Open Prairie

www.openprairie.com

VCMatch tracks Open Prairie as an investor focused on Agtech, Foodtech, and Biotech companies, Growth and Series A rounds, Rural America, United States, and Canada markets, and $2m to $10m check sizes. Upload your deck to compare your startup against the full private matching profile.

Check Size

$2m to $10m

Stages

Growth, Series A, Series C

Focus Areas

Agtech, Foodtech, Biotech

Geography

Rural America, United States, and Canada

Investment Thesis

Open Prairie deploys growth-stage private equity and venture capital with the explicit goal of catalyzing growth in rural America and the agriculture value chain. The firm emphasizes increasing capital access in underserved markets and “works in partnership with its portfolio companies to accelerate growth while providing top-tier returns to its investors,” leveraging experience across technology-based venture capital, private equity and farmland portfolios and an extensive industry network.

Is Open Prairie right for your startup?

Upload your pitch deck to compare your startup against VCMatch's private investor profile, including fit, timing, and next-step signals.

See If You're a Match View Sample Match

Investment Focus

Who should take a closer look

Open Prairie is most relevant for founders raising Growth, Series A, and Series C rounds in Agtech, Foodtech, Biotech, and Climate/Cleantech, especially across Rural America, United States, and Canada, with public check-size signals around $2m to $10m.

Focus statement

Open Prairie (through its USDA-licensed Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund) is focused on providing debt and equity capital of "$2 - $10 million to growth companies in food and agriculture," targeting rural- and agriculture-linked opportunities including agtech, animal health/traceability, sustainable ingredients, bioplastics and foodservice technologies.

Value Add

USDA-licensed Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC) structure and an $81 million Rural Opportunities Fund for explicitly rural-focused investing.
Geographic and thematic focus on rural America and agriculture—explicitly "based in the heartland of America" (Effingham, Illinois) with deep roots in rural markets.
Track record across diverse fund types ("technology-based venture capital to farmland portfolios"), enabling cross-discipline deal support.
Strong industry networks and investor base including Farm Credit institutions, commercial/community banks, strategics, family offices and high net worth individuals to support portfolio companies.
Hands-on, partnership approach with board representation and operational support (team members represent the firm on portfolio Boards and provide functional business expertise).
Demonstrated willingness to lead or co-lead rounds in sector-specific companies (examples: Agrivida, Comet Bio, Green Dot Bioplastics, FreshFry, HerdDogg).