Current
● AgTech-focused Investor, advisor and mentor to early-stage AgTech, Enterprise IT & FinTech companies. Focused on deal-specific Angel/SPV/Fund-of Funds investments. ● Investments include: TellusLabs (acquired by IndigoAg, Dec 2018), Greensight Agronomics, Vence, Verdical, SmartYields, and Work-Bench, LP Fund II. ● Investment thesis and operating ethos creates deep relationships with early stage companies and key leadership across a broad portfolio of businesses ranging across animal health, nutrition, biotech, yield improvement, crop protection, water utilization, agronomy, and supply chain solutions. ● Builds deep and authentic relationships throughout the agtech innovation ecosystem ranging from corporations, incubators, academia, event coordinators, and other VCs.
Founder and Managing Principal
2008
● As a boutique consulting firm, we focus on agtech’s hard problems: innovation, spinouts, corporate strategy, and complex financial modeling. ● We specialize in crafting international business development strategies, new product generation, and go-to-market solutions that win; bringing clarity to nebulous concepts and programs. ● Our clients include early stage companies, family offices with operating agricultural companies, large corporations, and academics looking to dive deep into the nexus of agriculture, technology, and finance. ● Services include: C-level advisory services, tech investment and innovation strategy, board management, M&A roadmap planning, complex financial modeling, organizational design, sourcing/evaluating partnerships, acquisition, and investment diligence. ● A leading mentor and advisor to early stage companies disrupting complex agriculture, finance, and technology-enabled markets.
Advisor/Investor
2017
GreenSight provides an integrated HW/SW/Data platform in the cloud for land managers--ranging from Turf, to Agriculture, to Defense, We combine automated drones, advanced sensors, and data analytics to deliver superintendents and farmers actionable alerts enabling them to better manage water, pesticide, and fertilizer usage. www.greensightag.com
Investor
2018
Founded in 2015, Smart Yields connects farmers, researchers and their communities through real-time analytics from connected sensors.
Raised $520,000.00 from Agricultural Research Service and Elemental Impact.
Senior Director, Venture Investments
2020 - 2024
● Developed and championed the team’s crop science digital, environmental, and food security investment theses--Water, Sustainability, Soil Health,, Nitrogen replacement, and Carbon. ● Lead investor in four leading AgTech companies: SoundAg, EarthOptics, GuardianAg, ChrysaLabs. ● Board member and committee member across 7 companies over 4.5 years, including NewLeaf Symbiotics, Amfora, IBI-Ag. ● $50m+ USD deployed in four years ● Builds deep and authentic relationships throughout the AgTech innovation ecosystem ranging from corporates, incubators, academia, event coordinators, and other VCs
Board Member
2023 - 2024
Board Member
2021 - 2024
Board Member
2021 - 2024
Sound Agriculture uses molecular discovery to create climate resilient crops, enhancing harvest yields for growers.
Raised $170,449,973.00 from BMO Capital Markets, Leaps by Bayer, Syngenta Group, Fall Line Capital, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, FootPrint Coalition, S2G Ventures, Cavallo Ventures and Northpond Ventures.
Board Member-Observer
2020 - 2024
NewLeaf Symbiotics is an agtech company focused on developing sustainable agricultural products using bacteria and related microbes.
Raised $132,551,078.00 from S2G Ventures, Otter Capital, Gullspång Re:food, Leaps by Bayer, S2G Ventures, Koch Agronomic Services, Leaps by Bayer, Otter Capital and RockPort Capital.
Board Member
2020 - 2023
Guardian Agriculture provides advanced crop protection services using state of the art technology.
Raised $51,696,973.00 from Massachusetts Manufacturing Accelerator.