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Neil Gibbons joins Valmiki 504 to run food tech incubator

New Orleans-based venture capital firm Valmiki 504 has appointed Neil Gibbons as venture partner to launch and run Ceres 504, a business incubator which will add branded foods and food technology to firm’s worldwide network of industry incubators.

Gibbons is a leader in the Louisiana start-up ecosystem and a board member and chair emeritus of Propeller, the New Orleans start-up incubator.
 
Named after the Roman goddess of food, Ceres 504 will bring capital and expertise from Valmiki's global consumer brand partners to grow and scale companies from Louisiana's food, food technology and culinary industries.
 
Peggy Babin, CEO of Valmiki 504 says: "Following last month's launch of TOPXIGHT LA, our software and cybersecurity start-up incubator, we are pleased to announce additional investments in Louisiana businesses through the launch of Ceres 504. Food is central to Louisiana's culture and business environment and creating truly scalable food brands is important to the long term economic growth of the industry. Scalability and growth are integral to Valmiki's pioneering approach in combining its investment expertise with the operating assets of its incubators."
 
In addition to providing consumer brand and packaged foods expertise, Ceres 504 will also direct Valmiki's investments in the food segment.
 
As its first portfolio company, the fund announced that it will be the lead investor in a USD1.5 million seed-round for Better Digestive Health, a New Orleans-based functional foods company. Co-founded by Dr Vivek Huilgol, New Orleans pre-eminent gastroenterologist, the company has developed and will market Dr Viv's LOFO, lines of functional food products based on low-FODMAP formulations to help optimise digestive health conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome.
 
Gibbons says: “Joining Valmiki 504 gives me a perfect opportunity to continue the work I have been doing for the past decade. The Louisiana start-up ecosystem, which has mostly been incubated by philanthropic and tax-credit-based funding until now, is ready to take the next important step into private venture capital, and Valmiki 504 is a huge part of that effort. Having helped the Propeller Incubator grow and scale for the last six years, I see the evolution to institutional venture funding as the next major growth stage for Louisiana's entrepreneurial community of innovative start-ups. Ceres 504 is a unique catalyst for Louisiana; it provides a combination of early-stage risk capital with institutional fund management services for local investors coupled with the value-add of management expertise in strategy and operations for early-stage entrepreneurs, all within the business incubator environment."

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