Alexia Lingart Uses Financial Skill to Support Groundbreaking AgTech and FoodTech
We don’t have to accept the past as a template for our lives. Alexia Lingart is a finance expert and venture capitalist working at Creadev who is focused on redirecting the way food systems operate internationally. A native of France, Alexia has spent a fair amount of the past two years working with fledgling and somewhat established companies who aspire to recalibrate the public’s notion about what is good food as well as its accessibility. It’s not the typical setting when you think about a leading mind in the world of finance, and that’s precisely the kind of preconceptions Ms. Lingart wants to see evaporate. She sees finance as a means for the benevolent evolution of a society. Alexia explains, “The financial industry is at the very heart of the economy. It has been existing forever because it’s one of the key pillars of our economy and society. The Mesopotamian civilization already had money, accounting and finance (loans, interests). Finance has been one of the key elements in the progress of the human race by financing the development of private and public organizations that developed the world. Without the role of the banks to store and secure money, the criminality rates would be significantly higher. The risk of losing everything because of robbery or natural disaster would be considerably higher.”
Capital can be used to promote innovation, building platforms that will resonate with people to bring about fundamental change for the good of all. When entrepreneurs undertake an innovation that will create a shift in previous norms, it’s the work of experts like Ms. Lingart to help support and guide them so that they may reach their goals. Of course, many factors are involved such as treasury management, financial planning, financial optimization, accounting, financial compliance, reporting tools, and more. Through her work with Creadev (a French firm with investments in numerous countries and continents), Alexia has helped the management teams of varied companies gain insight to evaluate the effectiveness of a product. Numbers speak to her and reveal paths not so obvious to most of us. Alexia has contributed to a number of Creadev’s investment backings for companies which are based in the AgTech and FoodTech industries. Hungry Harvest, Everytable, The Jackfruit Company, and others are examples of how entrepreneurs all across the planet are seeking to elevate the quality of food available while being more environmentally conscious. Lingart comments, “Promoting innovation leads to educating the entire supply chain, from producer to customers, and contributes to disrupting it. I believe we are changing the Food industry at its core because we invest in game changing companies trying to revolutionize the way the food industry has been working for centuries and the way we eat for years; such as the way Everytable disrupting the fast food industry, The Jackfruit company with alternative meat products, or Innovafeed (a large-scale producer of insect protein destined to feed the aquaculture industry).” Alexia’s appointment to positions such as a Board Observer at Everytable testifies to the trust that those in the industry place in her. In addition to Ms. Lingart, Everytable’s board counts among its members ,Founder Sam Polk, Michel de Rovira (Head of the Food division at Creadev, Founder of Michel & Augustin- producer and distributor of premium range of biscuits, dairy products, fresh desserts, and beverages sold to Danone), Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Desert Bloom VenturesDar Vasseghi (CEO at Tartine Bakery), Karim Webb (entrepreneurial activist), and Gustaf Brandberg (Founder of Gullspång Invest).
Diversity and curiosity are the twin engines which have steered Alexia’s successful course in finance. She credits her time in merger and acquisitions with strengthening her rigorousness to be exceedingly detail oriented. Working in investment funds (Private Equity or Merger and Acquisition in a Corporate group) allowed her to learn all the financial mechanisms that exist and how to analyze profitable companies. Presently steeped in the arena of Venture Capital, Alexia is able to contribute from a vastly wider knowledge base when advising the companies who seek to alter the food industry. For those professionals who would follow her examples she recommends, “Stay open minded, do not wait for people to come to you. Being proactive is essential to success in this industry. Work in an international environment to learn from different people who have different backgrounds and cultures. Venture Capital brings together a diverse group of people: finance experts, former entrepreneurs, former strategic advisors, and many more. It should not be too painful if you love what you do and you believe you are contributing to the bigger picture. If not, change the company you work for. I would recommend working for a company whose mission is aligned with your vision of life.”
