Reservoir announced that Nicola Kerslake has joined the firm as general partner following Reservoir’s acquisition of the agriculture finance and data platform: Contain, Inc. Kerslake will chair Reservoir VC's investment committee and lead its due diligence and underwriting functions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The transaction marks Reservoir’s first acquisition and adds a new layer to its value creation model for startups. By adding Contain’s marketplace, underwriting, financing experience and market intelligence capabilities, Reservoir is expanding how it can help startups move from pilot to commercial scale. The deal also expands its footprint into agricultural equipment and controlled environmental agriculture (CEA).
“Reservoir invests where AI, hardware and agriculture meet in the field, and those companies need capital partners who understand deployment, unit economics and business models,” said Danny Bernstein, founder and CEO of Reservoir and managing partner of Reservoir VC. “Nicola built that discipline at Contain. Bringing her and the Contain platform into Reservoir can offer startups models that better align with the realities of scaling rugged AI-enabled technology.”
Kerslake is an experienced capital allocator in agricultural technology. Through Contain, she built the single application platform the CEA sector turned to for financing, including connecting startups with growers, more than 30 lenders and more than 70 equipment vendors. Contain also operates a marketplace for preowned indoor farm equipment and an industry data platform and insights hub built on more than a decade of work in agriculture.
Acquisition Delivers Value Multiplier to Reservoir
Kerslake’s appointment tightens the connection between Reservoir’s investment platform and its on-farm incubator sites in California and beyond. In her new role, Kerslake will work across Reservoir’s investment and operating teams to align underwriting, validation and commercialization support.
"Reservoir is building a new trusted rural institution the sector has needed for a long time: capital that understands hardware, incubator farms where that hardware is put to work, and diligence that doesn’t end at the data room,” said Kerslake. “Collaborating with Reservoir over the past six months developed our rugged AI thesis, and now, I am excited to work more closely on developing Reservoir VC’s next fund.”
Before founding Contain, Kerslake founded Newbean Capital, and launched and sold Indoor Ag-Con, one of the sector’s largest and best-known conferences for indoor and controlled-environment farming. She has more than a decade of experience in managing early-stage venture capital mandates. Her background spans institutional investment, venture capital and agricultural finance, giving Reservoir deeper expertise as it backs companies building rugged AI solutions for agriculture.
ABOUT RESERVOIR:
Reservoir is an agricultural innovation center and venture capital fund focused on helping agtech startups succeed where agriculture happens—in the field. Reservoir Farms are the world’s first on-farm robotics innovation centers, starting in the Salinas Valley and expanding to other key regions across California and the American West. Reservoir VC backs startups solving real problems in high-value crops and the rugged physical AI stack. By combining R&D space, hands-on grower input, and early-stage capital, Reservoir helps turn promising ideas into tools for the growers who feed the world. Learn more at https://reservoir.co.
SOURCE: Reservoir
