Mekong Capital, a private equity firm focused on Vietnam, intends to launch a regenerative agriculture fund in 2026 with a target capital of up to US$200 million.

This announcement was made by Chris Freund, the firm’s founder and partner, in a recent interview.

The firm has primarily invested in sectors such as retail, restaurants, education, and consumer goods.

It is now expanding into biotech, agricultural technology, forestry, organic fertilizers, and ocean health.

The focus is on companies that use data technologies to improve performance.

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🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Mekong capital’s strategic evolution reflects Vietnam’s economic journey

Mekong Capital’s shift toward regenerative agriculture represents the third major strategic pivot in the firm’s 25-year history, demonstrating how they’ve systematically tracked Vietnam’s economic development stages.

When founded in 2001, Mekong focused exclusively on private Vietnamese companies at a time when state-owned enterprises dominated, raising just $18.5 million for their first fund that ultimately returned only 100% of capital to investors 1.

By 2006, they pivoted away from manufacturing toward consumer-driven businesses—a move that proved prescient as their second fund became one of Asia’s best-performing, returning over 450% to shareholders through investments in companies like MobileWorld and Golden Gate 1.

This latest shift toward regenerative agriculture, biotech, and data-rich sectors follows their established pattern of anticipating Vietnam’s next growth frontier, with their planned 2026 fund representing a more than tenfold increase from their original fund size.

The evolution mirrors Vietnam’s own economic transformation from manufacturing hub to consumer marketplace to potentially becoming a center for sustainable agricultural innovation.

2️⃣ Strategic timing aligns with global regenerative agriculture investment surge

Mekong Capital’s planned 2026 regenerative agriculture fund comes amid accelerating global investment in this sector, positioning the firm to capitalize on growing institutional interest.

In early 2025, regenerative agriculture and food systems attracted over $1.17 billion across 37 deals in just one quarter, with dedicated regenerative funds raising more than $650 million during this period 2.

This timing is significant as regenerative agriculture is transforming from a niche concept into a mainstream investment category, with farmland investments historically outperforming the S&P 500 while newer regenerative approaches promise improved yields and lower operating costs 3.

The approximately $50 billion already deployed in sustainable farmland and regenerative agriculture projects in the US alone demonstrates the sector’s substantial momentum 3.

Mekong’s $200 million target would represent a meaningful entry into this rapidly growing investment category, particularly significant for Southeast Asia where Western and European investors have dominated the regenerative agriculture funding landscape.

Recent Mekong Capital developments

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