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Nick Cooney is Founder and Managing Partner at Lever VC, a venture capital fund with…
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Nick Cooney shared thisLever VC is hiring! Interested in your next career step in venture capital? We are recruiting for an Associate or Senior Associate to support our investment work across Food and AgTech. This is (ideally) a hybrid role working part of each week out of our New York City office. https://lnkd.in/gC9eXcY5
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Nick Cooney shared thisThis won't be in major media headlines but is a major event for the pet food sector and for alternative proteins. For the first time, real meat protein produced via fermentation (already being produced by Bond Pet Foods at the ton-level and at very modest cost) has been approved for sale in the U.S. Equally big: Hill's Pet Nutrition, the world's fourth-largest pet food company, will be launching products with this brewed lamb protein into the market in the near future.Nick Cooney shared thisToday marks a major milestone for Bond Pet Foods and the future of pet nutrition. We’re proud to announce that Bond has received an FDA-CVM Letter of No Objection for our Brewed Lamb Protein ingredient (labeled as Lamb Protein Yeast), developed in collaboration with Hill's Pet Nutrition. This milestone follows years of collaborative development, including a six-month longitudinal feeding study in healthy adult dogs supporting the ingredient’s safety and nutritional performance as part of Bond’s FDA-reviewed GRAS submission. Our Brewed Lamb Protein is produced using precision fermentation — a proven technology long used to make ingredients like enzymes and vitamins — and delivers a complete amino acid profile with nutritional benefits comparable to traditional animal proteins. More importantly, we believe this approach can help create a more sustainable, scalable and resilient future for pet food. This is just the beginning. As we move toward commercialization with Hill’s, we’re also continuing to expand the Bond platform through additional regulatory work, feline nutrition applications and future protein development. We’re deeply grateful to our team, partners, investors and broader community who helped make this milestone possible. Read the full announcement here: https://bit.ly/Lamb_FDAHill's Pet Nutrition and Bond Pet Foods Receive FDA No-Objection Letter for First Animal Protein Produced via Precision Fermentation for Pet FoodHill's Pet Nutrition and Bond Pet Foods Receive FDA No-Objection Letter for First Animal Protein Produced via Precision Fermentation for Pet Food
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Nick Cooney reposted thisNick Cooney reposted thisBig news from Tiba Tempeh 🚀 We're launching Protein Bites, the UK's first chilled on-the-go snack to combine high protein, high fibre and 100% natural ingredients. Hitting shelves 6th May. Our mission has always been simple: to help people eat better. And snacking is where that's hardest. Too many on-the-go options are ultra-processed, full of artificial ingredients and short on real nutrition. People have been wanting better for years. So we created it. Made from whole-bean tempeh, Protein Bites pack 20g of protein per 100g, comparable to chicken, but high in fibre and gut-friendly too. 100% natural ingredients, low in saturated fat and seriously delicious. We're raising the bar in chilled snacking. For busy professionals, fitness enthusiasts and families. Anyone wanting a nutrient-dense snack without the empty calories, that actually tastes great. Two flavours, Roasted and Southern Style. Two formats, a 60g grab-and-go bag and a 45g food-to-go bag. Grab-and-go launches in Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado from 6th May 🙌 A huge thanks to our incredible team and retail partners for landing these on shelves. And a big thanks to Grace Duncan and The Grocer for yesterday's write-up. Link in the comments below. Alex Longton Phillipa Smith Rebecca Minchella (MacDermid) Ben Kay Sarah Topley Michael Vassallo James Caffyn Nick Cooney Paul Short Katherine Hardwick Stevie Wareing Neil Brealey Jacob Burnley Emily Quinn Steve Matthews Laura Tudor Libby Ball Lucy Silver Josie Tremlett Sophie Roberts Christopher Blake
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Nick Cooney shared thisKudos to Lever VC portfolio company The Better Meat Co. for persevering in a very tough environment and closing a big oversubscribed round to advance its low-cost, healthy, b2b meat ingredient alternative: https://lnkd.in/exjuNbziBetter Meat Co raises $31m Series A: ‘Some days, building a startup in our sector can feel like being a player in Squid Game’Better Meat Co raises $31m Series A: ‘Some days, building a startup in our sector can feel like being a player in Squid Game’
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Nick Cooney shared thisToday, for the first time in history, you can walk into a mainstream grocery store and buy real meat produced by cell cultivation instead of an animal raised and killed for food. While supply is of course extremely limited at the moment (it's available at one location of Sprouts, a 400-store US grocery chain), this is a serious milestone being crossed in the use of scientific progress to develop a safer, healthier, more sustainable, and more humane food system. Kudos to Mission Barns , which Lever VC is proud to have supported since its Seed investment round back in 2019.Nick Cooney shared thisWho’s ready to eat some meatballs? 🚨 It’s official: Mission Barns has received USDA clearance! 🚨 Following our historic FDA clearance earlier this year, we’re proud to share that Mission Barns is now the first cell-cultivated pork and fat company in the world to receive both FDA and USDA approval. Read TechCrunch’s breaking story here: https://lnkd.in/gmqqUJfh You’ve helped showing the world there’s a better way to enjoy meat; and we’ve been listening. What does this mean for you? It means you’re part of making history. You asked for something better; and now it’s here. Are you ready? We hope you’re hungry. Coming up: 🛒 Catch us at Sprouts Oakland, in the meat aisle with limited quantity. 🍝 Book a table at Fiorella Sunset in San Francisco Want to know when, where, and who’s coming? Sign up here and be the first to know👉 http://eepurl.com/i-gx2o You’ve been with us on this journey, asking for better, tastier, more sustainable options. Now, together, we’re changing the way the world eats: starting with you.
