We tend to focus on the fact that in the year 2050 we will have to feed 10 billion human beings on this planet but we won’t be the only species we have to worry about. We are currently witnessing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity as climate change makes this planet inhospitable for all species. We need to find a way to feed not just ourselves but also ensure other species thrive on Earth without being too extractive from nature. It is clear that biotech is going to be key to this transformation, and will rule the world just as software did for the last few decades. And there are a few people building the future of food at the vanguard of this development.

Our guest this week is one of the most prolific investors, and early stage funders of numerous biotech companies in the alternative protein space. Ryan Bethencourt is the CEO of Wild Earth that makes pet food from fermentation-based protein. He is also a partner at Babel Ventures, an early stage consumer biotech venture capital fund. As the co-founder, and CEO of incubators, and seed funds like IndieBio (an SOS Ventures backed accelerator, and early stage seed fund), Berkeley Bio Labs, a startup incubator, and sector builder, as well as the head of life sciences at the XPRIZE foundation, Ryan has funded well over a 100 companies. The list includes notable alternative protein companies like Shiok Meats, Memphis Meats, New Wave Foods, Clara Foods, Finless Foods as well as Mumbai’s plant-based egg company, Evo Foods. Ryan’s aim overlaps with ours at GFI India - we want to positively impact the lives of billions of people, and animals!

NOTES:

Companies Mentioned:

Wild Earth

IndieBio

Babel Ventures

Berkeley Bio Labs

XPrize Foundation

Bibliography:

Why Wild Earth Cofounder Ryan Bethencourt Is Applying The Science Of 'Vegan Biohacking' To Pet Food, Forbes.

Eat For The Planet #71 - Ryan Bethencourt: Reinventing Pet Food and Building the Post-Animal Bio Economy, EFTP.

This biotech startup is growing protein-rich vegan pet food in a lab, FastCompany

Shiok Meats takes the cultured meat revolution to the seafood aisle with plans for cultured shrimp, TechCrunch.

Tour the San Francisco lab that’s growing meat in a petri dish, CNBC

A foodtech EVO-lution: this startup is set to disrupt India’s plant-based food market with its ‘clean’ egg substitute, YourStory

For Further Reading:

Ryan Bethencourt’s writing on Medium.

Ryan’s videos on the Singularity University page.

What does it take to create a conducive environment for scale-up of new protein companies? Future of Protein Summit, YouTube Channel.

