GroundForce Capital Announces Strategic Investment in Rock River Laboratory

Investment brings a value-added partner to North America’s leading independent agricultural testing platform to support organic growth and future M&A

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GroundForce Capital today announced a strategic investment in Rock River Laboratory, Inc. (“Rock River” or the “Company”), the largest independent agricultural testing platform in North America. GroundForce joins Aqua Capital, a leading private equity firm specializing in agribusiness and food investments across the Americas, which created the Rock River platform through the acquisition and integration of the Deveron and A&L assets. The combined Rock River platform operates 9 laboratories across the United States and Canada.

Rock River serves a diversified base of farmers, agronomists, nutritionists, food producers, and municipalities with highly specialized soil, feed, and environmental testing services. With nearly 50 years of operating history, the Company has built one of the most trusted brands in North American agricultural diagnostics — delivering consistent growth with deeply loyal customer relationships and a broadly diversified client base spanning the breadth of North American agriculture. These results reflect the Rock River platform's unmatched combination of geographic reach, customer service, technical expertise, and proprietary analytics capabilities.

GroundForce's investment brings an engaged, operationally experienced partner to the Rock River board and provides capital to support both organic growth initiatives and future strategic acquisitions in the highly fragmented North American agricultural and environmental testing market, a segment of the broader TICC industry that GroundForce believes is poised for continued consolidation as demand for reliable, regulatory-driven testing services accelerates. GroundForce Partner Eric Desai, who leads the firm's consumer supply chain infrastructure investment strategy, has joined the Rock River board of directors. The investment reflects GroundForce's expanded mandate to back not only consumer-facing health and wellness companies, but also the essential infrastructure and services underpinning those businesses.

“Rock River is central to a healthier, more sustainable food system — mission-critical infrastructure trusted by food producers for nearly 50 years. We’re proud to build on the strong platform Aqua has established, and beyond capital we bring a founder’s mindset and a network of operators to help the team grow,” said Dan Gluck and Mark Rampolla, Co-Founders and Co-Managing Partners of GroundForce Capital.

“Having gotten to know this team and business well, I’m convinced Rock River has a rare combination of trust, scale, durability, and room to grow. In a highly fragmented market, we see a unique opportunity to build on that trust by investing in service, technology, and selective acquisitions that bring more capabilities to more customers. I couldn’t be more excited to support the Rock River team,” said Eric Desai, Partner at GroundForce Capital.

“We’re pleased to welcome GroundForce Capital as a partner, having known the team for some time as a co-investor in the platform. They bring deep experience in consumer and supply chain infrastructure that will further strengthen Rock River’s activities specifically in the environmental and consumer testing space,” said Eli Ziskind, Partner at Aqua Capital and Executive Chairman of Rock River.

About GroundForce Capital

GroundForce Capital is a founder-led investment firm backing the bold brands, technology, and services driving the future of consumer products. Guided by decades of operating and investing experience, the firm brings a founder’s mindset, strategic discipline, creativity, and deep industry expertise. GroundForce Capital goes beyond providing capital, offering hands-on collaboration, strategic guidance, and a powerful network of industry leaders, operators, and advisors. For more information, visit groundforcecapital.com.

About Rock River Laboratory, Inc.

Founded in 1976, Rock River Laboratory is a leader in agronomic and feed analysis, providing production assistance to the agricultural industry through advanced diagnostic systems, progressive techniques, and research-supported analyses. Combined with the assets of Deveron Corp. and A&L Canada Laboratories, the platform operates 9 labs across North America and over 30 associated labs globally, making it the largest independent agricultural testing platform on the continent. For more information, visit rockriverlab.com.

About Aqua Capital

Aqua Capital is a leading private equity firm dedicated to agribusiness and food investments across the Americas. With over $1.1 billion raised and investments in more than 45 companies since its founding in 2009, Aqua partners with high-potential, mid-market companies in South and North America to drive transformation and value creation through deep sector expertise and an operations-driven approach.