Amanda Donohue-Hansen Email & Phone Number

Investment Director at the corporate venture capital group of dsm-firmenich. Investing in early-stage technology companies and innovative businesses in nutrition, health, and beauty.

Indianapolis, Indiana, US

Independent consulting business that advised entrepreneurs, startups, corporations, and investors with strategy, business development, investment diligence, capital planning and fundraising in the food and agriculture sector.

Chicago, Illinois, US

• Investor and Managing Director of Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, a joint venture between Sandbox Industries and Cultivian Ventures, which raised two early-stage venture funds with a combined $250M in commitments to invest.
• Responsible for investment sourcing, financial analysis and diligence, term sheet negotiation, investment execution and portfolio management for Cultivian Sandbox’ second fund with $135MM in commitments. On average.
• Supported Managing Directors of Cultivian Sandbox’ first fund with portfolio management, follow-on investment analysis, and valuations.
• 1 of 7 Investment Committee Members for the second Cultivian Sandbox fund, responsible for portfolio construction strategy, evaluating and approving new and follow-on investments, and managing allocation of the.
• Served as Board Director on 2 portfolio companies and Board Observer on 5 portfolio companies across the two funds.
• Managed the Fund’s relationship with several strategic corporate and financial LPs, including sharing regular updates on portfolio and fund financial performance as well as strategic insights relevant to each LP.

Chicago, Illinois, US

Chicago, Illinois, US

• Partner at Sandbox Industries, a Chicago-based investment management firm with $1.6B in assets under management and investments in technology companies transforming some of the most critical industries to human.
• Leader on Sandbox’ food & agriculture investment team, responsible for investment and management of its Cultivian Sandbox venture funds and the firm’s food & agriculture fund strategy.
• Organized firm-wide learning & development opportunities and training, including case studies on investment negotiation and portfolio management, best practices related to sourcing and board governance, and.
• Early adopter of new technology tools, such as Carta for more streamlined investment valuations and Affinity for relationship and investment opportunity management, both of which were later adopted across other funds.

Dublin, Ireland, IE

Nuritas combines artificial intelligence and genomics to discover and unlock plant-based bioactive peptides with functional health benefits for use as ingredients in food, personal care, health, and nutrition applications.As Board Observer, supported management with business development, strategic partnerships, capital planning, and fundraising.

Los Angeles, California, US

• Supergut is an evidence-based nutrition brand advancing health through the gut microbiome. The company's line of food and beverage products feed the gut with resistant starch, a prebiotic fiber, to promote a healthy.
• Sourced, led diligence, and helped execute investment in the company’s Series A financing
• As Board Observer, supported management with company strategy, business development, marketing, supply partnerships, capital planning and fundraising
• Managed the Fund’s investment in the company, including sharing regular company updates and quarterly Board reports for the Fund’s Investment Committee, preparing annual investment valuation for Fund auditors and LPs.

Culver City, California, US

• Copper Cow Coffee is a sustainable premium coffee brand that is bringing to market the highest quality and most sustainable Vietnamese Robusta coffee.
• Sourced, led diligence, and helped execute co-lead investment in the company’s Series A financing
• As Board Director, supported management with company strategy, business development, recruiting senior management and independent board directors, annual financial audit, and capital planning and fundraising
• Led diligence and execution of the Fund’s follow-on investment in the company
• Managed the Fund’s investment in the company, including sharing regular company updates and quarterly Board reports for the Fund’s Investment Committee, preparing annual investment valuation for Fund auditors and LPs.

South San Francisco, CA, US

• Culture Biosciences offers biotechnology companies an easier, faster, and cheaper way to do biomanufacturing R&D in the food, agriculture, industrial, and biopharma sectors. Culture’s platform of automated cloud.
• Sourced, led diligence, and helped execute lead investment in the company’s Series A financing
• As Board Observer, supported management with company strategy, business development, recruiting of executive leadership team and independent board directors, and fundraising
• Led diligence and execution of the Fund’s follow-on investment in the company’s Series B financing
• Managed the Fund’s investment in the company, including sharing regular company updates and quarterly Board reports to the Fund’s Investment Committee, preparing annual investment valuation for Fund auditors and LPs.

