Lise Bosch

Lise van den Bosch is an Investment Manager for Food at Oost NL, the regional development agency (Regionale Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij) that invests public and co-financed venture capital into innovative companies across the Gelderland and Overijssel provinces of the eastern Netherlands. In this role she works with entrepreneurs tackling what Oost NL frames as a core societal challenge — producing enough sustainable food for a growing world population — sourcing, assessing and managing investments in food and agri-tech ventures.

She is based in Wageningen, the heart of the Netherlands' "Food Valley" agri-food research cluster, and was educated at Wageningen University & Research, the leading Dutch institution for food, agriculture and life sciences. Before Oost NL she worked as an Investment Analyst at Triodos Investment Management in Amsterdam, the impact-investing arm of Triodos Bank, whose teams cover areas including Sustainable Food & Agriculture, Energy & Climate and Financial Inclusion — a background that maps closely onto her current impact-and-sustainability-oriented food mandate.

Oost NL sits alongside co-investors, regional funds and subsidy programmes (for example ION+, an innovation fund for Gelderland SMEs financed via the EU OP-Oost programme and the province of Gelderland, and the Participatiefonds). As part of the Food investment team, Van den Bosch is one of the people founders in the region approach for both capital and hands-on business-development support.

• Invests in sustainable food and agri-food innovation — companies advancing food production, the protein transition, agri-tech and greenhouse/horticulture technology in East Netherlands.
• Backs companies from the earliest, riskiest innovation phase onward, using instruments such as ION+ innovation loans for Gelderland SMEs and follow-on equity via Oost NL's participation funds.
• Motivating thesis (Oost NL's stated framing for her Food mandate): *producing sufficient food for a growing world population is a major societal challenge* — deals are selected for their potential societal and sustainability impact, not returns alone.
• Provides more than money: Oost NL couples investment with coaching, network access and business-development support to help portfolio companies scale (e.g. reaching international greenhouse-horticulture markets).
• Strong preference for companies rooted in or willing to grow within Gelderland/Overijssel, reflecting the agency's regional economic-development remit.