Tom Shields

Tom Shields is a San Francisco-based Venture Partner at AgFunder, where he sources and leads investments in the agri-foodtech sector. Prior to his current role, he spent over two decades as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, co-founding NetGravity, which held an initial public offering in 1998, and Yieldex, which was later acquired by AppNexus in 2015. Both of his foundational ventures achieved exit valuations exceeding $100 million. Shields also served as a managing director at an early-stage venture firm and recently led a $4 million funding round for the greenhouse robotics startup Neatleaf. Throughout his extensive career, he has acted as an active investor and board member for dozens of software, technology, and network equipment startups. His current investment focus centers on transforming the food system through controlled-environment agriculture and cellular agriculture technologies.