Investment Climate

Send a textRainbow Crops: Giacomo Bastianelli shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 33: Rainbow Crops: Giacomo Bastianelli shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I talked with Giacomo Bastianelli, CEO of Rainbow Crops, a VIB spinout focused on engineering complex traits in crops using AI-driven multiplex genome editing. Giacomo shares how Rainbow Crops emerged from a venture studio model at VIB, where deep science is matured before bringing in an entrepreneur-in-residence to shape the business. We explore building trust with investors, the nuances of cap table construction, and how he addressed investor concerns around long development timelines by securing LOIs with major seed companies. Giacomo’s perspective on transparency, empathy, and using net present value to set valuations offers a masterclass in deep-tech fundraising.Key Facts Rainbow Crops:Goal: To develop resilient crops that address climate and food security challenges powered by a comprehensive AI model trained on plant “omics” data.Recently received investment from PINC, the venture arm of Paulig.Alex’s Top Findings:Venture Studio Spin-Out: VIB’s Proven Approach. Rainbow Crops originated from VIB (Flemish Institute of Biotechnology) using a venture studio-style model — building on mature in-house technology and preparing the business case before raising external capital. "They [VIB] put money to mature the technology and keep it under wrap. Then they bring in someone like me as an entrepreneur-in-residence to build the business case and key milestones."Cap Table & Incentives: Founder, VIB, and Investors. VIB holds the majority stake initially (reflecting their tech development and cash investment). The entrepreneur-in-residence receives founding shares or stock options. Investors join after company creation. "The FIB is the founding shareholder, then shares go to the entrepreneur-in-residence, and then investors come in."Strategic Partnerships & Early LOIs. The team secured letters of intent from breeding companies to prove commercial traction and reassure investors about exit timelines. “ We had a letter of intents, several. We demonstrate that we were in advanced discussions with one player and a scientific plan already being carved. We had already a discussion on business terms . There are some others that would've required a little bit more negotiation. So it was very transparent into sharing that information, of course, under confidentiality agreement. That was, I think, what helped reassured that I was moving in the right direction.”

Send a textCatchfree: Severin Eder shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 32: Catchfree: Severin Eder shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I spoke with Severin Eder, co-founder of Catchfree, a Swiss startup developing plant-based seafood alternatives. Severin shares the story behind their recent 1.2M CHF seed round, why they’ve taken a B2B-first approach, and how they’re scaling without patents—using trade secrets, chef-led validation, and investor relationships rooted in regional support. We unpack startup lessons around cap table alignment, food-tech fundraising in today’s market, and how Catchfree built momentum by letting their product—and not just their pitch—do the talking.Key Facts Catchfree:Goal: To craft plant-only seafood without harming nature.Recently raised a 1.2M CHF seed round co-led by FortyOne Group and Stiftung Startfelt.Alex’s Top Findings:Smart Capital Through Regional Foundations and Strategic Angels. The seed round (CHF 1.2M) was raised through a regional foundation (Stiftung Startfeld) and private equity group (FortyOne Group), not traditional VCs. " There was an event that this foundation regularly holds where you could pitch your startup in front of investors. What was great for us was that we not only had the chance to describe our vision in a pitch, but also let the investors experience it. Catchfree products during a tasting afterwards. As they say, the way to the heart is through the stomach. This also applies to the success of selling food innovation. We met our lead investor during one of these events. "Avoiding IP Pitfalls: Trade Secrets Over Patents. The team opted for trade secrets instead of early patent filings to retain flexibility, reduce cost, and avoid public disclosures until commercialization. " We work a lot with trade secrets at the beginning, and we have changed our recipes a lot and considerably over the last three years. Our company was founded in mid-2024, and since then, our whole recipe approach has been. Even our product portfolio has all evolved and pivoted a little bit based on the market insights. I would say in food tech, in the sense that you work a lot with recipe development, you work a lot with trade secrets, and the recipe we have right now is completely different from what was done back at the time. Even the products we are working on right now, or the products that we are gonna launch now, were not even in the ideation back at the time."Objection Handling: Taste First, Tech Second. Skepticism about consumer adoption and scalability was overcome through relentless tastings (~70) and clear scale-up roadmaps. “When you have a physical product, people want to experience it — and it’s your greatest asset. We outlined a valid technological roadmap… and projections to reach price parity.”

Send a textIUNU: Adam Greenberg shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 31: IUNU: Adam Greenberg shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I sat down with Adam Greenberg, CEO of Iunu, who just raised $20M from top AI, agriculture, and ag land investors. Adam shares how a decade of building in the greenhouse space converged with today’s AI revolution—and how deep trust, contrarian leadership, and operational frugality helped him build investor confidence over time. From meeting S2G via Joe Montana and the ex-CEO of Whole Foods to the power of servant leadership and third-order fundraising strategy, this is a masterclass in building companies and raising capital with integrity, precision, and long-term vision.Key Facts IUNU:Goal: To drive efficiencies and optimization, allowing everybody access to fresh local produce year-round, using tools like AI and machine vision.Recently raised $20M with S2G Investment as lead investor.Alex’s Top Findings:Frugality and Integrity as Leadership Cornerstones. Adam believes that trust with investors and loyalty from employees stems from leading by example — personally absorbing costs and being one of the lowest paid on the team. " We're pretty frugal as a company. We're the best in the world of service. But when it comes to what we do internally, we try to be as frugal as possible, 'cause we have to make the money go as far as possible. In leadership, it's all about being able to show with actions. So every single day when you work with your team, you gotta put them first. For example, when I'm in town, at the headquarters in Seattle, I'll clean the toilets and wash the dishes. Why? Because if they see me doing that and know that I'm willing to do that, we're all willing to do whatever it takes to win."Investor Trust is Built on Logic, Not Hype. Adam doesn’t believe in “selling” to investors but focuses on clearly explaining his logic and decisions, even when imperfect. " I'm not very good at communicating with investors. I am good at always doing the right thing… and having a why for every decision. Too many people are so grounded that they don’t have big ideas. Too many people are so aspirational that they aren’t grounded. You have to do both."Proving Market-Making Potential in a “Small” Sector. Adam addressed investor objections that indoor agriculture is a small market by showing how his tech can unlock growth and transform the economics. “ I think most investors don't understand that or truly understand how to make a market. So we fundamentally shift the economics of greenhouse growing, and it's more profitable to be a greenhouse grower. Then you can not just take the market of greenhouse growing in produce, you can make a market and allow greenhouses to be around every urban area.”

Send a textSuperGut: Marc Washington shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 30: SuperGut: Marc Washington shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, we sat down with Marc Washington, founder and Executive Chairman of Supergut, to unpack how the brand became a breakout leader at the intersection of gut health and the GLP-1 wave. Alongside guest co-host Lance Lively of The Gut Punch, we explored the science and strategy behind Supergut’s rise—from investing in gold-standard clinical trials and securing key patents, to securing national retail launches and bringing on the former CEO of Vital Proteins to lead their next phase of growth. Marc shared the inside story behind their recent fundraise led by Full Frame Growth Partners, their bold clinical trial strategy, and how they’ve positioned Supergut to stand out in a noisy space of fast followers. From product formulation to rebranding to omnichannel expansion, this conversation offers a masterclass in building a truly differentiated CPG brand in the Ozempic era.Key Facts SuperGut:Goal: To make a sort of gut health, infinitely more accessible, truly functional foods that are both highly efficacious, but also making great tasting, convenient, accessible products.Recently secured a “significant growth equity investment” from Full Frame Growth Partners.Alex’s Top Findings:Clinical Research as a Brand Moat. While others slapped on health claims, Supergut invested in gold-standard science—earning credibility that 99% of wellness brands can’t touch. " It was over a million dollars that we spent on a clinical research for a study of that size and magnitude. Now we're incredibly happy that we went through a very expensive, time-consuming exercise of doing a gold standard clinical study. It's a real credible science behind it. Randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. Close to 200 participants did it. We saw significant impact on many different dimensions of health, inclusive of metabolic health, significantly better blood sugar, better weight, better appetite control as well."Be Always Fundraising. Relationships started a year before the check was written. The deal was built over time—not overnight. " We weren’t actively raising, but as an entrepreneur, you’re always fundraising in one form or another."Ask Investors for Their Take. Marc used investor meetings not just to pitch—but to test value props, weed out weak fits, and gather strategic insight. “ I would typically share at least a high-level overview of what we're doing right, and our unique value proposition. Instead of continuing to go down that pathway of revealing more about the business, I would turn the tables right and ask the investors, “So given what I've shared, what do you think is unique about what we're doing and how would you think about positioning this in the marketplace relative to what you're seeing?” So kind of turning the tables, almost like an interview of them to see if they got us.”

Send a textClearCOGS: Matt Wampler shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 29: ClearCOGS: Matt Wampler shares how to get funded in 2025 In this episode, Matt Wampler, co-founder and CEO of ClearCOGS, shares the gritty, real-world journey of building a predictive analytics platform that helps restaurants reduce food waste—and the uphill battle of raising capital in an industry most investors don’t want to touch. From reframing objections like “we don’t like restaurants” to securing strategic sustainability-focused backers, Matt opens up about the mistakes he made early in the fundraising process, how honest conversations (not pitch decks) moved the needle, and why founders need to stop chasing investor approval and start building undeniable value. Key Facts ClearCOGS:Goal: To help restaurants adapt to changing market conditions, optimize their operations, and ultimately achieve greater success and profitability. Recently raised $3.8M led by Closed Loop Partners, and joined by Myriad Venture Partners and Level Up Ventures.Alex’s Top Findings:Don’t Build for Investors—Build for Customers. ClearCOGS succeeded by focusing relentlessly on customer outcomes, not pitch decks. Ironically, this is what helped them eventually win over their lead investor. " I think one of the things that we really learned back then was that investors always said they wanted something, and then it always changed. We basically said, ‘Hey, we're gonna spend our time not trying to build for investors, but we're gonna focus on the business, focus on our clients with the full understanding that if we take care of our clients and grow the business.’ The fundraising will take care of itself. Luckily, this investor happened to be good at staying in touch with us."Strategic Investors Can Fill Your Blind Spots. The team sought partners who could complement their restaurant and tech expertise—especially in sustainability, which played a key role in the round. " A strategic investor in the sense that we were looking for somebody in the sustainability space. My background is all restaurants. My co-founder's background is all technology. We happened to be doing this activity, which really made a difference in the sustainability world. Something that we had very little knowledge of. So we looked at them as a great leg of the stool to help us move forward."You Don’t Need Everyone to Like You—Just the Right Ones. Matt embraced the idea that fundraising is not about being universally liked but about resonating deeply with the right investor. “Your job is to go get one in 10 to really like you and believe in you… The eights and nines out of tens don’t invest.”

Send a textVivici: Stephan van Sint Fiet shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 28: Vivici: Stephan van Sint Fiet shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I sat down with Stephan van Sint Fiet, CEO of Vivici, for a deep dive into what it takes to bring precision-fermented dairy proteins to market at scale. Stephan shares how Vivici navigated regulatory approval with a "no questions" GRAS letter from the FDA, tackled negative gross margins during early scale-up, and secured a €34M raise led by Dutch pension fund APG and InvestNL. We explore why they’re starting with whey protein, their strategic decision to stay B2B (not launch a brand), and how they structured commercial agreements to build long-term customer trust—all while laying the groundwork for price parity with conventional dairy.Key Facts Vivici:Goal: To make the promise of dairy protein from precision fermentation a commercial reality. Recently raised €34M led by a Dutch pension fund APG and InvestNL.Alex’s Top Findings:Market Entry Strategy: Focus on Premium Whey Protein Segment. Vivici is initially targeting the premium whey protein isolate market (not the commodity whey market). "We compete against the high-quality whey protein isolates that trade for 18 to $25 per kilogram."Initial Volumes at Suboptimal Gross Margins Are Part of the Plan. Vivici accepts that early batches will have negative gross margins until scaling improves unit economics. "At the beginning, there is a value of death that you have to cross...once you scale that to more interesting volumes, you immediately become gross margin positive."Fundraising Strategy: Focus on Experienced Partners and Scaling Proof. Vivici raised €34M led by a Dutch pension fund APG and InvestNL, after demonstrating successful scale-up to 75,000L. "We had fully scaled the process...10 liters, 1500 liters, 15,000 liters, 75,000 liters."

