Synthesis Capital

Alternative Proteins Could Cut Emissions by 33% by 2050 but Lack Funding Compared to EVs: Reports Boston Consulting Group (BCG), The Good Food Institute and Synthesis Capital Elfrun von Koeller Emma Ignaszewski Rosie Wardle #Food #Protein #Emissions #EVs #Funding #SustainableFinance Tim Mohin

Like electric vehicles, alternative proteins are a critical climate solution, with the potential to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. What can the alternative protein industry learn from electric vehicle makers?  In order to scale alternative protein, we need companies to improve offerings, governments to provide support, and investors to fund the full value chain. We explore this and more in our new article “What the Alternative Protein Industry Can Learn from EV Companies” co-published with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Good Food Institute. #Sustainability #AlternativeProteins #FutureOfFood #Innovation #ClimateChange https://lnkd.in/d7zqySRz  https://lnkd.in/dSn2K6Bd #Sustainability #AlternativeProteins #FutureOfFood #Innovation #ClimateChange

Conference season has been in full swing the past few months! The Synthesis team has been active speaking at, and participating in, the major #food and #biotech conferences in both Europe and the US:   🧬 David Welch's panel at SynBioBeta focused on "sustainable harvests and sustainable returns", and explored different approaches to investing in the future of food 💬 Rosie Wardle discussed the question "Can we nourish 10 billion people while restoring the Earth?" at TED Conferences' TED Countdown event 🤝 Shivani Oberoi, CFA met with founders and investors during a packed and inspiring two days at the HackSummit, which has become Europe's leading food & climate conference 💡Costa Yiannoulis, Rosie, and David participated at Future Food-Tech Alternative Proteins, taking place for the first time in Chicago, with Rosie on a panel discussing "adapting financing models to overcome the trough of disillusionment" Our most important takeaway: despite the headlines, and the real and acute challenges facing many companies across the sector, #progress behind the scenes is stronger than ever and gaining even more momentum.   Now, we are looking forward to two notable events for the sector in #London this week as part of London Climate Action Week - a gathering to mark the launch of Imperial College London's work on sustainable protein, and the Breakthrough Energy Summit, which will gather influential figures across technology, policy, science, academia, and business to highlight pivotal clean technology innovators! If you're in London for these events, see you there! #BESummit2024 #technology #tech #progress #innovation #food

We’re striving to create a world where we can have our chicken and eat it, too. Recently, our CEO, Uma Valeti, MD was invited to the stage at TED Countdown to emphasize how we're working towards this vision, and how cultivated meat – meat grown directly from animal cells – can play a pivotal role in addressing many of the pressing global challenges we face today. You can watch the full TED talk here https://brnw.ch/21wKRZh #TEDTalks #TedCountdown #UPSIDEFoods #FoodInnovation

In order to achieve the full potential of the alternative protein industry, we need more collaboration between stakeholders across the sector, including investors, start-ups, governments, incumbent food companies, and NGOs, to accelerate the next phase of the technological and commercial progress. Synthesis's Shivani Oberoi, CFA participated in a panel discussion this week at the Innovation Zero conference in London, alongside a wide range of stakeholders from the sector including Jo Raven (FAIRR Initiative), Linus Pardoe (The Good Food Institute), and Duncan Williamson (Forum for the Future), moderated by Simon Davis (Anthesis Group). Great to see such a wide-ranging discussion on how to accelerate consumer adoption and get the industry to the next phase. Thanks for hosting another great event, Innovation Zero team! #climate #netzero #technology #innovation

Like life, technology can only be contextualized backward, but it must be invented forward. When the first automobile traveled its first bumpy mile, no one expected the dozens and dozens of related and adjacent industries it would spur. Everything from the concrete pavement, traffic lights, and motels, to GPS and combustion engines boomed because of the rise of cars. If you've been reading food industry news recently, you'll likely have the impression that the cultivated meat industry is destined for failure. Companies are not scaling quickly enough, and costs will never come down sufficiently for products to compete with conventional, animal-based meat – the science, they say, is just too complex to scale. However, as with most things in life, there’s more to the story. We explore this topic further in our latest blogpost! https://lnkd.in/eA_G6QKD #technology #innovation #food #hypecycle

The Synthesis team is back at HQ following a whirlwind trip to the West Coast for Future Food-Tech and to visit our portfolio companies. Reflecting on our experiences over the past few weeks, here are some key takeaways: 💲The start-up environment continues to be extremely capital constrained, however for food technology, there is broad consensus that the downturn is cyclical, rather than structural. The planet needs food system solutions more than ever before, and stakeholders across the capital markets and corporate ecosystem realise this. 👩💼 Corporates across the food sector are active and showing renewed interest in the potential for technology solutions, and how they can play an important role as incumbents. We see examples of companies across the supply chain and across geographies who are driving forward meaningful collaborations with private sector innovators. 💡 Innovation is continuing to be focused in the upstream of the value chain, where we see significant breakthroughs in enabling technologies which will drive better outcomes downstream in terms of better, cheaper, and healthier products for consumers. Some of the most compelling enabling technologies are those that impact multiple sectors of the bioeconomy. An increase in government and philanthropic funding will help to derisk and accelerate the R&D and scale-up of these technologies. 📈 For all founders, narrowing focus to the core value proposition of their businesses is acutely important. Efficiency and cutting unnecessary cash burn is key, and among the top-of-mind issues for founders are: finding creative ways to get into market faster to earn revenue and to start gaining real customer feedback; how to grow with a capex-light approach; and how to show a realistic path to achieving positive free cashflow. The companies that can make it through this difficult time in the industry will have stronger foundations and higher potential as a result. Thanks #FutureFoodTech team for another great conference! #tech #innovation #founders #startups Costa Yiannoulis, Rosie Wardle, David Welch, Shravan S., Shivani Oberoi, CFA, Nihaar U., Matt Gill, CFA, Triplebar, Savor, Hyfé, Arkeon

We are excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for our 2024 Internship Programme! This is a fantastic opportunity to gain venture capital investment experience and support Synthesis' mission to back global food technology companies that are redefining our existing food system. This is a three month internship that will be based at the Synthesis offices in London. Click here to find out more about the role and how to apply! https://lnkd.in/esZ3Df4m

Thanks Bill Gates for highlighting the importance of novel fats in building a tastier and more sustainable future food system. Excited for the journey ahead together as co-investors in Savor! "What we need are new ways of generating the same fat molecules found in animal products, but without greenhouse gas emissions, animal suffering, or dangerous chemicals. And they have to be affordable for everyone... It might sound like a pipe dream, but a company called Savor (which I’m invested in) is in the process of doing it." https://lnkd.in/eHPhnvq8

We are delighted to announce our latest investment into Savor Foods, a US-based alternative fat company, after recently leading the Series A funding round. Savor has developed a novel platform that uses green chemistry to produce cost-competitive, sustainable animal-free fats for use in a wide array of alternative meat and dairy applications. In this article, Synthesis’ Shivani Oberoi, CFA and David Welch share some insights on the importance of dietary fat, Synthesis’ approach to mapping the alternative fat landscape, and why we ultimately chose to invest in Savor. We are excited to support the Savor team in their mission to develop superior fats that enhance the sensory and functional characteristics of alternative meat and dairy products, and look forward to the journey ahead with Henrik Bennetsen, Kathleen C. Alexander, Ian McKay, Bill Gates, Breakthrough Energy , Orca Sciences, CPT Capital! https://lnkd.in/dVpU6hF2