DAVID NICOLA
Founder & CEO
David has 13 years of experience in farmland investing , portfolio management, trading, and private equity investing. Over the past 6 years he has focused on managing investments and building strategies in the U.S. sustainable agriculture sector with a focus on grassfed beef, grassfed and organic dairy, and organic grain.
David founded Blackdirt Capital to develop projects and cultivate new opportunities that:
- Capitalize on the expanding grassfed and organic food movements;
- Create compelling risk-adjusted returns; and
- Promote regeneration of agriculture land.
David is a 2013 MBA graduate with honors from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Prior to Fuqua, David spent seven years on Wall Street as a Portfolio Manager at BlueMountain Capital Management and as an investment banking analyst at Citigroup. He holds a B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University's School of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Most recently, David served as a Director of Investments for a family office focused on farmland and ranchland investing, and grassfed beef and local food early stage growth equity investing. In the summer of 2015, he lead the purchase of a 400+ acre farm in New York State that facilitates the production of organic vegetables, Non-GMO grains and grassfed livestock.
GRATITUDE RAILROAD
Founding Partner
Gratitude Railroad is a community of investors committed to solving environmental and social problems through the profitable deployment of capital into conscious businesses.