Send a textJay&Joy: César Augier shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 27: Jay&Joy: César Augier shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I sat down with Cesar, the CEO of Jay&Joy, a pioneer in organic plant-based cheese in Europe. We unpacked his remarkable journey of rescuing the company from bankruptcy, rebuilding trust after a product recall, and leading a high-stakes €2M fundraise over the holiday season to acquire a major competitor. From navigating food safety crises to executing rapid M&A under pressure, Cesar shares real, hard-won lessons on resilience, investor strategy, and what it takes to scale in the evolving alt-dairy space.Key Facts Jay&Joy:Goal: To produce cheese that's better for the environment, for health, and for animal welfare. Recently raised €2M.Alex’s Top Findings:Rescuing a Brand Can Be a Strategic Move. Cesar bought Jay&Joy out of receivership, seeing strong fundamentals despite a product recall. " I met the leader in France on plant-based meat, and we discussed what was happening to Jay&Joy. The products were amazing, and the fundamentals of the company were very good. So we decided to start a due diligence. We met the previous founders. We met the, the teams we discussed with clients, customers, etc. After a few days, we were convinced that there was an opportunity and that this company should continue to operate."Time Pressure Shaped Investor Strategy. The raise had to close in 40 days over the holidays, so Cesar pivoted from VCs to agile family offices and angels. "We spent a lot of time with VC funds... it was too short. So we pivoted to family offices and business angels."Use Strategic Channels for Angel Funding. Cesar tapped into French angel networks like Station F and Super Capital, raising €500K through tailored outreach. " We met people through that channels and we used other like networks of entrepreneurs and investors in France. The difficult thing I would say how do you get into those networks and how do you manage to post your message . We fine tune the message to make it fit with the actual audience. It worked. So I pre raised like, 500 k through those channels. "

Send a textArsenale BioYards: Massimo Portincaso shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 26: Arsenale BioYards: Massimo Portincaso shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I sat down with Massimo Portincaso, CEO and co-founder of Arsenale BioYards, who just raised a €10M seed round to tackle one of biotech’s toughest challenges: making biomanufacturing economically viable at scale. Massimo breaks down how his team is redesigning the scale-up process from the ground up—bringing industrial conditions into the lab, leveraging smart cap table construction, and tapping into project finance to build infrastructure without drowning in dilution. This conversation is a masterclass in turning big vision into executable industrial strategy, and a rare peek into how deeptech founders can blend science, storytelling, and stoic leadership to win over top-tier VCs.Key Facts Arsenale BioYards:Goal: To make biomanufacturing economically viable by reducing its cost by an order of magnitude.Recently raised a 10 million round co-led by Planet A and By Founders.Alex’s Top Findings:Solve for Scale Early — Biotech is Infrastructure-Heavy. Instead of classical scale-up, Arsenale uses scale-out: standardized 50,000L bioreactor modules for rapid deployment and learning curve economics. "What we're doing on the industrial side is that we're not doing the classical scale up as everybody else, but we're doing scale out. So we manage to do what we're doing by identifying one size, which will be around 50,000 liters, containerize it, and then if you need more capacity, we simply build more bioreactor."Convince VCs You’re More Than Hardware. The business is more than pipes and tanks. It’s a data platform for smarter biomanufacturing with guaranteed scale-up success. "Our desk makes you smarter. You develop your processes that belong to you." "We embed DSP from the get-go, because the cost of DSP is determined at the beginning."Strategic Cap Tables Are Built, Not Hoped For. Massimo curated a cap table of US and EU institutional VCs, vertical farming founders, industrial family offices, and bioindustry operators. "I wanted smart money—family offices, industrial know-how, and institutional money together."

Send a textActual Veggies: Jason Rosenbaum shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 25: Actual Veggies: Jason Rosenbaum shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I interviewed Jason Rosenbaum, co-founder and co-CEO of Actual Veggies, who recently closed a $7M Series A. Jason breaks down why his company took a bold contrarian path in the crowded plant-based market—eschewing meat analogs and ultra-processed ingredients in favor of clean-label, whole-food veggie burgers that actually taste like vegetables. We dive deep into what today’s investors really care about (spoiler: it’s not always the tech), how Actual Veggies is winning with data-backed growth and strong margins, and how transparency and strategic relationships—not hype—powered their raise.Key Facts Actual Veggies:Goal: To create delicious, chef-crafted, veggie burgers that celebrate vegetables instead of trying to mask them.Recently closed a $7M Series A.Alex’s Top Findings:Taste + Clean Label = Winning Combo. Actual Veggies products avoid pea protein (initially), gums, binders, and other ultra-processed ingredients to maintain flavor and simplicity. " So we have experimented with pea protein and have some new protein or higher protein burgers coming out later this year, where we have increased or added pea protein. But we're being very cautious with how much pea protein or other vegan protein sources we're putting in there. What happens is that when you use pea protein, the taste and texture start to alter. It also has a bad connotation. Some people say it doesn't sit.”Investor Updates: Radical Transparency is an Edge. Jason shares detailed quarterly updates with real sales numbers, financials, and asks—building trust and enthusiasm from the cap table. " For the investors, we aren't talking to them daily, weekly, or monthly; we are sending quarterly update emails. We send whatever is happening with the company, we have a whole format of what we like to show. We want to show things that we wouldn't usually show to the public, but because they're our investors, they're part of our family and inner circle. So we show them everything from our finances, including how much runway we have, how much cash we have in the bank, and how much revenue we've generated, even if we've missed our projections. We're very upfront and honest.”Strong Gross Margins Set You Apart. Actual Veggies operates with margins in the 50% range, allowing room for sustainable growth and marketing investment—unlike many plant-based startups. " Investors want to see 40%, 50%, 60% margins... starting negative is a bad idea. We start with strong gross margins in the 50s. That’s rare in frozen. That's something that investors are looking at, and that was something that our investors got excited about when they looked at our numbers."

Send a textGlenntex: Govin Induchoodan shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 24: Glenntex: Govin Induchoodan shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, we sit down with Govin, co-founder of Glenntex, a climate tech startup spun out of academic research at Chalmers University. Govin shares his journey from PhD researcher to entrepreneur, detailing how he built a deep-tech packaging company with sustainability at its core. He dives into how Sweden’s unique innovation ecosystem empowered him to retain ownership of his research, secured a SEK 7.2M pre-seed round led by corporate VC, and built early traction by partnering with customers to co-design the product. Packed with wisdom for researchers and founders alike, this conversation is a masterclass in turning science into startup success.Key Facts Glenntex:Goal: To help customers, companies, brands, and manufacturers make their packaging more sustainable.Recently raised SEK 7.2M pre-seed round led by Almi Invest and joined by PINC.Alex’s Top Findings:Deep Tech Founders Must Learn to Speak Commercial. One of Govin’s biggest challenges was translating scientific language into commercial value for both customers and investors. " I think the biggest objection for me, I would say, is do not sound too scientific yet. Learn how to translate and communicate in the simplest, effective way possible, and still sound mature and deep tech. That has been the biggest hurdle to cross.”Customers Can Help You Design Your Product. Before raising funding, Glenntex validated its tech by co-developing solutions with customers—treating them like design partners, not just buyers. "You don’t need to have a product. You need to have a customer design your product.”Build a 5-Year Table to Reverse-Engineer Your Fundraise. Govin mapped out five years of company growth across areas like market, team, product, and customer, which helped him align investment asks with future milestones. " I made this table: market, product, team, customer, and investors. It was kind of reverse engineering to understand it. I would definitely recommend anybody."

Send a textPlantBaby: Alex Abelin shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 23: PlantBaby: Alex Abelin shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, we sit down with Alex Abelin, co-founder and CEO of PlantBaby, the company behind Kiki Milk—the world’s first certified organic whole food plant milk designed for kids and loved by all. Alex opens up about raising a $4.5M priced seed round at a $20M valuation, the long game of building investor trust, and why nurturing relationships with transparency, consistency, and humility ultimately pays off. We explore the cost challenges of building a premium plant-based product, how to structure investor communications with honesty, and why treating startups as marathons—not sprints—is key to founder longevity.Key Facts PlantBaby:Goal: To make the world and its people healthier through organic whole foods. Recently raised $4.5M priced seed round at a $20M valuation.Alex’s Top Findings:The Power of a Warm Investor Relationship. A $25K “tracker check” turned into a lead investor through years of relationship-building. " A friend of mine introduced me to a wealthy individual investor who has run a very successful company as the chairman and CEO and has made dozens and dozens investments over his career. He put a $25,000 check into Plant Baby and said, “I prefer to write larger checks. This check is a tracker. I just wanna get to know you. I like you. I like the mission, I like the concept.” He planted a seed in me that said, nurture this relationship. We were very fortunate that we were able to come to a deal and a deeper partnership with him.” Alex shared.Build Trust with Transparent Communication. Quarterly investor updates include honest reflections on both wins and failures. " I send a quarterly shareholder email out to my whole cap table. I try to be as transparent in those emails as I can. I think that's another piece of building a successful relationship. Being transparent and being honest, and that ultimately builds trust as well, because it's not just sunshine and butterflies and rainbows in an early stage company.”Kiki Milk Was Built for Founder's Family First. The brand was born out of a personal need, not market research. " We built the most nutrient rich whole food, clean label, organic plant milk, that's ever been commercially produced. Inspired by kids, enjoyed by all with artwork that is inspirational and mystical. We did all this because my family needed it. My son needed it, my wife and I needed it, and we believe that other families needed it too. We didn't spend months and months and tens of thousands of dollars doing the market research and talking to a million families." Alex said.

