Welcome

New Frontier Holdings is an investment firm focused on sustainability and real estate. Additionally, we are active across the early-stage venture sector with an emphasis on software, biotech, and consumer-focused funds.

We’ve spent more than 20 years starting companies in technology, finance, clean energy, and fresh food. As entrepreneurs, we put some of the first classes online, helped transition the trading pits to electronic trading, and pioneered the use of renewable methane as a transportation fuel.

Today we continue with that entrepreneurial mindset by backing entrepreneurs and managers investing at the edges. We have deep experience and domain expertise in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, plant-based foods, real estate, and financial markets. We’ve also been active in the creation of a number of investment platforms, having been general partners in both real estate and venture capital funds.

We have no outside investors and thus the ability to take the long view.

New Frontier Farms
Salem, Wisconsin

Sustainability

Our direct investment focus is on sustainability with an emphasis on renewable energy, environmental markets, and plant-based foods. We invest early, often at the seed round, and take an active role.

Venture Capital

We are active investors in venture capital, effectively managing a fund of funds. Our focus is on early-stage managers with an emphasis on software, biotech, and consumer.

Real Estate

We are an active investor in real estate, farmland, and other real assets, including renewable-energy projects (primarily solar).

Core Investments

Investments where we’ve take an active role as
either founders or board members.

Incubex is building tomorrow’s environmental markets.

Carbon Solutions Group is working on distributed ways to decarbonize and is active in the solar, EV, and REC trading spaces.

Amp Americas pioneered the use of renewable natural gas (RNG) as a transportation fuel.

Clouds Rest is a technology-driven investing platform built to transparently and accurately price environmental externalities.

The Fresh Factory has built a platform to accelerate the growth of disruptive food and beverage brands.

Nate Laurell

Managing Partner

Nate has been an entrepreneur for 20+ years in technology, finance, renewable energy, and real food. He started his first company, Technacity, in his dorm room at the University of Illinois. As a partner in Infinium Capital Management, where he traded everything from carbon to treasuries, he helped lead the transition to electronic trading. For the last ten years, with an emphasis on sustainability, he cofounded Amp Americas and The Fresh Factory. Nate holds a BS and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He lives and works in Chicago (mostly) but can often be found in Northern California or at New Frontier Farms (and dog rescue) in Wisconsin.

Kristin McCoy

General Partner

Kristin McCoy is a general partner at NFH and a recovering attorney. She practiced reinsurance litigation at Lovells, a large, London-based law firm, for several years but left the law to pursue a freelance career in copyediting (and to be happier). She now edits part-time, mostly articles and books, assists Nate with general investment strategy for NFH, and works closely with the SVP of marketing at Field + Farmer to help execute their joint vision for the emerging plant-based food brand. Kristin holds a BA in English and a JD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is based in Chicago but spends time in both Northern California and southern Wisconsin. To paraphrase Dani Rojas, dogs are life, and she is proud to have partnered with Alive Rescue to open a new dog rescue on her farm in Wisconsin.

Sean Daley

Partner Venture Investing

Sean has been investing in or building early stage companies for the last 10+ years. Most recently, he was the Chief of Staff and Head of New Channels at Farmer’s Fridge, where he helped the company raise multiple rounds of financing from leading investors including Innovation Endeavors, Cleveland Avenue, Finistere, and other investors, while supporting Farmer’s Fridge’s launch into retail. Before that, Sean was an Associate Partner at GreatPoint Ventures, a leading venture capital fund whose portfolio includes Uptake, Beyond Meat, VIM, Namogoo, and other industry changing companies. Sean has a Master’s from Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s from Georgetown University. He lives in Chicago and is passionate about technology, climate, music, and running.