Farmhand Ventures

Farmhand Ventures is a pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital firm and startup studio founded in 2022 in St. Louis, Missouri, focused exclusively on US-based agtech companies advancing a just transition in agriculture. The firm is led by Founding General Partner Connie Bowen, who brings firsthand agricultural experience including planting orchards, harvesting hemp, and managing farm crews. Farmhand targets Fund I at $25 million in total commitments and deploys up to $250K in external pre-seed startups while also building companies through its studio in collaboration with UC ANR's VINE innovation network. The firm has made 3 investments to date, including L5 Automation, which develops AI-powered strawberry harvesting robots; Scout, an AI vineyard analytics platform; and New West Genetics, focused on hemp innovation. Farmhand employs two types of risk capital, traditional equity and redeemable equity, an innovative structure tailored to agtech's unique return profiles. The firm has raised capital through Wefunder for co-investment and has been recognized among women leading investment in regenerative food systems. Farmhand's investment thesis rests on three pillars: farmworker equity and well-being, economic viability for agricultural businesses, and climate resilience. The firm specifically prioritizes founders who ensure farmworkers have a seat at the agtech cap table rather than being displaced by automation and technology. Bowen's hands-on farming background gives the firm genuine insight into specialty crop agriculture, helping it evaluate both the technical credibility and practical field applicability of early-stage agtech solutions.