Send a textOobli: Ali Wing shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 22: Oobli: Ali Wing shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I sat down with Ali Wing, CEO of Oobli, to explore how sweet proteins are revolutionizing the way we think about sugar reduction in food. Ali takes us through Oobli’s Series B1 fundraising journey, the importance of regulatory approvals, and how they are using a B2C2B model to educate consumers while de-risking adoption for major food brands. We dive into the economics of sweet proteins, why fermentation is the perfect scaling tool, and how strategic offtake agreements are key to securing corporate buy-in.Key Facts Oobli:Goal: To completely revolutionize the way we think about sweetness by bringing proteins to replace sugars in our foods.Recently raised €18 million led by Ingredient Ventures and joining the round were Coastal Ventures and PIVA.Alex’s Top Findings:Regulatory Approvals Create Investor Confidence. OoblI secured two "no questions" letters from regulatory agencies, which was a major factor in gaining investor trust and landing commercial agreements. Investors wanted proof that the product was not only novel but also scalable and legally approved for sale. "We were definitely the first movers and people were paying attention, but that doesn't necessarily mean somebody thinks you're ready to scale. So, and of course, no questions doesn't necessarily either. So one is you got to get there because then you're on the radar. I think the second is when you're going no questions, we weren't just getting our first, we were getting our second in a year. We've actually been pretty deep in this and they could start to see that momentum, which I think matters and also talks a lot about our commitment because we're scaling up quite a bit to support that number of regulatory approvals.” Ali said.B2C2B Model: Using a Consumer Product to De-Risk B2B Adoption. Oobli launched its own chocolate products as an educational tool to introduce consumers to sweet proteins while simultaneously building confidence among corporate partners. This de-risked adoption for CPG companies by proving consumer acceptance and product viability. " The whole idea that proteins don't just build muscle, but can sweeten is a pretty new concept. So we put a high sort of bar on the brand that we have to help CPG derisk their adoption of using sweet proteins by having consumers understand proteins can sweeten. We have retailers that sell it, but we don't do that on-demand if they ask. Otherwise, we're doing D2C because we can do a very cost-effective revenue generating with a great return that's much cheaper than if we just advertise to educate people on sweet proteins way.”Speak the Language of Your Customers & Investors. If you're in food tech, stop talking about fermentation yields—instead, show how your product makes financial sense for the companies that will buy it. " What we do really well is we don't spend a lot of time pitching our customer pipelines or investors. Our efficiency metric, what people call titers and fermentation, we

Send a textLe Fourgon: Charles Christory shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 21: Le Fourgon: Charles Christory shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I spoke with Charles Christory, Co-Founder of Le Fourgon, about the rollercoaster journey of raising capital for a mission-driven company tackling plastic waste. When a last-minute investor dropout forced them to rethink their €15M Series A, they pivoted, secured funding from existing investors, and turned to crowdfunding—raising €2.5M from over 1,500 supporters. We dive into how to handle investor crises, the secrets to running a successful crowdfunding campaign, and the discipline needed to balance fundraising with execution. If you're a founder looking to navigate high-stakes fundraising while keeping your business thriving, this one’s for you.Key Facts Le Fourgon:Goal: To reduce waste in daily consumption by offering doorstep delivery of groceries, beverages, and household and hygiene products in reusable packaging.Recently raised €8.2 million.Alex’s Top Findings:Resilience in Fundraising: Handling Last-Minute Investor Dropouts. When an investor dropped out at the last minute from Le Fourgon’s Series A, the team had to quickly adjust their strategy, securing $10M instead of $15M and extending the round later. They leaned on their existing lead investor’s confidence in the company. "Nothing was signed, but there was like a gentleman agreement on that point to say, 'Okay, we all know that we would have preferred not to face that situation, but we are really confident in the company, in the team to meet the figure in a year." So that's the reason why on that 8. 2 million, we had around 3. 5 million on our current investor," Charles revealed.Crowdfunding as a Strategic Fundraising Tool. Le Fourgon raised €2.5M from over 1,500 investors through a crowdfunding campaign. The decision was motivated by customer demand, as many loyal users wanted to invest in the company. "So many people are saying, 'We know that you are doing good, and we would like to be more around you and supporting you more, not just to be a client but also maybe to be an investor." So we had that in mind a year ago, and then we come back to that platform later that where we were speaking with, and we had that campaign, and they said, 'Okay, let's do it.'”Crisis Management: Communicating an Investor Dropout to Stakeholders. When a key investor backed out due to internal policy restrictions on alcohol-related businesses, Charles quickly devised a recovery plan, reassured existing investors, and secured alternative funding. "We told investors, ‘It's not linked to Le Fourgon—we are all good. This is our plan.’ Smart people told us in the same call, ‘Okay, we are fine.’" Charles shared.

Send a textKynda: Daniel MacGowan von Holstein shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 20: Kynda: Daniel MacGowan von Holstein shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I sat down with Dan, co-founder of Kynda, to explore how their fermentation technology is transforming food industry waste into high-value microprotein. We discuss Kynda’s journey from producing alternative meats to providing bioreactors for major food companies, how removing regulatory risk unlocked investor confidence, and why corporate partnerships were the key to securing their latest €3M round. Dan also shares insights on scaling a deep-tech B2B startup, securing recurring revenue, and pitching effectively to investors. A must-listen for anyone in food tech, alternative protein, or the circular economy!Key Facts Kynda:Goal: To turn agricultural by-products into mycoprotein for the food and pet-food industry.Recently raised €3 million.Alex’s Top Findings:Investors Are More Comfortable When Risks Are Reduced. By removing regulatory risk (switching to a non-novel food strain) and showing corporate validation (testing bioreactors on factory floors), Kynda de-risked the investment and attracted more confident investors. "Early on, we asked VCs to take on multiple risks—product risk, market risk, technology risk, and regulatory risk. But once we switched our strain to a non-novel food strain, we eliminated regulatory risk, making investment much more attractive." Dan shared.Corporate Partnerships Provide Investor Validation. Instead of vague Letters of Intent (LOIs), Kynda demonstrated real-world corporate adoption, allowing investors to call partners and hear positive feedback firsthand. "We placed a small bioreactor on a dairy company's factory floor, using their oat okara waste to produce microprotein. In just a day, it transformed into an edible product they could use. This hands-on demo was a huge aha moment.”B2B Success Comes From Solving a Financial Problem, Not Just a Sustainability One. While sustainability is a bonus, cost and efficiency drive corporate decisions. Kynda positioned its solution as cost-effective and scalable, making adoption easier. ”Sustainability alone doesn't convince corporates. We pitched it with better taste and better prices."

Send a textBeans: Ines Sánchez-Castillo Velge shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 19: Beans: Ines Sánchez-Castillo Velge shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I speak with Ines, founder of Beans, a startup tackling food waste by buying unsold inventory from FMCG giants like Nestlé and Unilever and reselling it at deep discounts—helping consumers save up to 50% on groceries while turning waste into profit. We dive into how venture studios helped de-risk their journey as first-time founders, how Beans navigated cash flow challenges in a capital-intensive business, and what it took to raise €1.4M after rejections. Plus, Ines shares insights on scaling a marketplace, building consumer trust, and staying resilient as a founder. A must-listen for anyone interested in food tech, fundraising, and startup execution.Key Facts Beans:Goal: To eliminate food waste by buying unsold inventory from major FMCG brands and reselling it at steep discounts—helping both companies and consumers save money.Recently raised €1.4M with Water Lemon VCE as lead investor.Alex’s Top Findings:Venture Studios Can De-Risk First-Time Founders. BEANS emerged from the Food Tech Founders venture studio, which provided funding, expertise, and operational support, making fundraising and execution easier despite the founders being first-timers. " We're incredibly grateful that we founded this with them because their experience made us not first time founders. My co-founder and I are first time founders, but the fact that we had them meant that we weren't regarded as first-time founders, and that in our execution was massive." Ines shared.Startup Fundraising is a Numbers Game. Persistence is key in fundraising. It took 179 rejections before BEANS secured investment, proving that resilience and conviction are crucial for success. "We spoke to about 180 VCs until we got our first yes. It's extremely discouraging when you have 179 funds that tell you what you're building is not worthwhile or maybe they don't say it in those terms. So try keeping on and hustling to get that traction.”Customer Trust is Built Through Transparency & Engagement. Direct communication, social proof (Trustpilot reviews), and a referral program helped overcome consumer skepticism about discounted groceries. " We wanted to be so extremely customer centric. For the first eight months, I had my personal cell phone on the website, so customers could call me directly." Ines revealed.

Send a textMoonrider: Anoop Srikantaswamy shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 18: Moonrider: Anoop Srikantaswamy shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, I sit down with Anoop Shrikantaswamy, founder & CEO of Moonrider, to discuss how his team is electrifying agriculture with electric tractors designed for smallholder farmers. From a chance conversation that sparked the idea to bootstrapping their way to a working prototype, Anoop shares how they raised $2.2M without cold-pitching VCs, the power of shameless outreach, and why their "Uber for Tractors" model is solving one of the biggest challenges in farming. This is a must-listen for anyone building in hard-tech, EVs, or agtech.This podcast is packed with insights for founders, especially those in hard-tech and emerging markets.Key Facts Moonrider:Goal: To empower every farmer to produce more, earn more, and save more.Recently raised a seed round of $2.2M from AdvantEdge Founders and Micelio Technology Fund.Alex’s Top Findings:Bootstrap Until You Have Proof of Concept. The company delayed raising VC funding until they had a functional prototype, ensuring stronger leverage and validation before pitching to investors. "We didn’t want to go ahead and raise it from VCs from day one because we wanted to keep ourselves in stealth…we reached out to a few angels who are founders themselves." Anoop pointed out.You Are Only Two Calls Away From the Right People. "Fundamentally, I believe that you are just two calls away in terms of reaching out to get what you want." Anoop emphasizes the power of networking and warm introductions, illustrating how connections through mutual contacts played a key role in securing investors.Hands-on Investors Build Conviction Quickly. Investors who physically experience a product are more likely to invest. Demonstrating a working prototype in person helped build trust. "Kunal himself wants to visit…he drove the tractor and was blown away with the kind of within the timeframe we were able to put together a product. He immediately committed a million dollars." Anoop revealed.

Send a textFermtech: Andy Clayton shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 17: Fermtech: Andy Clayton shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, Alex sits down with Andy Clayton, CEO and founder of FermTech, a company turning brewing industry waste into valuable food ingredients. Andy shares his journey of raising funds through a mix of traditional investors and crowdfunding, using Crowdcube to complete their round.We dive into the psychology behind crowdfunding, the challenges of verifying claims, and how the platform helpedFermTech tap into their own networks for investment. Andy also offers key takeaways for startups considering this path, especially in the food tech space.If you're curious about alternative fundraising strategies, this one's for you! Key Facts Fermtech:Goal: To revolutionize food sustainability by creating delicious, cocoa-enhancing ingredients that save 98% CO2 emissions versus cocoa.Recently raised a £325k crowdfunding target on Crowdcube.Alex’s Top Findings:Crowdfunding Complements Traditional Investment. Crowdfunding helped finalize the investment round rather than starting from scratch. "The function that crowdfunding played for us was that it finished off a round. You can't just start from zero and expect to close a round on crowdfunding only. You have to come to the platform having already filled a large amount of your raise."Crowdfunding Encourages Existing Networks to Invest More. "Although we managed to just about close our round, in truth, a lot of it didn’t actually come from the crowdfunding platform. What the platform forced us to do was really shake the tree of the networks that we already had."Crowdfunding Platforms Rely on Psychology and Momentum. “The entire crowdfunding platform is built around the algorithms of human psychology as expressed through the crowd. You start your crowdfunding raise already close to fully funded.”

Send a textB'ZEOS: Guy Maurice shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 16: B'ZEOS: Guy Maurice shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, Guy shared the journey of B'ZEOS, a company redefining sustainability by replacing single-use plastics with a game-changing solution. We explore how B'zeos strategically leveraged public funding from Norway and the EU to develop its technology without early dilution—setting the stage for a successful €5M funding round led by impact-driven investors like Faber.From securing paid pilots to building strong investor relationships, this story is packed with insights on scaling a sustainable startup the smart way. Stay tuned to learn how innovation meets impact!Key Facts B'ZEOS:Goal: To address central challenges in the Blue Bioeconomy related to the sustainable utilization of marine biomass and developing competitive bio-based products for value creation.Recently raised €5M led by Faber.Alex’s Top Findings:Phased Fundraising Strategy. Bezios utilized non-dilutive public funding initially, followed by strategic venture capital when ready to scale. “ Before 2024, everything was either public money from different grants that we got or was from services, paid services. When you get public money, you need to tap, so you receive up to 70% of that amount, and you need to tap with 30% on the top.” Guy shared.Effective Outreach Requires Clear and Simplified Communication. "We needed to sell ourselves, which was not that simple initially. We worked together to make a deep dive deck. A model that we had not on the strategy, but on turning or on making numbers on our strategy or making investors understand our model basically."Due Diligence Requires Streamlining Processes and Transparency. "We thought we were clean, but it’s never clean enough. Cleaning up meant organizing IPs registered across different countries and structuring the company for investor confidence." Guy said.