Menlo Park, California, US

Modak is a US-based platform leveraging the power of fintech, gamification, and community to promote financial literacy and empower teens to reach their full potential, regardless of their background.

Lansing, Michigan, US

Corvium developed a food risk intelligence software designed to continuously aggregate risk and quality data generated during food production and distribution, making the world a safer place to eat. Neogen (NASDAQ: NEOG) acquired Corvium in 2023 and now markets its software as "Neogen Analytics."As Board Observer, supported management with business.

Des Moines, Iowa, US

• FarmlandFinder was launched in 2016 as an online suite of tools to bring transparency to the agriculture real estate market for farmers and help farmland real estate professionals and lenders with property acquisition.
• Sourced, led diligence, and executed lead investment in the company’s Seed financing
• As Board Director, helped the company establish it's first formal Board of Directors, recruit an Independent Board Director and Chairman, and institute good company governance practices including forming compensation.
• Supported management with company strategy, business development, recruiting of executive leadership team and fundraising
• Managed the Fund’s investment in the company, including sharing regular company updates and quarterly Board reports to the Fund’s Investment Committee and preparing annual investment valuation for Fund auditors and LPs

Minneapolis, MN, US

Conservis developed an enterprise farm management software that helps family and institutional farms organize data from disparate sources, automate data entry, develop business plans, and manage operations. TELUS Agriculture and Rabobank acquired Conservis in 2021.As Board Observer, supported company capital planning and fundraising processes as well as.

Oakland, California, US

Supported management in preparing for a Series B financing, including building the business’ financial model, developing the fundraising pitch deck, and preparing target investor lists. Kuli Kuli closed on a Series B financing led by Griffith Foods in 2019.

Wayzata, Minnesota, US

• As Business Development Manager for Cargill's Food Ingredients business, I was responsible for developing new growth strategies and launching new business lines in Cargill's plant protein and starch ingredient business.
• Developed 10-year alternative protein ingredient strategy for Cargill in the Food market by evaluating the crop supply, trade, processing capacity and economics, and market demand for new plant protein sources.
• Executed on strategic game board, leading relationships and negotiations with prospective supply partners and resulted in a multi-year global distribution agreement with North American pea protein producer, PURIS.
• Coordinated cross-functional team of sales, marketing, technical applications, and operations to launch distribution of new pea protein ingredients to market.
• Conducted due diligence that led to equity investment and JV with distribution partner PURIS.

Wayzata, Minnesota, US

• Helped manage and had business P&L accountability for two ingredient product lines, Hydrocolloids and Functional Systems, whose product portfolio included pectin, carrageenan & alginates, locust bean gum and xanthan.
• Coordinated volume allocation and pricing strategy across regional sales teams during annual contracting and industry supply disruptions.
• Collaborated with R&D and technical applications teams to support development of new products and business development.

Wayzata, Minnesota, US

• Evaluated medium-term implications of a changing North American crude oil and gasoline landscape on U.S. ethanol and corn markets for Cargill’s CEO and Board of Directors.
• Developed regional growth strategies for Cargill's Russian, German and Danish animal nutrition businesses after Cargill’s $2B acquisition in 2011 of European animal nutrition company, Provimi.
• Contributed to North American malt barley supply chain strategy and preliminary due diligence into acquisition targets.
• Researched supply chain best practices from Cargill’s U.S. grain merchandising business to make strategic recommendations to Cargill’s Canadian grain business in advance of Canadian Wheat Board dissolution.

Hershey, Pennsylvania, US

Master Of Business Administration - Mba

Bsb, International Business, Public/Non-Profit Management

Ba, Spanish & Portuguese Studies