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.
Series 2 Episode 1: Giuseppe Scionti of NovaMeat
In 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.
Link to Spotify:
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 euros Series A.
- Lead Investors: Sofinnova Partners and Forbion.
Alex’s Top Findings:
1. It took 18 months to close this round and Giuseppe was prepared with that timeline in mind. Be realistic about what rounds to take and work your way backward. 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 investors, that means the best fit.”
2. Make in-person conferences special. Giuseppe 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.”
3. 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. Giuseppe shared, “I 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.”
Further info on NovaMeat: https://www.novameat.com/