Send a textInform Ag: Steven Lockyer shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 15: Inform Ag: Steven Lockyer shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, Steve Lockyer from Informag shared insights about their journey in helping the farming industry achieve sustainable opportunities to reduce costs and increase yields. Fresh off a successful $7 million capital raise in August, Steve highlighted how being profitable before the raise gave them a position of strength when engaging with investors. He also detailed the unique journey of securing their lead investor, Rural Funds Management, one of their largest clients, and the challenges and considerations of opening their business to a customer-turned-investor.Key Facts Inform Ag:Goal: Future-Proofing Farming through Innovation and Advanced Tech: Smart Irrigation, Farm Management, and Harvest Efficiency.Recently raised $7 million led by Rural Funds Management.Alex’s Top Findings:Bootstrap Beginnings. The business was initially bootstrapped using personal funds and side industrial projects. “ We bootstrapped it with their own cash for a period. So, my background being industrial automation, one way we funded the business was every 6 to 12 months. We'd take on a large industrial project. For example, the last one we did, we had a 500 ton crane puller. A 50 ton oven that made banana bread out of a factory and blocked a whole six lane highway, moving it into a new facility. So that's how we built up a war chest of cash that we could then use to be the basis of running projects and generate cash flow. So we avoided external investment really by doing that.” Steven shared.Full Round Taken by One Investor. Allowing a single investor to take the entire round simplified the process and strengthened the partnership. "They were keen to take the full round... it just worked. They were the right fit for us, you know we had common values, common kinds of aspirations for the industry goals for where we saw the technology going."Seeking Advice Led to Opportunity. Seeking guidance from trusted connections can lead to unexpected opportunities. " When I was in their office one day, I was actually looking for some advice and that turned into a subsequent meeting with their CEO, who then invited us to Canberra and asked us to present the opportunity to them." Steven revealed.

Send a textEndless Food Co: Maximillian Bogenmann shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 14: Endless Food Co: Maximillian Bogenmann shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, Alex talked to Maximillian, CEO & Co-Founder at endless food co., which safeguard the future of chocolate while tapping into the flavor and value potential of overlooked resources. In this conversation, Max shares insights into the journey of launching an alternative chocolate company. He talks about how they built relationships with investors through genuine outreach and advisory support, despite lacking experience in food scaling and B2B sales. Max also touches on leveraging the hospitality network to validate their product and the importance of having advocates and early partners to support their growth. The talk also dives into strategic decisions like B2B vs. B2C models and future partnerships with major retailers like 7-Eleven.Now, stay tuned as Max takes us through the full story of how Endless Food Co. is shaking up the chocolate world with sustainability at the core.Key Facts Endless Food Co:Goal: To future-proof the existing chocolate industry.Recently raised pre-seed of €1 million led by Nordic FoodTech.Alex’s Top Findings:Overcoming Objections through Self-awareness and Support. Address lack of experience by surrounding yourself with trusted advisors and demonstrating the ability to learn and adapt. "I was able to interact with some of these people who offer their expertise. It is a long, slow process of really developing and fostering relationships with people, because I think at the end of the day, what we realize is that if you're really genuine with people and you are seeking help, most people are generally willing to offer you their own experience or advice from their own philosophy." Max noted.Leveraging Genuine Interactions for Goodwill. Authenticity and kindness can help establish meaningful connections without significant monetary investment. As Emile shared, " I think we were able to get a lot of goodwill out of people because I think we were quite genuine in what we were trying to achieve, what we didn't know. I think that being hospitality professionals we were pretty good at sort of helping people with meals and a nice bottle of wine here and there."Partnership with 7-eleven. The partnership with 7-Eleven developed slowly, through a B2B approach, rather than a direct consumer-facing product. " I think we've always envisioned being a B2B product. ... we met the procurement manager ... and it took months before anything sort of happened. 7 Eleven has always, or at least in the recent time, been sort of pretty strong with their innovation front ... wanting to sort of push the boundary in certain areas and also be first in certain markets. 7 Eleven came down and said, “we'd really love to make these cookies.” with a one to one swap with THICC, which is our product."

Send a textZymofix: Emile Redant shares how to get funded in 2025Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 13: Zymofix: Emile Redant shares how to get funded in 2025In this episode, Alex talked to Emile Redant, co-founder and CEO of Zymofix, an agtech company developing a new way to produce microorganisms which are mainly being used in agriculture and other non food, non animal feed type of application. Emile shares how Zymofix raised $2 million in seed funding from High Tech Gründer Fund and two regenerative agriculture-focused family offices. The initial connection to the investors was through an accelerator program, Biotope, where Emile was mentored by Johan Boterman, a former Bayer executive.Key Facts Zymofix:Goal: Turning biomass residues into fit-for-purpose microbial fertilizers, biostimulants and biocontrols.Recently raised $2 million led by High Tech Gründer Fund.Alex’s Top Findings:Rejection of Product Development Objections. Many investors wanted Zymofix to focus on product development, but the founder resisted this in favor of a more sustainable, lower-risk approach. “ Everybody wanted us to do product development...I was very, very strongly against that. It is really a high risk type of investment. A lot of those companies never make it, never actually bring products to the market. I've worked at a couple of those companies and it's something I didn't want to do because it takes a tremendous amount of investment money to do that with a really low chance of success.” Emile said.Realistic Business Vision. Zymofix avoids high-risk product development, choosing instead to collaborate with corporates to manufacture their top-selling products using innovative methods. As Emile shared, "We are not developing a product by ourselves. We are doing joint development with these corporations to show we can make it with better quality at a way lower cost."Low-Cost Manufacturing Strategy. Zymofix’s strategy to keep CAPEX low while still developing a scalable manufacturing process differentiates them from other biotechs that require massive investments for large-scale plants." We’ve designed it in a way where we can be economical at a small scale of three to four million... and that gives us a lot more flexibility to just go ahead and do it."

Send a textVestland Pharma x Sarsia: Jan Rune Nordhagen and Jon Trygve Berg shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 12: Vestland Pharma x Sarsia: Jan Rune Nordhagen and Jon Trygve Ber shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talked to Jan, CEO of Vestland Pharma, and Jon Berg, Venture Partner of Sarsia. Vestland Pharma is a startup that is focusing and wants to make the first all natural medicine against sea lice- the biggest problem for fish farming in Norway. Jan highlighted the pivotal role of external partners in structuring the company and aligning it with market demands. The startup partnered with brokers who bridge the gap between farmers and international markets, ensuring better adoption of their solution. The discussion also emphasizes the importance of government grants, like those from Innovation Norway, in funding high-risk, environmentally friendly projects. On the other hand, Jon Berg opened the conversation that underscores how venture capitalists are now prioritizing solutions that integrate into current systems rather than completely replacing them.Key Facts Vestland Pharma:Goal: To make the first all natural medicine against sea lice- the biggest problem for fish farming in Norway.Recently raised NOK 12M from Sarsia and Coast Seafood.Alex’s Top Findings:Your initial target investors are often wrong. “ We tried to get investment from fish farmers in Norway and they have quite a lot of capital, but they did not know and did not grasp what we tried to do. When you are into fish farming, you usually invest in low risk projects and making medicine is highly risky. It is cost intensive and it has a high risk. I think we did try to reach out to the wrong investors, basically, the first time.” Jan shared.Strategic Government Grants Accelerate High-Risk Projects. Government support, such as grants, plays a pivotal role in funding innovative but risky projects, helping mitigate financial risks for investors. As per Jan, “It was Innovation Norway. They give grants to good ideas that are helping the industry, and you need to show it’s helpful and does not harm the environment. These are grants, not equity, and they’re very useful for slightly higher-risk projects.”Evolving VC Trends: From Replacement to Sustainability. The focus of venture capital has shifted from disrupting supply chains to improving sustainability and efficiency within existing frameworks. As the Venture Partner of Sarsia, John Berg said that, " Three to four years ago, the emphasis was on replacing existing farming infrastructure with plant-based products or cellular agriculture. Now, it’s much more about embracing current supply chains and making them sustainable and regenerative. As a VC with a thesis and a perspective, is that something that you've also seen your colleagues have, improving supply chains rather than replacing."

Send a textOrbisk: Olaf van der Veen shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 11: Orbisk: Olaf van der Veen shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talked to Olaf, co-founder and CEO of Orbisk, who help professional kitchens to reduce the food service sector and parallel industries of their food waste issues and thus improve their sustainability and profitability. Olaf's talk provides valuable insights into navigating venture capital, building trust with investors, creating strong customer relationships, and using innovative business models to fund hardware in the SaaS space. It highlights how clarity, purpose-driven action, and strong stakeholder relationships contribute to successful fundraising.Key Facts Orbisk:Goal: To make the world food system more sustainable.Recently raised €8M lead by Regeneration VC and PeakbridgeAlex’s Top Findings:Having strong product traction and growth helps in securing investors, even when there are setbacks in fundraising. “ We were in a fortunate position that we're on a pretty good growth trajectory. That makes a whole lot of conversations a lot easier. Even irrespective of this series A, we were in a position where we would have the company go well without the investment. We are at a point that's not far from cashflow neutrality and positivity. It's just that our growth ambitions wouldn't be met. So that makes the conversation a whole lot easier.”The importance of choosing the right lead investor who actively participates in fundraising and provides clear structure. " That is basically what I should have recognized earlier. As a lead, you expect to really take the lead in this round, to provide clarity in the round, sort of boundaries, process, provide structure and clarity."Being hyper transparent is important. " As a company and as a founder, I always promised myself and everyone around me also that hyper transparency that I'm asking for in others." Olaf promised.

Send a textHubcycle: Julien Lesage shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 10: Hubcycle: Julien Lesage shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talked to Julien, CEO of Hubcycle, a company which runs into factories and find where there are losses or leftovers, recurring by products, recurring losses, and convert or transform it into new ingredients. Julien shared about the strategies, mindset, and learning moments that shaped their fundraising journey. The podcast talks about the challenges of fundraising, the strategies used to attract and retain investors, and the importance of maintaining transparency, resilience, and alignment with long-term goals.Key Facts Hubcycle:Goal: To increase the yield of our agricultural resources.Recently raised €15 Million, Series A.Alex’s Top Findings:HubCycle’s use of a fundraising partner is uncommon but was pivotal due to their complex, non-SaaS business model. “ So basically we had a fundraiser for this round basically because we have kind of a complex business. We are not like SaaS business, we are an industry and at some point you have to make the playbook clear for VCs to understand how scalable the model is.” Julien shared.Prioritized aligning with people who understood their business model. " When you work with the right people, you want to align interests. If we speak about the retainer, it's almost nothing compared to the rest. So we are aligned and we want to be aligned on our aim and on the aim of the project, which is to seal the deal."Open communication about potential risks and challenges with investors built trust. " You're speaking with people that went through the same process as you are. We have always been very transparent. When we are receiving a challenge from the team or from auditors or anything, we're sharing mail. Without any translation or any hiding. That’s when you build confidence and trust."

