£30m fund launches to support best alternatives to animal products
The fund has been set up Sentient Ventures, which was described as a movement of individuals driven to enable the removal of animals from the supply chain.
The new fund will provide early growth-stage capital to plant- and fermentation-based companies that have proved their concept and gained significant traction, and are now looking to scale-up production and reach new consumers and markets.
Sentient Ventures brings together Veganuary co-founder Matthew Glover, venture investor Alexandra Clark and former investment banker and founder of MVK Group Manish Karani.
Advised on over 30 investments
They have made and advised over 30 investments into animal-alternative companies to date, with their current portfolio including VFC, LoveRaw, Purezza, Shicken and Libre Foods.
The group argues that animal agriculture is a major GHG emitter and user of land and other resources, driving multiple crises, including biodiversity loss and species extinction, water pollution and shortages, antimicrobial resistance, the spread of foodborne and zoonotic diseases, and the climate emergency.
Each investment opportunity is assessed with Sentient Ventures’ in-house proprietary impact assessment tool, which has been developed by environmental expert Tom Chapman.
Metrics
The methodology can gauge several metrics, including animal lives spared, days of suffering reduced, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water pollution. Investments are also aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Glover said that it was a 'prime time' to invest in alternative protein companies.
“Sentient Ventures was born of both passion and frustration: frustration that not enough is being done at a high-level to move to a more sustainable and humane food system, and passion for the novel solutions that are reshaping food production without animals, and the founders behind them,” he said.
“While the world deals with a confluence of crises that are currently impacting global supply chains, we will support the scale-up of the companies pioneering innovative food solutions to enable consumers to make better choices.”
