SOLD OUT: Scaling Microbial Fermentation Workshop

• As we plan for mass market production, how is the industry addressing the gap between pilot plants and small to mid-size commercial production (1,000 – 100,000 liters)?
• From contract manufacturing to corporate partnerships to building a bespoke facility – what are the pros and cons of each path to scale up?
• How is the industry sharing information around cost, efficiency, and price parity?
• Who in the industry has achieved scale, and what can we learn from their journey?
• How are we measuring sustainability, and what opportunities are there to utilize side streams or create circular systems?

Session Chair:
Audrey Gyr, Start-Up Innovation Specialist, THE GOOD FOOD INSTITUTE

Speakers
Matt Ball, Co-Founder and CTO, CULTURE BIOSCIENCES
David Kestenbaum, General Partner and Head of the New Venture Fund, ZX VENTURES
Bryan Tracy, Co-Founder and CEO, SUPERBREWED FOOD
Timothy Bauer, General Manager of Growth Ventures, FLUID QUIP TECHNOLOGIES

• What are the main challenges when designing a facility to best scale-up upstream fermentation and downstream processing?
• When planning for expansion what factors, from sterility to segregation, should companies take into consideration?
• What key considerations need to be front of mind when selecting a site for a facility?

Speaker:
Sebastian Bohn, Alternative Protein Submarket Lead, CRB

In this session, delegates will break out into groups and work together to discuss potential solutions to a pressing industry problem. Each group will then present their findings at the end.

Hosts:
Audrey Gyr, Start-up Innovation Specialist, THE GOOD FOOD INSTITUTE
Tal Zeltzer, Co-Founder and CTO, PHYTOLON
Martín Blasco, CSO, ETERNAL
Bryan Tracy, Co-Founder and CEO, SUPERBREWED FOOD
Timothy Bauer, General Manager of Growth Ventures, FLUID QUIP TECHNOLOGIES
Elysabeth Alfano, CEO, VEGTECH INVEST

Two of the most exciting start-ups in the space showcase their ground-breaking solutions, showing what fermentation can do beyond protein.

Presenters:
Tal Zeltzer, Co-Founder and CTO, PHYTOLON
Martin Blasco, Co-Founder, ETERNAL

• What key considerations and data inform the go-to-market strategy of a novel food company? How do companies decide when the time is right to launch a new product?
• What does the data tell us about the consumer sentiment around novel foods?
• Why are so many companies opting for D2C as the route to market, instead of retail or food service? What are the main drivers that inform the route to market?
• What progress is being made in creating universally accepted language in this field? How are companies working together to boost confidence and consumer adoption?
• What geographies are companies targeting for launch? Where in the future do we expect the biggest markets for these products?

Session Chair:
Elysabeth Alfano, CEO, VEGTECH™ INVEST

Speakers:
Allison Fowler, CMO, PERFECT DAY
Karuna Rawal, CMO, NATURE’S FYND

• As investment flows into novel technologies, how has funding changed over the last two years?
• What different financing options are proving attractive to companies in this space?
• What is the appetite for infrastructure start-ups as the industry starts to mature, and more shovels and materials are needed for this new gold rush? As the margin is in the end product, how do we finance them?
• What approaches differ when funding start-ups with long development times?

Presenters:
Po Bronson, Managing Partner, INDIEBIO
Arvind Gupta, Partner, MAYFIELD