Send a textDaily Crunch: Laurel Orley shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 9: Daily Crunch: Laurel Orley shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talked to Laurel Orley, Crunch Executive Officer and co-founder of Daily Crunch Snacks, a women-owned certified and mental health mission driven company bringing innovation to a trusty but dusty nut snack category through our patent pending sprouting process, innovative game changing flavors and craveable crunch. Laurel shared about finding investors who align with their mission and believe in their product. She also stressed the importance of having detailed plans and projections to show investors how funds would help scale effectively. Key Facts Daily Crunch:Goal: To make feeding your body with real + healthy foods easier, and to remind you to take time for your mental health.Recently closed Series A with Launch Tennessee as lead investor.Alex’s Top Findings:Daily Crunch positions itself firmly in the nut category, a multi-billion-dollar market, instead of trying to compete across multiple categories. “You cannot be everything to everyone, or you're nothing to nobody. The nut is a massive multi billion dollar category in the U. S. Right now, our share in the category is 0. 1%. Which means we have a lot of opportunity for growth in this category before even considering going into another category. We do have plans later on down the road to go into other categories, but we really need to stay focused here first.”The team carefully selected investors aligned with the brand's vision and said no to those who didn’t feel like a good fit. "If your gut is telling you that they're the wrong people, they're the wrong people, and you should not let them in." Laurel emphasized.Using a structured, phased fundraising process and regular updates kept potential investors engaged and encouraged participation. "We did a three-wave close... Once we closed wave one, I’d send out an email: ‘Here are the updates, and we just launched in Target.’ All of a sudden, people would say, ‘Oh yeah, shoot, I missed wave one, but count me in for wave two.’"

Send a textOceanloop: Fabian Riedel shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 8: Oceanloop: Fabian Riedel shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talked to Fabian, Founder and CEO of Oceanloop, a food tech company which develops and scales up a platform technology to farm fish or seafood land-based anywhere in the world. The discussion highlights the fundraising approach which emphasizes a strategic blend of equity and venture debt to scale operations. The conversation delved into the broader fundraising strategy to scale up sustainable shrimp farming and build a robust seafood business ecosystem.Key Facts Oceanloop:Goal: To contribute to the growing demand of animal proteins with a sustainable, land-based aquaculture technology, offering a viable alternative to wild fishing and traditional aquaculture.Recently raised $35 Million from European Investment BankAlex’s Top Findings:Look out alternative funding sources like venture debt. “The venture debt program is without any securities like you usually have to provide when you talk about a classical bank financing. They have a certain interest rate that can be high when you are very successful, but in general, that is a very fair program—big upside for equity investors because the EIB takes on part of the risk.” Fabian answered on being asked about venture debt and its structure.Focus on the product that is primarily imported in the country. “So the main part is white tiger prawns that are farmed in Southeast Asia or South America are imported to Europe. Shrimp a high demand protein. In total, the demand for shrimp is growing heavily. Shrimp is the most important seafood in the world. There, there are 5 million tons of shrimp farms every year. So the idea is why don't we use technology and innovation to farm that species? So we plan to have a fully independent, highly automated and software controlled environment for farming. That's a high value species, also highly important.” Fabian discussed how they came up with the technology.Started a D2C Marketplace for your product types to build a direct relationship with the customer. “I kind of bootstrapped within my company where we introduced other high quality seafood products under our roof. We sold exclusively in Germany and Austria. This is how everything started then this business grew and now we have 300 seafood. So it's a seafood platform and it's an e-commerce business. So we sell D2C and send to private customers every day in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, our seafood products, and we source those products from the whole world.” Fabian shared during the podcast.

Send a textPrefer: Jake Berber shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.Episode 7: Prefer: Jake Berber shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talked to Jake Berber, co-founder and CEO of Prefer Coffee, who makes more affordable and sustainable food & beverages, starting with coffee. The talk focuses on investment outreach and strategies to attract funding or expand business opportunities. The discussion highlights real-world examples of successful outreach efforts and offers insights into overcoming challenges such as market skepticism or limited resources. Additionally, it underscores the need for authenticity, thorough research, and leveraging networks to maximize impact. Key Facts Prefer:Goal: To make delicious and affordable coffee without the beansRecently raised $2 MillionRound led by Forge VenturesAlex’s Top Findings:Staying proactive in providing updates and showcasing demand from B2B clients. “I was always checking in with positive updates of maybe MOUs or MTAs that we were signing where I could show this demand coming in for the story that we were telling. We are selling B2B to these large FMCGs and ingredient companies. Then I could say, "Look, now we've signed an MTA and we're going into R& D with these guys to make a product” so that keeps the conversation going.” Jake answered on being asked how he made sure the process is actually moving forward rather than getting stuck.Focuses on sustainability and climate change, not disrupting the coffee industry. “We wanted to share why we are making bean free coffee and I think it was really important to be a coffee company that wants to support the industry rather than saying coffee is the bad person. We wanted to say, in this case, climate change is the bad person. Climate change is sort of the villain of the story. So that was really important and actually a big communication change for us. This is a story that they were much more open to. So just that change of communication from making a product because coffee is bad to “Hey, I know the price of coffee is going up, but I think that we can help you out here so you can maintain these customers that love your taste and love your price.” Jake emphasizes.Showing market validation is important. Jake mentioned the reason why they needed oat latte before selling concentrate, “To unlock this business model of the ingredient/concentrate for the large FMCGs, they needed to see some market validation that people are actually interested in this. They needed to de-risk the market and so we launched this oat latte ready-to -drink just to de-risk that market showing them that people are interested. So in the meantime, we need to be doing all we can to grow this brand, to grow this company, to create traction. So this is a way that we can really take things and take matters into our own hands and just create traction.”

Send a textFabas: Anik Thaler shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 6: Fabas: Anik Thaler shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talked to Anik, co-founder of Fabas Foods, which develops ingredient systems for amazing dairy alternatives. The talk focuses on the journey of securing investment for a food tech startup, including the challenges and decisions involved in raising capital. Overall, it discusses the challenges and strategies involved in fundraising, the importance of investor relationships, and the pivotal decisions that shaped the company’s direction.Key Facts Fabas:Goal: To change the way we eat in the future by bringing more beans onto our fields and plates.Recently closed seed round over CHF 1.3 million led by Swiss family office and some corporate investors.Alex’s Top Findings:Cold Outreach does not work especially when trying to get into Family Offices. When being asked if she ever heard of a family office in the past or already knew and then were looking for a warm connection, Anik answered “No, that's the thing with the family office. Normally they are not that present in public, maybe as other VCs who normally have websites and have LinkedIn profiles. So most family offices don't have that. You need to know some people who already know them, which makes it much harder actually to access those.”Be prepared to Pivot. “So as we raised our first CLA, so what we call then pre seed, we've been focused on building a B2C brand. So we started with a portfolio of B2C products. We made some hummus products, some burgers, and falafel. Always with the vision to bring more pulses onto our plates, but then we quickly realized that it's not just about launching new products to the market and having maybe a bit nicer taste with more locally produced products, but to rather really improve them. There we saw that the ingredients that are currently used are one of the biggest challenges to overcome. So that's when we started to focus more on ingredient development ourselves and then pivot towards a B2B ingredient supplier.” she added.Speed to market is key in today's environment. “Our technology is based around extraction and fermentation, but we work with pulses, meaning fava beans, peas, chickpeas. All those sources are not novel food and the process itself neither which makes it much easier to access the market quickly.” Anik said on being asked if they are on novel foods.

Send a textfoodforecast: Justus Lauten shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 5: foodforecast: Justus Lauten shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Justus Lauten, founder and CEO of foodforecast, shared insights into his journey of building a startup focused on reducing food waste through AI-driven predictions for bakeries, supermarkets, and gastronomy. foodforecast uses advanced AI technology that enables precise sales planning, making production and ordering processes 100% automated and minimizing food waste. The segment provides valuable insights into how essential networking, traction metrics, and strategic investor introductions are in securing funding, as well as the reality of managing fundraising efforts over extended periods in challenging market conditions.Key Facts foodforecast:Goal: To reduce the value of food waste by 10 billion euros over the next 10 years.Raised over €3 million, led by three institutional investors: Future Food Fund, Scalehouse Capital, and Aeronaut Invest.Alex’s Top Findings:The First business angels were the management of the bakery. Justus shared that, “The first business angels were the management of the bakery. It was not the company itself. It was the private persons who were investing their private money. They were not familiar with the startup business, but they were seeing that the product was working and that was important for me that they were behind the idea and the product. Of course they also had networks inside the bakery companies as well into other bakery companies.” Knowing the effects of the investment and dilution is important. As Justus said, “We put a very low valuation into the contract because I was not very skilled at that point. I didn't know the effects of the investment and dilution and that the founder of course should always carry a certain amount of shares during the funding process. This is something that's very important to the investors and that you as a founder should always look at. You should always make sure that you have enough shares for each round. They would have gotten too many shares which would have endangered the next round because the next VC would say okay look this is not working.”When The crisis happens, often your customers can become your investors. “I went to the lion's den in January or February. We got a deal but then unfortunately Corona also hit Germany and all the restaurants and bakeries had to shut down partially. The deal more or less fell flat. At that point I had only spent my personal money and my bank account was nearing zero. I was getting nervous. That was the point when I approached the business angels first, so they were already customers, they knew exactly what I was doing, they knew also the potential of the software so they were really the angels in that part of the story because they helped the company survive and really push to the next level in finding an institutional VC.” Justus added

Send a textBygen: Lewis Dunnigan shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 4: Bygen: Lewis Dunnigan shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Lewis Dunnigan, Co-Founder & CEO at Bygen, which has developed a unique new technology called 'low-temperature activation' (LTA) that enables the production of sustainable and high-quality activated carbon. The discussion highlights the strategic considerations for startups navigating licensing agreements and the importance of aligning interests between founders, investors, and partner organizations. The emphasis on operational transparency, risk mitigation, and the importance of a strong foundational technology is critical for gaining investor trust and achieving long-term success.Key Facts Bygen:Goal: To enable the low cost and sustainable production of a material called activated carbonRaised US$ 2.5 Million led by some Australian climate tech investors, including Breakfree Victoria, Albert's impact capital and Artesian Investments.Alex’s Top Findings:Focus on licensing the technology rather than build on operating production facilities. “Our decision early on to focus on licensing the technology rather than build on operating production facilities, it really kind of enabled us to even be considered a viable investment by a VC because it is a means to grow the company through relatively little investment.” Lewis emphasized.Signing-up offtake agreements before production. Lewis said, “We basically sign-up offtake agreements before production plants come online. That's an easier way to sell it. You don't get the same high value as you get by selling it in small quantities. So we sort of keep 95 percent of our offtakes for those types of customers and then we also have some internal sales capabilities to sell smaller amounts at higher prices on the spot market.”Getting the IP out of the university. “We did manage to get the IP out of the university but it wasn't an easy process. We actually went out and got feedback from the market and said that we don't think that we'll be able to raise money if we license it, sub-license the technology, or if we have the technology but there's significant royalties attached to it. They have equity in the business in return.” Lewis added.

Send a textÄIO: Nemailla Bonturi shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 3: ÄIO: Nemailla Bonturi shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Nemailla, CEO of AIO, which are producing more sustainable fats and oils by using yeasts and upcycling side streams from industry and agriculture. She talked about the strategic approach to fundraising, challenges with European regulations, and the importance of versatile revenue streams. She also highlighted how local government grants played a pivotal role in setting up their pilot plant and expanding the team by providing €1.8 million in non-dilutive funding, which also improved their valuation. Key Facts ÄIO:Goal: To change the way we produce, consume and perceive foods and other productsRaised €6.1 Million, €1.8 million grant from the Estonian Business Innovation Agency.Lead Investor is 2C Ventures Joining the round was Nordic for Tech VC, Voima Ventures, and SmartcapAlex’ Top Findings:Prioritize Shorter Commercial Regulatory Path- Cosmetics are usually quicker than food in terms of regulation. “Our investors understand that novel food will take time. We are preparing ourselves. We're going to apply in the U.S. but also we are aiming for other verticals such as cosmetics. So we have already started to prepare to be added to this ink list so we can start selling cosmetics. So we have proof that it's also very versatile. So you can go to food, you can go to cosmetics, you can go to pet food. It's one process, one product, and a very diverse application. And that we are very driven towards the price.” Nemailla highlighted on the podcast.Serendipitous Investor Connection at a Local Event. The company met its lead investor, 2C Ventures, through an unexpected encounter with an LP during a local event in Tallinn.When choosing scale up partners make sure they speak your business language- in this case it was Singapore. “I think the first part is finding the partner that has all the capex you need. We work with side streams. It's not like rocket science that we need very fancy equipment. But of course we need to have the right set of equipment, and they need to follow exactly how we tell them. So they have to be flexible towards our know-how. So this is one point. The second point, what made AIO go to Singapore is the speed. They're very flexible, they are very good business people.” Nemailla added.

