Fund I · Agricultural InnovationAgentBI, the first spinout from Fund I, is in live build for Kenya · One or two more companies will follow from the same fund · Grants absorb the validation years; investment funds the scale
We turn grant-funded public sector problems into investable software and service companies — country-first in design, multi-country in scale. Grants hedge the risk; investment powers the expansion. The first, AgentBI, is being built for deployment in Kenya now.
The Model
Each Nate fund launches around a public sector theme. Each company in the fund solves a specific problem within that theme. Philanthropic capital de-risks early validation. Private capital enters when unit economics are proven.
The Proof
AgentBI — concept proven in Kenya. Rebuilding the infrastructure behind agricultural seed distribution. Validated through CGIAR fieldwork; a Gates Foundation grant now funds the live build. Architected to be fee-generating from first deployment, multi-country from day one.
The proof of concept · Fund I — Agricultural Innovation
Fund I
Agricultural InnovationInvestable products for agricultural delivery systems · Led by Nate Peterson · 2025 onwards · First build funded by a Gates Foundation grant, born in CGIAR fieldwork
Spinout 01 · Frontline Enablement · Live build underway
AgentBI
The business intelligence layer for public sector field workforces. Surfaces task completion, supervision patterns, incentive uptake, and retention signals as actionable insight for programme managers, governments, and funders. Adam Grunewald is the founder selected to lead it. The proof of concept was built through CGIAR seed systems work in Kenya; a new Gates Foundation grant is now funding the build of the live product.
We are sourcing ideas and building hypotheses for a second company from Fund I, focused squarely on agriculture. Ideas are generated and proto-tested under the theme; the next spinout will be selected from this pipeline.
Digital HealthDigital innovation in healthcare · Led by Nishita Gill · From 2026 · Early stages — sourcing ideas and funding
The model — how we build differently
Grants carry the risk. Investment powers the expansion
Each Nate fund launches around a single public sector theme. Many ideas are generated under it; the promising ones are proto-tested into companies with co-founders, then seeded and spun out with a founding team. The studio stays a co-founder, so companies share infrastructure, data, investors, and markets — and don't start from zero.
VC-only — investor capital funds the risk zone itself: huge wins, but failures burn investors
Grant-only — wide reach but capped: capital has no way in, donors fund forever
The Nate path — philanthropic capital absorbs validation risk; investment enters proven, fee-generating, multi-country demand
Risk-zone span: 16.3-month average pilot duration (Ojo et al., Frontiers in Public Health 2025); Uganda ran ~80 mHealth pilots in 2008 — none scaled (Russpatrick et al., 2019).
Gov tech deal volume in 2025 — a record year, including NEOGOV's $3B+ acquisition, the largest on record — GovTech.com, 2026
2.7B
Deskless workers worldwide — 80% of the global workforce, long underserved by software built for their context — Emergence Capital
Dual architecture: grant-ready and investor-ready
Every company is designed for two funders from day one. Philanthropic capital absorbs the validation years — the zone where public sector pilots die. Private capital enters only past that point, buying proven demand: fee-generating from first deployment, multi-country from the start, exit-legible from the first contract. Grant-fundable today, investor-ready tomorrow.
The conversion is the moat
A consulting firm can't convert a grant-funded programme into an investable company — it has no equity stake. A pure VC fund can't de-risk the early validation — it has no grant access. The studio sits at the intersection of both. Converting grant businesses into investable ones is the product, not a by-product.
Capital stack by stage
Stage 1 · Validation
Philanthropic & programme capital
Foundations, research networks, and multilateral funders carry the validation years — entering through existing programme relationships, building field evidence in real deployments. Impact expectation, not return expectation.
Stage 2 · Product-Market Fit
Nate studio capital + grants
Nate's fund capital builds alongside the grant relationships. Fee revenue from first deployment; multi-country and exit-legible by design — not a pivot, a design choice.
Stage 3 · Commercial Scale
Recurring revenue + strategic entry
Liquidity is built on repeatable revenue, not a speculative exit: the same product, sold on fees, to the many countries that need it. Strategics enter as investors, acquirers, or distribution partners; growth capital enters for scale.
Fund I · Agricultural Innovation
In formation
AgentBI's live build is newly grant-funded; the fund vehicle is being structured alongside it. Enquiries —hello@petersonandgill.com
The fund pipeline — future themes
One studio, many public sector problems
Fund I · Active · 2025 →
Agricultural Innovation
Led by Nate Peterson. Frontline enablement is the first wedge — AgentBI, in deployment in Kenya — with a second agriculture-only spinout being sourced from the same fund.
Fund II · Active · 2026 →
Digital Health
Digital innovation in healthcare, led by Nishita Gill. Now sourcing ideas and funding — the same investable-architecture thesis applied to health systems.
Fund III · 2028
Climate Resilience
A theme under exploration for a 2028 launch — climate resilience, or financial empowerment that de-risks communities against climate catastrophes.
The team
Operators from inside the systems we're commercialising
Co-founder
Nathanial (Nate) Peterson, PhD
Behavioural scientist and venture builder working at the intersection of agricultural markets, frontline delivery systems, and investable public sector infrastructure. Senior Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT (CGIAR), managing foundation-funded programmes and CGIAR's Food Systems Accelerator. Founder of Burgeon Strategy, advising social enterprises on the pathway from philanthropy to venture and private capital. Formerly VP Partnerships at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics and Regional Behavioural Specialist for the UN FAO. PhD in Behavioral Decision Research, Carnegie Mellon.
Founder of Treemouse, a behavioural research and design studio that spent a decade helping early-stage startups and public institutions connect with the people they serve — building pathways to adoption across 30+ engagements in government, global health, and fintech, for clients including Meta, WHO, BCG, Bajaj Finserv, and Omidyar Network. She built and now leads the digital product capacity for HIV, TB, and Hepatitis at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, was founding Head of Design at Fi.Money — India’s first major neobank — and redesigned India’s national identity infrastructure (Aadhaar) with the Government of India, a product now accessible to 1.35 billion people.