VEGPRENEUR Summit 2020 Recap: Here's What Happened!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the inaugural VEGPRENEUR Summit on October 3-4, 2020!
We are excited to have brought together such an engaged and accomplished audience. The list of speakers included founders and investors in the plant-based food, fashion, beauty, and farming industries, including:
Building a Plant-Based Media Brand with Robbie Lockie of Plant Based News and Elysabeth Alfano of Vegconomist
Robbie Lockie of Plant Based News and Elysabeth Alfano of Vegconomist joined us to discuss how plant-based media brands are playing a role in the plant-based revolution we find ourselves in today. In addition, both shared their entrepreneurial journeys with us and provided actionable advice for entrepreneurs looking to build the next big media brand!
Reinventing the Snack with Corey Nobile of Impact Snacks, Courtney Boyd Myers of Akua, and Daniel Karsevar of PlantBased Solutions
Courtney Boyd Myers of Akua and Corey Nobile of Impact Snacks are changing the snack game. During this conversation we learned how they are not just focused on creating great tasting plant-based snacks, but also how they are making their supply chains as sustainable as possible. Did you know that Impact Snacks has a 250% carbon negative supply chain?
The Future of Food with Aylon Steinhart of Eclipse Foods, Gregory Struck of Noops/Hungryroot and Bernat Ananos of Heura Foods
Greg, Bernat, and Aylon are all seasoned entrepreneurs with impactful food startups (Bernat’s Heura Foods was named Europe’s fastest growing startup in 2019). This session was insightful because all three had interesting backstories: Aylon used to work at GFI and Greg co-founded Hungryroot. A great session with a particular focus on advice for founders looking to get into the vegan food space!
Founder Q+A: Seth Tibbott of Tofurky
Seth is a legend. From living in a treehouse to starting one of the most successful family owned plant-based meat companies. Seth shared with us the importance of resilience and resourcefulness. Did you know that Seth didn’t take a salary for several years while building Tofurky?
Vegan Materials: The Next Frontier with Stephanie Downs of Material Innovation Initiative
Stephanie shared with us the work she is doing at Material Innovation Initiative. She emphasized the much needed work and opportunity in the plant-based fashion world. Surprisingly, there is a lot of white space just waiting to be taken advantage of by entrepreneurs. Did you know that many animals are raised solely for fashion? Or did you know that the silk worm is one of the most exploited animals for fashion?
The Future of Farming with Tinia Pina of Re-Nuble, Mary Wetherill of Green Food Solutions, and Nate Littlewood of Urban Leaf
Too often is farming overlooked when it comes to building a sustainable plant-based food system. Plant farming plays a crucial role in helping us transform the food system. Tinia, Nate, and Mary shared the incredible work they are doing to make fresh-grown foods available to consumers everywhere!
Founder Q+A: Jenefer Palmer of OSEA Malibu
In this conversation, we got a chance to hear from the influential founder of OSEA Malibu. Jenefer and her team are doing tremendous amounts of work disrupting the traditional beauty space by focusing on natural, non-animal ingredients as well as advocating for safe beauty ingredients.
How To Start A Restaurant with Rachel Hugh of The Vurger Co.
If you’re looking to meet a restauranteur who opened a restaurant during a global pandemic, Rachel is the one. From getting an investment from a prince to growing her business during Covid-19, this session was truly insightful.
What Investors Look For In Companies and Founders with Andrew Ive of Big Idea Ventures. Albrecht Wolfmeyer of ProVeg Incubator, and Roger Lienhard of Blue Horizon Ventures
Andrew, Albrecht, and Roger have a their fingers on the pulse of the vegan economy. They have collectively invested millions of dollars into the biggest brands of today, including Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Good Catch. During this session we discussed why we don’t need another plant-based burger or almond milk company, and what you might want to consider building instead!
Building A Subscription Box Business with Dr. Runa Gupta and Ashish Gupta of VeganCuts
Runa and Ashish have made it easy for young brands to get discovered by consumers. During this session, they opened their playbook for anyone to discover how to build a subscription box business. Their insight and founding story is sure to inspire founders!
Social Media and Influencers' Role In Popularizing Sustainable Brands with Berto Calkins and Allison Carol
If you’ve never really understood how you can work with influencers to grow your business, Berto and Allison are here to help. During their conversation, they discussed what they do, why they do it, and how you can work with them as a business owner to grow your reach. There were tons of goodies in this session!
Founder Q+A: Marc Oshima of AeroFarms moderated by Electra Jarvis of Green Food Solutions
Marc and his team have built one of the largest and most successful vertical farm businesses in the world. This conversation touches upon everything from Marc’s entrepreneurial journey, how AeroFarms came to be, and the future he sees for sustainable farming!
Startup Pitch Off
Investors Heather Courtney of Alwyn Capital, Amy Trakinski of VegInvest, and Claire Smith of Beyond Investing joined us to give feedback to some of the most promising up-and-coming companies of our day. The founders of Fabalish, Plantcraft, The Wild Curl, and Miiro pitched for the chance to win the audience choice prize. David Benzaquen of Plantcraft ended up taking home the audience choice award by 41% of the vote. Congrats!
Workshop: How to Design a Greenhouse or Vertical Farm from Your Home Computer with Henry Gordon-Smith of Agritecture
Henry Gordon-Smith of Agritecture made building a vertical farm seem as easy as building IKEA furniture. His insightful presentation broke down the complexities of running your own farm from your home computer.
Founder Q+A: Miyoko Schinner of Miyoko’s Creamery
In this session, Miyoko Schinner shared her story. From launching several failed businesses to taking on the state of California over labeling issues, Miyoko has done it all. This conversation was jam-packed with actionable advice and insight for founders and investors alike. To sum it up, Miyoko shared that she believes entrepreneurship to be "the most effective platform for activism” and that "if your business aims to help animals, that you have a moral obligation to launch that business!”.
The Future of Sustainable Fashion with Sandra Capponi of Good On You and Erica + Sara Kubersky of MooShoes
To close out the first ever VEGPRENEUR Summit, we had the inspiring founders of MooShoes and Good On You discuss the future of sustainable fashion. We covered consumer trends, surviving during a pandemic, and competing with bigger brands. Erica, Sara, and Sandra shared their entrepreneurial journeys and made the case that the future of fashion is plant-based.