Send a textThe Raging Pig Company: Arne Ewerbeck shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 2: The Raging Pig Company: Arne Ewerbeck shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Arne, Co-Founder of The Raging Pig Company, a Hamburg-based food tech startup focused on developing and distributing hog alternative products. Their current offerings include a wide range of plant-based German sausages, including bacon, with plans to expand into other products and mycelium-based options. The conversation highlighted that success in the food tech startup landscape, particularly for alternative protein products, hinges on creating exceptional products, building strong relationships with investors, and maintaining a unique brand identity. By focusing on these areas, The Raging Pig Company has been able to secure funding and establish itself as a promising player in the market.Key Facts The Raging Pig Company:Goal: To revolutionize bacon that lets you enjoy the taste that you love in a healthy, sustainable and cruelty-free way.Currently raised seed round led by Sprout and About Ventures.Alex’ Top Findings:Measure Your Market- Going Bottom To Top. As per Arne “From the bottom to the top, how many plant based sausages were sold last year? Because that is the market. You're addressing in the first place in the short term and obviously that number will be very small compared to what you think the potential market size would be and obviously then you can think about.”Your Brand Doesn't Need To Be Provocative. Arne highlighted that “There's no reason for us to be provocative towards a company which is producing pork products. That's something which we are not doing. We already have a brand which gets a lot of attention anyway. We don't need to put our fingers to somebody else.”Be a brand that offers an experience. “Everybody has a very clear description of what they would expect. No matter how good the product tastes, the consumer would always look for the experience of having a sausage. So when it comes to how the product works, texture, taste, mouthfeel, what happens with the sausage after you grilled it, for example. All of these properties, you need to address. Aside from just the right spices and saltiness level, this is something which is very important. What the consumer cares about, other than the price and the taste, is they want to be entertained.” Arne added.

Send a textNovameat: Giuseppe Scionti shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 1: Novameat: Giuseppe Scionti shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Giuseppe, CEO and Founder of Novameat, a food tech company based in Barcelona that focuses on creating next-generation plant-based meat alternatives (whole cuts, deli cuts, and shredded cuts. Giuseppe emphasizes the importance of long-term relationship-building with investors and the concept of lines versus dots. The key techniques and strategies are also highlighted, as well as some practical insights on how they close the round.Key Facts Novameat:Goal: To set a new standard for superior whole cuts that have the same delicious flavour and texture as animal meat but come from a different protein source.Raised €17. 5 Million Series A.Lead Investors: Sofinnova Partners and Forbion.Alex’ Top Findings:It took 18 months to close this round and Giuseppe was prepared with that timeline in mind. Be realistic to what rounds take and work way backwards. As per Giuseppe “We are Planning from the beginning to be a resistant company. So we were set up for whatever it takes to find the best iInvestors, that means the best fit.”Make in person conferences special, Giusape brought the R&D head of the world's best restaurant with him to conferences to offer unique experiences to investors and VIPs. ”Because we are in Barcelona, you need to take advantage of what you have. We have the number one, best restaurant in the world, Frutar. I brought with us the R&D chef. We got the booth, we showed the products and we took advantage of all the great investors that we can get to the conference, get the list of them, use the platforms of the conferences.I brought a lot of investors in the back door of the hotel, in the actual kitchen, where the chef of the hotel really loved our product. But this was not shown in the conference. It was a VIP experience that nobody knew about.” Giuseppe added.Be prepared to stalk. When you are in a room with a VIP investor which might be hounded by others, take the time and wait until he goes to a more secluded spot. Come up and thank him for the impact of the talk or their work and build the relationship. You will be afraid but do it anyway. Just like Giuseppe experiences, he shared “I actually stalked one of the most famous investors in the cafeteria outside of the conference. I actually followed the person because everybody was talking to this famous person. I was drinking coffee alone outside of the hotel in San Francisco since nobody would follow him outside of the hotel. I stopped him when I saw him and said “Hello. It was great to listen to you in the panel and you may be interested in this or that.”

Send a textREDUCED: Emil Munck de Voss shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 16: REDUCED: Emil Munck de Voss shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Emil, co-founder and CEO of REDUCED, founded in 2020, aims to tackle food waste by creating flavor solutions from food side streams. These flavor solutions, such as intense stock or broth, are sold to food professionals and manufacturers for use in products like ready meals, meat alternatives, soups, and sauces. Email emphasizes the importance of preparation, relationship building, and understanding both the financial and operational aspects of fundraising in closing the round. He highlights several important techniques and strategies for securing funding, especially in the food tech sector.Key Facts REDUCED:Goal: To reduce food waste by using vegetables, protein and other sources of nutrition left over from the conventional food industry.Raised €8 million in August 2024Investors: Novo Holdings, ECBFAlex’ Top Findings:Investor Relationships: Emil emphasizes the importance of networking and building relationships within the food industry through advocacy groups and boards, which led to several key investor introductions.Fundraising Approach: Emil prepares thoroughly for investor meetings, recognizing that one bad meeting can kill an opportunity. He stresses the importance of clear, truthful communication in all dealings with potential investors and partners. He also encouraged demonstrating the product's value by bringing samples to investor meetings and inviting investors to see the production facility firsthand.Fundraising Strategy: Build momentum by creating a wide funnel of potential investors. Prioritize face-to-face or voice meetings over emails to build relationships and gain insights. Provide information in steps to maintain engagement and better understand if the investor is a good fit. Respond quickly to maintain momentum and create urgency in the fundraising process. Practice pitches with less likely investors to refine the presentation before approaching key prospects.VCs vs. Corporate Investors: VCs provide valuable insights into metrics and scaling, fostering an operational mentality focused on growth and performance. Corporate investors contribute by bringing industry knowledge and commercial insights, which are vital for innovation in food tech. Both types of investors can complement each other on the cap table.

Send a textDe Novo Foodlabs: Jean Louwrens shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 15: De Novo Foodlabs: Jean Louwrens shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Jean Louwrens, co-founder and CEO of De Novo Foodlabs, which focuses on using precision fermentation to produce scarce proteins more sustainably and affordably, addressing the challenge of harvesting these nutrients from nature. Jean shared insights on raising a seed round led by Joyful Ventures and building strong relationships with investors. He also highlighted the importance of partnering with large corporations for regulatory support and co-funding, even if it requires some early-stage trade-offs, such as regional exclusivity.Key Facts De Novo Foodlabs:Goal: To give Food & Beverage and nutrition companies a competitive edge with innovative products that are healthier for humans and the planet.Recently closed seed round.Lead investor: Joyful VenturesAlex’ Top Findings:Relationship Building: Developing strong relationships with investors early, even in informal settings, can lead to future investment.Corporate Partnerships: DeNovo has secured strong partnerships with large companies, especially in the dairy industry, for regulatory support, co-funding, and market insights, which has reduced their reliance on venture capital. Commercial Traction: Despite not yet being able to sell commercially due to regulatory hurdles, DeNovo shows traction through letters of intent, regulatory support, and corporate collaboration to prepare for market entry.Off-take Agreements: Locking in pricing for off-take agreements is really challenging, as costs of production may change. Jean recommends creating financial models to project costs and building wiggle room into contracts for price adjustments.Regulatory Strategy: Navigating regulatory approval (e.g., FDA) is complex and time-consuming, often taking longer than expected. To minimize risk, startups should seek advice from legal experts and people who have successfully navigated the process, especially those who worked with regulatory bodies like the FDA.Advice for Early-Stage Companies: Jean advises focusing on customer traction, leveraging corporate partnerships for regulatory and funding support, and potentially seeking external due diligence for competitive analysis.

Send a textAIPERIA: Franz Seubert shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 14: AIPERIA: Franz Seuber shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Franz, co-founder and CEO of AIPERIA, a German based SaaS solution that helps suppliers and retailers in sustainable demand planning for fresh food by enabling end-to-end planning from production to supermarket shelves to ensure only what is sold is produced. Their solution is currently used in around 3,000 stores. Franz emphasized the importance of maintaining ongoing communication with investors, preparing thoroughly for due diligence with an organized data room, and having a team with both business and technical expertise. Key Facts AIPERIA:Goal: To expand both internationally and vertically into the fresh produce assortments of bakery, convenience/deli, packaged meat and flowers & plants.Recently closed $7.5 million Series A round in April 2024.Lead investor: Early Bird VCAlex’ Top Findings:Building Strong Relationships Early: Aiperia maintained ongoing investor relations, even between rounds, to ensure smoother fundraising efforts. Franz highlighted the importance of “closing a round before it's opened” through continuous engagement with potential investorsLeveraging Existing Investors: Aiperia already had well-known investors, like Early Bird, on its cap table. This significantly helped them attract more VCs. Having prominent investors on board early can create credibility and signal to other investors that the company is worth backing. Franz described the fundraising process as more inbound than outbound due to the strong network created through their existing investor relationships.Keep a well-organized data room: This includes all necessary documents like contracts, agreements, and financials. Being well-prepared for the legal, technical, and business due diligence processes can save time and instill confidence in investors. Understand the legal framework: Aiperia had a solid legal structure from their seed round, which made it easier and faster to negotiate their Series A. Franz advised founders to get an experienced lawyer who specializes in startup financing.Technical and Business Clarity: Investors did not perform in-depth code reviews but instead focused on understanding the company’s architecture, scalability, and cloud infrastructure. Franz pointed out that it's important for founders to have a clear roadmap for solving any technical gaps that investors flag, even if the current infrastructure isn't perfect.Building Trust with Investors: By focusing on relationship-building, demonstrating traction, and ensuring preparedness for legal and technical due diligence, Aiperia was able to close their Series A in a smooth, efficient manner. Other founders can apply these strategies by maintaining ongoing investor conversations, prioritizing strong legal and business foundations, and showcasing strong growth and a capable team

Send a textCultimate Foods: George Zheleznyi shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 13: Cultimate Foods: George Zheleznyi shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to George, co-founder and CEO of Cultimate Foods, a Berlin based biotechnology startup developing a cultivated fat ingredient for plant based meat aiming to replicate the taste and texture of traditional animal meat. George discusses the importance of having strong Letters of Intent (LOIs), supported by Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) and sample deliveries in closing their investment rounds. Key Facts Cultimate Foods:Goal: To improve the taste and texture of plant-based meats by offering a high-quality fat alternative that can replace expensive flavoring solutions.Recently closed €2.3 million seed round.Lead investor: HTGFAlex’ Top Findings:Preparedness: Having a well-organized data room, including strong LOIs, MTA agreements, and a clear regulatory strategy, was key. This preparation ensured that they could answer investors' questions and provide all necessary documentation efficiently.Strong Relationships with Investors: George mentioned that the relationship with their lead investor started during the pre-seed round. Even though they were not ready for investment at that time, they kept the relationship alive and returned when they were ready for the seed round. They maintained communication and came back to the same investor, showing progress and readiness, which eventually led to securing the investment.Letters of Intent (LOIs): Having strong LOIs, especially those supported by Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) and sample deliveries, was crucial. These agreements with potential customers demonstrated that there was real interest and intent to purchase the product, which reassured investors. Regulatory Roadmap: Investors are concerned about the regulatory hurdles in the food tech space, particularly for cultivated meat products. George mentioned that they had already started working with regulatory consultants and shared their roadmap for submitting regulatory dossiers in multiple countries. This reassured investors that the company was aware of and prepared for the regulatory challenges ahead.Reference Calls: George facilitated reference calls between investors and potential customers. This direct communication allowed investors to validate the product's demand and its value proposition directly from industry stakeholders reassuring investors about the company’s market potential.Meeting High Standards: George noted that the requirements for startups have increased, particularly in the cultivated meat space. They had to present a level of market traction and technological development that might be expected of a Series A or B startup, even at the seed stage. Understanding and meeting these elevated expectations was crucial for closing the round.

