Christie Lagally, the CEO of Seattle-based Rebellyous Foods, has been named as one of Inc. Magazine’s top Female Founders of 2024. This accolade groups her with other notable food tech entrepreneurs like Kimberlie Le of Prime Roots and Magi Richani of Nobell Foods in the Female Founders 250 list, which is compiled from thousands of candidates through three meticulous rounds of evaluation.
The selection process focused on a range of both quantitative and qualitative criteria, assessing aspects such as revenue, sales growth, funding, and audience size, as well as social media presence and overall impact. This list exclusively features entrepreneurs at the helm of for-profit entities in the United States.
Tackling major industry challenges
Lagally, a former aerospace engineer and a senior scientist at the Good Food Institute, has leveraged her extensive experience to tackle major challenges in the plant-based meat industry—specifically, the issues of cost and scalability.
Rebellyous Foods’ proprietary technology and manufacturing processes enable the production of plant-based chicken products like nuggets, tenders, and patties at 60% lower costs than existing methods, owing to the company’s novel Mock 2 Next-Gen Meat Machine. This equipment employs a continuous, automated, chilled dough system that purportedly enhances the mix-and-form process, saving on electricity and labor.
This recognition from Inc. Magazine comes shortly after Rebellyous Foods was also honored by TIME Magazine as one of America’s Top Green Tech Companies alongside other foodtech companies, including Prime Roots, Finless Foods, and The Better Meat Co.
Lagally commented on the news, “I’m so honored to be included in Inc. Magazine women entrepreneurs of 2024, alongside fellow alt-protein changemakers Magi Richani and Kimberlie Le. According to climate researchers (Heller, et al, 2020), replacing 50%-90% of animal-based foods in the US diet with plant-based foods would reduce US greenhouse gas emissions of 2,408 million metric tonnes CO2eq (MMT) by 2030. This is a massive effort, but the impact is real, tangible, and achievable. Thanks, Inc. Magazine, for recognizing our work.”
Find the full list here.
