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In 2018, Andrew D. Ive (MBA 1997) launched Big Ideas Ventures to find and support the entrepreneurs positioned to mitigate the effects of climate change and help the world adapt to the realities of a warming planet. The firm’s first fund is the New Protein Fund, dedicated to growing companies producing meat, seafood, and dairy alternatives through plant-based or cell-based technology.
The fund received support from some surprising places: the country of Singapore’s investment company, Temasek, and Tyson Foods, the world’s second largest processor of chicken, beef and pork. Singapore, which imports 90 percent of its food supply, considered the uncertainties climate change is introducing into the global food market and set a target of fulfilling 30 percent of its nutritional needs domestically by 2030; alternative protein sources could help the country realize that goal. Tyson spotted a burgeoning consumer trend, as people are become more aware of the impact of dietary choices on climate change as well as personal health and animal welfare.
Twelve companies joined the accelerator’s first cohort, including a company producing lab-grown foie gras and one creating a range of classic cheeses, such as Camembert, Gruyere, and feta, from cauliflower. Another is producing a facsimile of traditional pork dumplings from jackfruit, an abundant crop. Ive has the goal of investing in 100 companies over the next four years, and is making plans for a second, larger fund to support companies pioneering environmentally friendly food-production technologies.
“We are going to solve the world’s biggest challenges by supporting the best entrepreneurs,” Ives believes. “Ultimately it’s not going to be the policy makers, the lawyers, the politicians, or the academics who are going to solve these challenges. It’s going to be scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.”
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