Send a textEnifer: Simo Ellilä shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 12: Enifer: Simo Ellilä shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Simo Ellilä, CEO and co-founder of Enifer, a biotech startup in Finland that produces sustainable microprotein through the fermentation of industrial byproducts. Simon discusses the strategic approach Enifer took to raise their current rounds and a few key strategies that helped them secure funds from grants. He also highlights the need to demonstrate progress on the industrial facility and meet critical milestones to maintain investor confidence.Key Facts Enifer:Goal: To transform circular economy by-products into planet friendly protein.Recently closed a significant funding round with €15 million in equity, €9 million in loans, and over €12 million in government grants.Alex’ Top Findings:Proactive Preparation Pays Off: Enifer readiness was the result of anticipating funding opportunities and preparing well in advance. Startups should be proactive by having key documents and a data room ready, even if a grant isn’t immediately on the horizon. A well-organized data room, with clear blueprints, CapEx estimates, and historical data on the production process, was essential to securing both government funding and investor confidence.Key Elements of Letters of Intent: Many grants require proof that the rest of the project’s financing is either secured or on the way. Detailed and credible letters of intent from investors and potential buyers played a critical role in securing funding. These letters included specifics about investment amounts, project descriptions, and expected returns, increasing their persuasiveness.Develop a Convincing Business Case: It’s critical to show that your project isn’t just theoretical or experimental but has clear commercial viability. Enifer succeeded in part by demonstrating that their factory would be an industrial-scale production facility capable of generating significant revenue. Startups should focus on showing how the project will generate returns, mitigate risks, and align with government or institutional funding goals, especially in sustainability and innovation.Engage Early and Stay Updated on Opportunities: Building relationships with government agencies, grant organizations, and other funding bodies ahead of time can give startups a head start. Staying informed on upcoming grant calls and funding programs—especially those tied to broader economic or sustainability goals—enables startups to align their project timelines with available funding windows.Clear and Realistic Milestones: When applying for grants or presenting to investors, it’s crucial to break down the project into clear, achievable milestones. Enifer provided detailed CapEx and OPEX estimates alongside a phased timeline for their production ramp-up. This clarity helped mitigate perceived risks and gave confidence to the grant evaluators. Startups should aim to present similar structured milestones and cost breakdowns, which demonstrate thorough planning and feasibility.

Send a textYoLa Fresh: Youssef Mamou shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 10: YoLa Fresh: Youssef Mamou shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Youssef Mamou, Founder and co-CEO of YoLa Fresh who are focusing on improving the life of smallholder farmers and traditional retailers, reducing the food wastage by building an efficient distribution sourcing network, and technology. Youssef Mamou's discussion reveals a deep understanding of both the challenges and strategies involved in scaling Yola Fresh and illustrating the importance of networking and building relationships with potential investors even before actively fundraising. Key Facts YoLa Fresh:Goal: To be Africa's largest fresh produce supply chain company that is solving one of the toughest problems in the world with technology.Recently raised $7 million in a pre-Series A roundAlex’ Top Findings:Preparation Before Fundraising. Conduct thorough research and ensure your business model is validated before seeking investment. This preparation can significantly enhance your credibility with investors.Initial Interactions. Meeting investors informally, such as during panel discussions, can lead to productive conversations and potential partnerships. This casual engagement often helps in establishing a rapport before formal fundraising efforts begin.Choosing the Right Investors. Finding investors who align with your vision and business model is crucial. Youssef’s experience with VC funds and his ability to discuss the business in detail helped in attracting investors who were a good fit for Yola Fresh.Building Trust and Credibility. Establishing credibility with banks and investors is crucial. Demonstrating that you can manage operations and build trust can lead to better financing opportunities.Learning from Global Peers. Youssef emphasizes the value of learning from other entrepreneurs and startups globally. His visit to India and interactions with founders there provided valuable insights and inspiration for scaling Yola Fresh.Scaling and Investment. Investors are keen on seeing proof that a business can operate effectively and scale. A proven business model with strong unit economics and growth metrics is key to attracting investors. Once you’ve demonstrated consistent growth and profitability, securing funding becomes more feasible. Initially, investors might question whether you can reliably secure both demand and supply. Demonstrating your ability to handle these factors through hands-on experience and successful operations can address this concern.Managing Expectations. Fundraising can be a lengthy process, and managing expectations is key. Youssef’s approach involved being transparent about the business’s progress and addressing any concerns or objections from investors proactively.

Send a textMOA Foodtech: Jose Maria Elorza shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 10: MOA Foodtech: Jose Maria Elorza shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Jose Maria, Co-Founder of MOA Foodtech who upcycle byproducts from the food industry to elaborate high value ingredients and sell back to food producers to elaborate different types of products, helping the society to eat healthier and to move forward into a more sustainable world. Jose Maria provided an insightful discussion on the process of raising funds and the importance of being prepared for due diligence.Key Facts MOA Foodtech:Goal: To establish a new industry of sustainable food that solves growing global food demands without the need for arable land.Raised nearly 5 million in equity and over 2 million in grants.Last round closed in June 2024.ICOS Capital as lead investorAlex’ Top Findings:Maintain Conversation. MOA fundraising strategy involves maintaining continuous conversations with potential investors, even when not actively seeking funds, which helped them secure their most recent round in June 2024.He emphasized the importance of constantly engaging with potential investors, even if the timing isn’t right. Well-organized Data Room. Jose Maria emphasized the importance of a well-organized data room for due diligence, which in their case included legal documents, financial audits, projections, patents, and IP strategies. The data room was kept on accessible platforms like Google Drive or OneDrive, which is common among startups.Human Due Diligence. A unique aspect of their due diligence involved psychological profiling of the founders to assess how well they work together. This process included meetings, individual assessments, and a final report that was shared with investors.Copyright Registration. Jose also shared that MOA protected their proprietary algorithm by registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office, allowing them to safeguard their innovation without fully disclosing it publicly, unlike a patent.Importance of Preparedness. In advising other startups, he highlighted the importance of having a clear IP strategy and being able to demonstrate that all aspects of the business, from legal to financial to technological, are being carefully managed. This level of preparedness not only speeds up the due diligence process but also instills confidence in potential investors.

Send a textNiqo Robotics: Jaisimha Rao shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 09: Niqo Robotics: Jaisimha Rao shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Jaisimha Rao, founder and CEO of Niqo Robotics which is a robotics solutions pioneer that is poised to lead a sustainable Agricultural Revolution in India through AI powered agricultural robots. Having recently raised $21 million with the latest $13 million round closed in March 2024, Jaisimha highlights how Niqo Robotics secured funding from venture capitalists and how a million dollar convertible note became a 5 million lead check.Key Facts Niqo Robotics:Goal: To revolutionize crop care spraying in agriculture through their flagship AI powered Spot Spray Technology made possible by a proprietary agriculture camera.Recently raised $21 million with the latest $13 million round closed in March 2024.Fulcrum Global Ventures and Bidra Innovation Ventures as lead investors.Alex’ Top Findings:Building Strong Relationships. Utilizing a network to get introductions to key investors is essential. By leveraging connections and attending industry events, Niqo Robotics was able to get in front of the right people who could fund their vision. Spending time building relationships with potential investors, ensuring that they were not only selling the idea but also creating a connection based on trust and mutual goals helped a lot. This relationship-building was crucial in securing the lead investors.Role of Convertible Notes. The use of convertible notes played a crucial role in Niqo Robotics' early fundraising strategy. They provided flexibility, attracted early investors with favorable terms, simplified the legal process, and helped the company reach important milestones without immediate dilution of equity. This approach not only secured initial funding but also positioned Niqo Robotics for successful larger rounds in the future.Proven Traction. Before approaching VCs, Niqo Robotics had already demonstrated traction. They had working prototypes and initial customer feedback, which provided evidence of market demand and the feasibility of their technology highlighting how their robots could revolutionize sustainable farming practices. The unique value proposition and potential for disruption in the agriculture sector were key factors in attracting VC interest.Compelling Pitch. The pitch to VCs was well-prepared, focusing on the market opportunity, technological innovation, and the team’s capability to execute the plan. Emphasize the scalability of the business and the potential for significant returns on investment.Clear Use of Funds. Niqo Robotics clearly outlined how the funds would be used to achieve key milestones. This included expanding the team, scaling production, and accelerating go-to-market strategies. This clear roadmap helped VCs see the potential impact of their investment.

Send a textNutrumami: Frederik Jensen shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 08: Nutrumami: Frederik Jensen shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Frederik Jensen, founder and CEO of Nutramami who create multifunctional plant proteins to impact better taste, texture and nutrition through synergistic cross fermentation. Having recently raised €475k, Frederik highlights the importance of adaptability, relationship-building, and strategic pivots in the startup landscape and how their focus on execution and leveraging existing manufacturing infrastructure positions them well for growth in the competitive plant-based ingredient market.Key Facts Nutrumami:Goal: To create multi-functional plant proteins to impact taste, texture, and nutrition.Recently raised €475kCost Capital and Planetary Impact Ventures as lead investorsAlex’ Top Findings:Engaging in Continuous Conversations. One of the most beneficial strategies Nutramami employed was having a multitude of conversations. Each interaction with potential investors, partners, or stakeholders provided valuable feedback and insights, allowing them to refine their pitch, strategy, and business model iteratively. It was akin to running multiple tests where each test's outcome informed the next steps, ensuring we continuously evolved and improved.Building Strong Relationships. Another correct move was focusing on building and nurturing relationships. Instead of viewing each meeting as a mere transaction, Nutramami aimed to foster deeper connections. This approach not only facilitated introductions to key players like Cost Capital but also established a network of advocates and supporters who believed in our mission and were willing to help us succeed.Path to Market and Profitability. Avoiding complex regulatory pathways can speed up market entry and reduce costs. Nutramami benefited from not requiring regulatory approval for their plant protein. Utilizing existing manufacturing capabilities with a contract manufacturer, Nutramami aims for a faster path to market and profitability. The focus is on execution and market entry rather than extensive patenting, though they hold some patents.Preparedness and Strategy. Having a robust business plan, prototype, and team were essential for the pre-seed round. Every conversation and meeting is an opportunity to learn and refine the business strategy. Early feedback and testing are critical for progress.Identifying Market Gaps. Nutramami's founders leveraged their deep understanding of product formulation and market needs to identify gaps in the plant-based ingredient market. They focused on creating a new category of ingredients that offer a better starting foundation for product development.

