Feb 17, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

TPP Capital Holdings Launches $20M Urban Agriculture and Food Investment Fund

TPP Capital Holdings (TPP), a Philadelphia based, Black-led social impact private equity fund manager and urban healthcare and real estate development firm dedicated to improving the health of residents in Black and Brown neighborhoods through improved access to healthy food, has announced the launch of an Urban Agriculture and Food Investment Fund of $20 million. The purpose of the fund is to make direct place-based private equity investments in agribusiness, agriculture, indoor vertical farms/greenhouses, farmland development, health-focused food and beverage enterprises with Black and Brown ownership located in federally qualified opportunity zones throughout the country in order to reduce health disparities and the disparate burdens of chronic medical conditions exposed by COVID-19 that disproportionately impact Black and Brown Americans.

Fund I, a growth capital vehicle, will target family offices, high-net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, professional athletes, celebrities, entertainers, and institutional investors. The Fund also expects to be an attractive investment vehicle for women and people of color who are interested in supporting enterprises with Black and Brown ownership participation.

“TPP principals has 25 years of food industry experience in food science, food ingredients, food processing, food technology, packaging, and food marketing. With strong relationships with food ingredient suppliers, food scientists, food companies, and food CEOs, and executives TPP is well position for success,” says Clinton Bush, TPP Capital Holdings Principal, and Co-Founder.

“One the keys to this raise are to align our Fund with patient capital that understands our quadruple bottom line approach of saving money on taxes against ordinary income or a recent capital gains event, sustainable and verifiable social and economic impacts along with financial returns to our investors,” says Anthony B. Miles, TPP Capital Holdings Principal, and Fund Manager of Tioga District Urban Agriculture OZ Fund. “In the middle of today’s public health crisis, our raise will allow us to provide scalable solutions and build back better – prioritizing health through stronger businesses and buildings in food and wellness desserts prevalent in Black and Brown communities in federal qualified opportunity zones.”

To date, TPP Capital has commitments to provide the direct investments through Fund I, including:

$2M investment commitment in Vertical Harvest LC3, a Jackson, Wyoming, agri-business that has built a profitable sustainable model for urban hydroponic farms that addresses food and job insecurity through the production of fresh, local food year-round while providing meaningful jobs to underemployed populations, with a focus on hiring people with intellectual and physical disabilities. The investment will drive a five-year expansion plan to build 10 new 70,000-square- foot greenhouses, produce over 10 million annual pounds of produce, and create up to 550 meaningful jobs for underserved populations in the US, all on less than three acres of land each.

$5M equity investment commitment in Vertical Harvest Philly, the construction and operation of a 70,000-square-foot greenhouse that will pursue WELL Certification and the WELL Health Safety Rating. The site will be accompanied by 50 affordable units housing for farm workers in Upper North Philadelphia’s Tioga neighborhood adjacent to Temple University

Health Sciences Campus and Temple University Hospital in the certified federally qualified opportunity zone census tract 42101020101.

“TPP's investment in Vertical Harvest, and their food industry expertise that they bring will greatly expand our footprint and enable us to gain significant market share in a fast-moving vertical farming market that is rooted in our foundational values of inclusivity, sustainability and community resilience," said Vertical Harvest CEO Nona Yehia.

A third direct equity investment is in urban farmland development sites with affordable housing for farm workers and food entrepreneurs, Black- and Brown-owned food ventures.

Investors can get involved in the Fund, learn more about each investment’s associated social, environmental, and economic impacts, opportunity zone investment structure; and relevant investor two-tier tax benefit under the opportunity zone program during TPP’s upcoming Making Money, Doing Social Good™ webinar series on February 25, 2021, from 1:00 to 2:15PM and March 11, 2021 from 2:00 – 3:15PM. Registration for the event can be found here: Making Money, Doing Social Good | Urban Agriculture & Food (constantcontact.com)

About TPP Capital Holdings

TPP Capital Holdings (TPP), based in Philadelphia, with offices in Jacksonville, Fla, is a Black-led social impact private equity fund manager and urban healthcare and real estate development firm on a mission to change the face of Black health by investing in and transforming as many as five urban blighted and underserved Black neighborhoods into integrated and scalable, compact, dense and community, health, and wellness- focused districts over the next 10 years. TPP will make investments of $100MM to $300MM in each neighborhood.

About Tioga District™

The Tioga District™ is a tech-forward, fully integrated, compact, dense, transit-oriented mixed-use inclusive community, health and wellness-centric five-square-block master planned development by Black-led, Philadelphia-based social impact private equity fund manager and urban healthcare real estate development firm TPP Capital Holdings, featuring a full urban mix of affordable housing, entertainment, work, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities.