Forbes has released its 2021 lists of honourees, each featuring 30 notable people under the age of 30. The founders of plant-based companies Simulate, daring, and Prime Roots all appear on this year’s lists.
Ben Pasternak — Founder of Simulate
Ben Pasternak, aged just 19, made the Consumer Technology list for his startup Simulate. The company produces Nuggs, plant-based chicken nuggets made with advanced texturised pea protein technology. Pasternak has already raised over $15 million in funding, and has announced that he intends to develop plant-based hot dogs too.
Despite his youth, Pasternak is not new to entrepreneurship — at the age of 15, he became the youngest person ever to receive funding from Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists for his app, Monkey. He has now turned his attention to ending factory farming.
Ross Mackay and Eliott Kessas — Founders of daring
Scottish entrepreneurs Ross Mackay and Eliott Kessas made the Food & Drink list for their company daring, which also produces plant-based chicken. The company spent over two years developing vegan nuggets, before finally launching them earlier this year at Sprouts stores in the USA.
It has also developed a non-breaded clean-label chicken alternative with just 5 ingredients. The “chicken” is sold at Sprouts and also distributed in the UK through foodservice channels. The company has already raised almost $9 million in funding, and the founders say their mission is to remove chicken from the food system.
Kimberlie Le and Joshua Nixon — Founders of Prime Roots
Prime Roots’ founders made it into the Social Impact category for their fungus-based meat alternative. The company makes everything from bacon to seafood using koji, a Japanese fungus. When the company launched its bacon, it sold out almost immediately. To date, it has raised $18 million in funding, and it says it has a global waiting list.
“Our food system is broken and we want to truly be transparent and give people a way to be involved with how their food gets to their plate,” Le told vegconomist in an interview.