Send a textSolvable Syndicate: Steve Simitzis shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 07: Solvable Syndicate: Steve Simitzis shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Steve Simitzis, Partner of Solvable Syndicate who invest in early stage food tech startups from pre seed to Series A with focus on companies promoting human and planetary health. Steve explains the benefits of syndicates for both founders and angels, shares insights into the current state and future of food tech, and offers advice for founders on effective fundraising and navigating challenges in the startup ecosystem.. Key Facts Solvable Syndicate:Goal: To invest in early-stage FoodTech and AgTech startups that advance a sustainable, nourishing food system.Check Size: $100K to $200KAlex’ Top Findings:Effective Fundraising Materials. Founders need to have compelling pitch decks and data rooms to attract investors. Providing straightforward advice on the investability of startups, while encouraging alternative paths if traditional VC funding is not viable. Founders need to keep working on their vision, possibly through other revenue channels or partnerships, even if immediate VC funding is not available,Market Positioning. Founders must market their startups effectively to potential investors, emphasizing the potential impact on climate, land use, and water resources, as well as demonstrating strong business fundamentals.Business Viability. Founders must find ways to generate revenue, lean down operations, or explore partnerships to sustain their startups, especially when facing difficulties in raising funds. Determining whether it’s the right time to continue pursuing the startup or pivot to other opportunities is a critical decision that founders must make, often with limited guidance..Syndicate Advantage for Angels. Reduces the burden of due diligence and deal sourcing. Offers access to curated and vetted investment opportunities. Allows for collaborative investment without the need for individual negotiation.Syndicate Advantage for Founders. Simplifies the cap table by aggregating multiple small investments into a single entity. Provides structured, vetted deal flow, increasing chances of securing funding. Helps in managing and coordinating smaller investments effectively, avoiding logistical issues.

Send a textCultivated Biosciences: Tomas Turner shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 06: Cultivated Biosciences: Tomas Turner shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Tomas, CEO & Co-Founder of Cultivated Biosciences who have raised over $6 million, primarily through equity rounds, with a recent $5 million closed in January. Cultivated Biosciences focused on creating creamy emulsions from yeast-grown fats as a B2B ingredient for dairy-free alternatives. Tomas talks about how the preparation, fundraising process and strategy their team did to achieve the goal. Key Facts Cultivated Biosciences:Goal: To solve the problem of texture and functionality in dairy free alternativesRaised a total of $6M USDNavos Ventures and Van der Lely family as lead investorsAlex’ Top Findings:Fundraising Preparation. Assembling a detailed pitch deck and structured data room is crucial. Include all achievements to date. Engage previous round lead investors for advice and preparation. Organize potential investor outreach through warming introductions and detailed data room access.Data Room Strategy. Use a Google Drive organizing the data room. Maintain a three-step access approach: initial slide deck, non-confidential data room, and NDA-protected detailed information. Follow a template that includes sections on technology, team, commercial, financials, and legal aspects.Identifying and Approaching Investors. Target investors with a history in AgriFood tech, especially those focused on seed-stage investments in Europe. Expand outreach to hardware and general seed investors, both regionally and globally. Utilize CRM tools like Notion to track and manage investor interactions and introductions.Challenges and Learning Points. Regulatory process and commercial traction were recurring due diligence questions. Be selective with sample distribution to avoid overburdening the R&D team. Delay sample sharing until later stages of due diligence.Final Reflections. Long-term industrial views from investors are so important. Balance production and R&D efforts during fundraising. Leverage industry connections and data for successful fundraising. Founders need to understand investor cycles and returns expectations.

Send a textSustainable Food Ventures: Mariliis Holm shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 04: Sustainable Food Ventures: Mariliis Holm shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Mariliis, Co-Founder and Partner of Sustainable Food Ventures who backs early-stage founders building leading food companies that are cell-based, plant-based and fermentation. Mariliis talked about their investment process and how possible it is for investors out there to make a call within two meetings with the right team and market size insights presented by the founders.Key Facts AgFunder:Goal: To support founders developing sustainable food products and scaling profitable companies in the global $12 Trillion food and grocery retail market.Invested in 59 companies.Deployed $4MAlex’ Top Findings:Outreach Strategies. One of the things that has been pretty fruitful specifically for Sustainable Food Ventures is applying through the website. The other one is great warm introductions for people who are either from fellow investors or fellow founders. Last but not least, LinkedIn is also a place that just cold reaching out can work really well.Investors Insight. Investors are here to provide not just funding but also guidance, support, and a network of resources to help them succeed. They are looking for a founder with the willingness to learn and adapt, have an understanding of the market and problem being solved, and a clear vision for the future.Going through Due Diligence. Investors out there can make a call within two meetings especially with the right emphasis on team, market potential, and personal intuition about the founder's passion and capability. Sometimes, investors would base it on the founder’s insights and attitude during the call rather than on pitch decks solely.Importance of Understanding Venture Capital. It is essential for founders to know if their company is venture-backable or if venture capital actually makes sense for them. Founders should understand venture basics, ideally through resources like "Venture Deals" by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelsohn. Recognizing if your venture is suitable for venture capital is so important.Advice for Founders. Always note that passion, perseverance, and a clear understanding of the venture process are critical. Ensure readiness for the complexities and accelerated growth expectations of venture funding. It's not just about the money or the immediate returns. It's about creating something meaningful and lasting, something that can change the world. The road to building a successful company is long and fraught with challenges, but with the right team, vision, and support, anything is possible.

Send a textAgFunder: Rob Leclerc shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 04: AgFunder: Rob Leclerc shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Rob, Founding Partner of AgFunder who have about $200 million assets under management. Rob talks about how investors are looking into companies nowadays and their expectations. He also discussed how the market shifting, sectoral challenges and founders roles affects the fundraising process in this current investment climate.Key Facts AgFunder:Goal: AgFunder invests in early stage food tech and ag tech seed to series A companies.$200 million company assets.Alex’ Top Findings:Market Shifting. There comes a saying nowadays that if you don't have the margins of tech, you're not tech. Tech valuations are not given anymore, not like from 2021. Record high food tech IPOs have crashed and cheap interest-free money has become very expensive.Alternative Protein Situation. Early on in the alternative protein days, there was an assumption that food was going to be technology, which means it was going to have gross margins and technology-like growth rates. The input costs are generally higher and the end products tend to be of premium products. Cost Challenges. Cost is one of the biggest drivers, but you have taste, texture, convenience, and health. Unfortunately, no company is kind of meeting and beating on all those categories. There's a small handful of companies that are able to compete on cost in certain categories in certain areas but there's still probably some compromise on taste or texture.Distribution Difficulties. You have tons of gatekeepers, whether it's in food service or retail. Distribution now is extremely difficult as people are sort of not willing to try products. Venture Capital Expectation. They are looking to have 10x return on their investments. It's harder than ever to get the attention of your ideal customer investors. Getting a 10x return from a seed round is very difficult. Companies should take the money and if you cannot build a profitable company with the money that you've got, you are probably not going to make it. When you've raised 25 million, 15 million for series A, and you need another one to two funding rounds before you even think you will get to profitability with your optimistic, distribution and sales goals.Company Strategy. Great companies are drowning in the noise of AI written emails, LinkedIn automation bots, and email sequences. Typically founders have spent hours looking through LinkedIn connections or share lists of hundreds of names of their investors to ask for interest. The process is time intensive and often really ineffective. Warm outreach allows you to easily map actual warm connections of your investors and team members by seeing beyond just the LinkedIn connection. Founders/CEOs Role. A product focused CEO and narrative driven CEO would attract capital. Investors want to see incredible execution. They want to see evidence that the CEO can manage every nickel in that com

Send a textBluu Seafood: Fabian Friede shares how to get funded in 2024Investment Climate Podcast: Fundraising Playbooks From Food Tech CEOs and VCs In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 03: Bluu Seafood: Fabian Friede shares how to get funded in 2024In this episode, Alex talks to Fabian, co-CEO of Bluu Seafood who joined the startup industry in 2010 and worked with investors on a lot of different digital businesses around the globe. He talks about the expectations in raising a fund both in the investors and companies aspect and how the importance of the two-steps closing have played in their recent fundraising.Key Facts Bluu SeafoodGoal: Bluu Seafood is a cultivated seafood company, and the goal is to provide people with healthy seafood products without destroying our planet.Raised 20+ Million Investors include Meta Ray Ventures, Leather VC, Sparkfood.Alex’ Top Findings: Challenges: Alternative protein as an industry is suffering from investor fatigue due to several different topics; overall slower progress than maybe promised or at least anticipated, high CapEx needs, and poor performance of public markets.Length of Fundraise: Bluu Seafood's recent round took about nine months, significantly longer than anticipated, highlighting the increased difficulty in securing funds and actually had to split it into two closings that are five months apart. Two-step closings become more common now. Two-step closings: when you have your investment agreement, create already shares that you can then give out to new investors that come on board on the second closing. If you give out a thousand new shares, you might create a capital reserve for another thousand. So you can actually collect the same sum again in the second closing, which is then done to the same condition, same valuation. So basically, you're closing the round to get capital in the bank, but allow for more time to get more investors on board. If the investor doesn't have any bandwidth to deal with you at the moment and you don't want to lose them, you might leave that door open via a second closing.Perspective on Lead Investors: Lead investors play an important role by committing the most capital, conducting due diligence, and giving confidence in smaller investors to join the round. It can definitely streamline the process and attract additional investors. The due diligence is mainly done by the lead investor. So once the lead investor commits so much capital, it is the vote of confidence.Effective Introductions: During the outreach, founders should give a list of potential co-investors and pre-written introduction emails for current investors to facilitate easier warm intros.Interpreting "Too Early" Feedback: When investors say that it is "too early," it may be a polite way of declining without burning bridges. Founders should seek genuine feedback for improvement.Cell-Based Space: Elements concerning cell based space include high CapEx and low margin products. As an investor, the need to evaluate what is the opportunity and what is the track is necessary. Scaling for example, you need to bring down the prod

Send a textRobert Boer-Director at Blue Horizon CorporationSeed Check Size: $50K-$500KPreseed-GrowthMain Takeaways From Conversation: VC will answer to Cold Outreach, but do your homework first. It has to be relevant to the Thesis. Don't Ask To Fund A Fish Farm if the VC Thesis is reducing Animal cruelty. Qualify the VC: 9/10 times, the founder asks no questions of the VC. What kind of board role do they want, how will they offer value, do you lead or follow, what is the check size, how far are you in the fund size- Ask questions to qualify if the VC is a fit. Make sure you leave 3-5 minutes at the end of the meeting to agree on the next steps and clarify anything that is unclear. What are their next steps? How long does the process take? Are you interested in moving forward? When should a founder shut it down? Having advisors who give you real feedback is crucial. It is another sign that it does not work with angels or family. If you are impact driven, you can take another model not funded by VC. Redefine how you can get to your ultimate goal. '2024- The Year Of M&A: Look to merge with another company that is congruent with your mission and fills in each other gaps. Position your fundraising with the opportunity of buying another company's assets or IP. Speak to corporate gatekeepers: If your final user is accessed through corporates like distributors or large companies- speak with those companies early to validate your assumptions. This podcast is sponsored SWARM- The Swarm gives companies and investors the keys to their networks and the business relationship data they need to grow.Use theswarm.com/alex for a 25% discount.

Send a textUnlock the secrets to weathering the storm of fundraising in a tumultuous investment climate with Tim, the pioneering CEO of Nosh Bio. As our esteemed guest, he unveils the narrative of his company's gripping quest for seed funding against a backdrop of spiraling interest rates and a slumping food tech IPO market. His candid revelations offer an insider's map to crafting an irresistible equity story that not only draws investors in but aligns them with the vision of creating sustainable, animal-free proteins. In a masterclass of networking finesse, Tim sheds light on the vital role that personal connections and strategic introductions play in the VC world. He reveals how a meticulously curated hit-list of 100 investors and the leverage of industry insiders can swing doors wide open, paving the way for startups to secure that critical investment. Each anecdote and insight shared by Tim functions as a beacon for entrepreneurs navigating the murky waters of fundraising, providing the beacon needed to attract the partners who will champion their groundbreaking ventures.