{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Raising Capital for Alt-Protein in the Midst of the Winter","description":"Recently Alex Shandrovsky had me as a guest on his show, the Investment Climate Podcast to talk about The Better Meat Co.\u2019s recent funding round. When it came out, more than one Business for Good listener heard it and told me they thought it would make a good episode to release to our audience too, so this episode is simply the conversation Alex and I had for his podcast. If you\u2019ve been following the alternative protein sector (and the broader biotech sector), you\u2019ve likely seen the wave of challenges that fermentation, cultivated, and plant-based startups have faced over the past few years. As recent AgFunder News reporting confirms, ag and food tech investment is at a decade-long low. One active food tech VC even declared that foodtech investing is \u201cmaybe as bad as it\u2019s ever been.\u201d Some days, building a startup in our sector can feel like being a player in Squid Game\u2014with about the same odds of survival. While layoffs, bankruptcies, shutdowns, and cash-free acquisitions have been rampant in our sector lately, BMC has never conducted layoffs. Instead we\u2019ve always been very frugal, and we tightened our belt even further in the past year, all while continuing to make important progress toward our aspirations of slashing humanity\u2019s footprint on the planet. This has been true in the midst of the three-year litigation we endured, the collapse of our bank and subsequent (temporary) loss of all funds, the painfully wintry investment climate for alt-protein, and other seemingly innumerable challenges. Our ethic of frugality will certainly continue in this new era of scaleup for our company.  This financing is hardly the end of our story. Receiving investor dollars isn\u2019t our goal; it\u2019s solely a means to the end of building a profitable business that will help put a dent in the number of animals raised for food. Raising a round is akin to having someone provide the clothes, tents, and food you\u2019ll need to climb Everest\u2026but you still need to actually go climb the mountain\u2014hardly a guaranteed outcome.  I\u2019ve often said these days that we\u2019ve shifted from what felt like a Sispyphean feat of fundraising to now merely a Herculean feat of scaling. Nearly all startups fail. The vast majority never see their seventh birthday, which BMC recently celebrated. Our company is still far from successful, but we now have a real chance to birth into the world a novel crop that can help feed humanity without frying the planet. We will judiciously use these new funds to work hard to finally let the Rhiza River flow.  Alex and I discuss the story of how this funding round came about, and where we may be going from here.  ","author_name":"Business for Good Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/www.businessforgoodpodcast.com\/","html":"