Finistere Ventures Partner Spencer Maughan to Speak at F&A Next 2016

Maughan to Participate in Expert Panel on European AgTech Innovation

PALO ALTO, CA — May 23, 2016 — AgTech venture pioneer Finistere Ventures today announced that Dr. Spencer Maughan will discuss European agriculture investment opportunities at F&A Next in a session titled, “Accelerating European Food & AgTech Innovation,” on Thursday, May 26 at 10 a.m. DST at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Moderated by Anterra Capital, Maughan and seasoned venture capitalists from GreenSoil Investments, Nutreco, Syngenta Ventures and Wheatsheaf will discuss their take on how Ag investors and cutting-edge technology innovators can work together to drive strategic business growth. Maughan will share his first-hand perspective on Europe’s place in the AgTech evolution and how AgTech innovators can effectively scale to meet future farming needs.

Spencer Maughan currently heads Finistere’s Silicon Valley office. Before joining Finistere Ventures, Maughan was an entrepreneur-in-residence at KPCB focused on AgTech opportunities and an investor at Venrock. Maughan earned a BSc and PhD in genetics from the University of Melbourne and was named a Marie Curie fellow at the University of Cambridge, where his work on malarial drug-resistance type proteins received a commendation from the UK Houses of Parliament. Spencer also holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business where he was the American Australian Association’s Macquarie Bank Fellow.

A Wageningen UR, Rabobank, FoodValley NL and Startlife initiative, F&A Next will host an impressive group of food and agriculture investors, startups and major corporations to stimulate industry innovation. All keynotes, panel discussions and one-on-one meetings on May 26 will focus on second-stage startups.