Founder Spotlight: Amadeus Ahnan-Winarno (Better Nature)
Meet Amadeus Ahnan-Winarno
Company:
Better Nature Ltd.
Better Nature makes protein the better way by innovating upon tempeh fermentation, a 300-year-old food processing technology that originated in Indonesia. Our 21st-century approaches to this ancient technology enable us to produce plant-based sources of protein that are delicious, nutritious, and sustainable in wholesome and all-natural ways.
Startup Stage:
Seed
Location:
London, UK
What led you to where you are today?
I was born in Indonesia and grew up eating all kinds of tempeh as my favorite food (even my weaning food was tempeh porridge!). Being an affordable and abundant staple source of protein in Indonesia, tempeh has been often taken for granted and even labeled as ‘food of the poor. Determined to change that paradigm and give more people around the world access to affordable, nutritious, and sustainable sources of protein, I decided to do research on tempeh for my Ph.D. study, which led to co-founding Better Nature with Chris, Fabio, and Elin along the way to turn the science into products that people can enjoy.
What do you wish you knew before embarking on your entrepreneurial journey?
I wish I knew the actual intensity of drastic changes to constantly happen in terms of idea, business plan, team composition, and the ways of rephrasing the same mission and/or vision — I tried to mentally prepare for all these but nothing matches experiencing them first-hand. Also, I wish I comprehended how rejection can lead to the best improvement.
What can you help the VEGPRENEUR community with?
I would be happy to share my scientifically backed knowledge, experience, thoughts, ideas, and connections related to setting up and running a plant-based food business, including but not limited to through forums, event participation, and mentoring programs.
How can the VEGPRENEUR community help you?
I would like to learn from other VEGPRENEUR community members’ experience in setting up and running plant-based food businesses through forums, event participation, and mentoring programs.
Fun fact about you:
My weaning food was tempeh porridge. Also, my first dream was to become a musician — now I post my songs on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms under “Driando”.
Anything else you would like to share?
I have been getting invaluable lessons from being good friends with Seth Tibbott of Tofurky, I could only imagine how amazing it would be to engage in VEGPRENEUR where there are more brilliant people to connect and learn from.
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