We tend to focus on the fact that in the year 2050 we will have to feed 10 billion human beings on this planet but we won’t be the only species we have to worry about. We are currently witnessing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity as climate change makes this planet inhospitable for all species. We need to find a way to feed not just ourselves but also ensure other species thrive on Earth without being too extractive from nature. It is clear that biotech is going to be key to this transformation, and will rule the world just as software did for the last few decades. And there are a few people building the future of food at the vanguard of this development.Our guest this week is one of the most prolific investors, and early stage funders of numerous biotech companies in the alternative protein space. Ryan Bethencourt is the CEO of Wild Earth that makes pet food from fermentation-based protein. He is also a partner at Babel Ventures, an early stage consumer biotech venture capital fund. As the co-founder, and CEO of incubators, and seed funds like IndieBio (an SOS Ventures backed accelerator, and early stage seed fund), Berkeley Bio Labs, a startup incubator, and sector builder, as well as the head of life sciences at the XPRIZE foundation, Ryan has funded well over a 100 companies. The list includes notable alternative protein companies like Shiok Meats, Memphis Meats, New Wave Foods, Clara Foods, Finless Foods as well as Mumbai’s plant-based egg company, Evo Foods. Ryan’s aim overlaps with ours at GFI India - we want to positively impact the lives of billions of people, and animals!NOTES:Companies Mentioned:<a href="https://wildearth.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wild Earth</a><a href="https://indiebio.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IndieBio</a><a href="https://www.babel.ventures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Babel Ventures</a><a href="http://www.berkeleybiolabs.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Berkeley Bio Labs</a><a href="https://www.xprize.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">XPrize Foundation</a>Bibliography:Why Wild Earth Cofounder Ryan Bethencourt Is Applying The Science Of 'Vegan Biohacking' To Pet Food, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katrinafox/2018/03/15/this-vegan-biohacker-is-set-to-launch-the-first-cultured-protein-foods-for-pets/#60c8bc85fe7e" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes</a>.Eat For The Planet #71 - Ryan Bethencourt: Reinventing Pet Food and Building the Post-Animal Bio Economy, <a href="https://eftp.co/ryan-bethencourt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EFTP</a>.This biotech startup is growing protein-rich vegan pet food in a lab, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90317144/this-biotech-startup-is-growing-protein-rich-vegan-pet-food-in-a-lab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FastCompany</a>Shiok Meats takes the cultured meat revolution to the seafood aisle with plans for cultured shrimp, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/15/shiok-meats-takes-the-cultured-meat-revolution-to-the-seafood-aisle-with-plans-for-cultured-shrimp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TechCrunch</a>.Tour the San Francisco lab that’s growing meat in a petri dish, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/04/tour-the-lab-that-spawned-the-lab-grown-meat-start-up-funded-by-bill-gates-and-richard-branson.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNBC</a>A foodtech EVO-lution: this startup is set to disrupt India’s plant-based food market with its ‘clean’ egg substitute, <a href="https://yourstory.com/2020/06/startup-evo-foods-develops-liquid-egg-replacer-plant-based-proteins" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">YourStory</a>For Further Reading:Ryan Bethencourt’s writing on <a href="https://medium.com/@ryanbethencourt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Medium</a>.Ryan’s videos on the Singularity University <a href="https://su.org/about/faculty/ryan-bethencourt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">page</a>.What does it take to create a conducive environment for scale-up of new protein companies? Future of Protein Summit, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ldtgagks0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouTube</a> Channel.

By the year 2050 we will have 10 billion people on our planet - a sixth of whom will be in India. If we want to feed all 10 billion of us in a sustainable, healthy and just way, we need to reimagine how we source our food. Feeding ourselves cannot come at the cost of global health, worsening greenhouse gas emissions, excessive land, water and resource use, zoonotic diseases, antibiotic resistance, and needless suffering. Last season, we brought you a ringside view of the next food revolution that is rethinking the future of protein. Companies like Memphis Meats, Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat and JUST Egg had a blockbuster year making meat, eggs, and other animal-sourced foods from plants, or cells, or other ingredients that are delicious and nutritious for us, and vastly better for the planet. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made the importance of protein diversification evident. If you want to be part of the future of food and work on solutions to some of the biggest problems of our time, join the Good Food Institute’s Varun Deshpande and Ramya Ramamurthy on Season 2 of Feeding 10 Billion

By the year 2050 we will have 10 billion people on our planet - a sixth of whom will be in India. If we want to feed all 10 billion of us in a sustainable, healthy and just way, we need to reimagine how we source our food. Feeding ourselves cannot come at the cost of global health, worsening greenhouse gas emissions, excessive land, water and resource use, zoonotic diseases, antibiotic resistance, and needless suffering. Last season, we brought you a ringside view of the next food revolution that is rethinking the future of protein. Companies like Memphis Meats, Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat and JUST Egg had a blockbuster year making meat, eggs, and other animal-sourced foods from plants, or cells, or other ingredients that are delicious and nutritious for us, and vastly better for the planet. The Covid-19 pandemic has only made the importance of protein diversification evident. If you want to be part of the future of food and work on solutions to some of the biggest problems of our time, join the Good Food Institute’s Varun Deshpande and Ramya Ramamurthy on Season 2 of Feeding 10 Billion

By the year 2050 we will have 10 billion people on our planet - a sixth of whom will be in India. If we want to feed all 10 billion of us in a sustainable, healthy and just way, we need to reimagine how we source our food.

Feeding 10 Billion

In the year 2050, we tend to focus on the fact that there will be nearly 10 billion human beings on this planet - but we won’t be the only species to worry about. We are currently witnessing an unprecedented loss of biodiversity and species loss as climat

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