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Nick Cooney shared thisThree years ago The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and others published lengthy stories about a study suggesting cultivated meat could not be economically viable, primarily because the cost of growth media—the feedstock used to grow cultivated meat—would never be able to reach the $1/liter mark needed for economic viability. Today Lever VC cultivated meat portfolio company Clever Carnivore shared publicly for the first time that they have quietly been producing media at a cost of $0.07/liter...for the past two years. This is the yawning gap that can exist between incredible advancements going on behind the scenes (that investors like Lever are privy to) and the media narrative on a particular topic. It also the 10,000th reminder that skeptics who claim "emerging technology X will never be affordable enough to succeed" are often wildly off-base. And for those who are concerned about the political backdrop, it's worth noting that the FDA has issued as many new regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of cultivated meat in the first five months of the Trump administration as it did in the entire four years of the Biden administration. The exact timeline for meaningful market penetration of cultivated meat, and the rate of corporate and consumer uptake, are unknowns that we will only get answers to in time. But affordable cultivated meat is coming. https://lnkd.in/d2GG7KpQExclusive: Clever Carnivore Plans 2026 Cultivated Pork Launch with FOAK $0.07/L Media CostExclusive: Clever Carnivore Plans 2026 Cultivated Pork Launch with FOAK $0.07/L Media Cost
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Nick Cooney shared thisIf you like chocolate bars but try to eat healthy (and live in the U.S.) you have got to try these: https://harkensweets.com/ . Our team at Lever VC was super-impressed with both how good they are and the lightning-fast growth of the brand, and see Harken Sweets as the Poppi/Olipop of the chocolate bar space. Excited to now be partnered with them as an investor. (Cool backstory on founder Katie Lefkowitz and why she started the company here: https://lnkd.in/e55PJSnR )
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Nick Cooney shared thisSO...you've founded a high-impact company and are on the way to (or already had) a great exit. What next? I share my thoughts on how founders can have a lasting impact after exit in this guest piece for ProteinReport.org https://lnkd.in/eeQZHZ-gAfter Exit: How Food Tech Founders Can Maximize Their ImpactAfter Exit: How Food Tech Founders Can Maximize Their Impact
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Nick Cooney shared thisReally enjoyed this in-depth discussion with Adam Yee and his My Food Job Rocks podcast on the food tech space, my new book What We Don't Do, and what does and doesn't make for a happy life. https://lnkd.in/eEBBRTv5Living a Life of Action and Good with Nick Cooney, Managing Partner of LeverVC and Author of What We Don't DoLiving a Life of Action and Good with Nick Cooney, Managing Partner of LeverVC and Author of What We Don't Do
Nick Cooney replied to a comment
1y
Philipp Hämmerli for all cultivated meat companies it would be a) very similar nutritional profile to conventional meat with the ability to optimize from their (ie can dial down saturated fat, etc) ; and b) identical ingredient, albeit with a modifier attached for regulatory purposes (ex "cell-cultivated chicken" instead of "chicken")
Nick Cooney replied to a comment
1y
Benjamin Renquist can't share myself (company has to do that) but I can tell you it's at a very good cost per kg of cultivated cell mass (/protein)
Nick Cooney replied to a comment
1y
Nimi Vashi mainly the sort of progress outlined in the article on the key unit economics of cultivated meat production
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Nick Cooney liked thisNick Cooney liked thisI often ask this question in conversations with companies and peers in my network: why do timelines matter so much in animal welfare commitments? And I usually follow with a simple analogy. Would you allow a sales team to operate without a clear budget? Or set off on a journey without knowing how long it will take to reach the destination? I once heard a CEO say: “If we don’t set challenging targets, how can we drive real change?” Clear timelines do more than signal intent. They send a strong signal across the supply chain that change is expected. That is often when things start to move. Suppliers begin to invest, solutions emerge, and challenges that once felt difficult or even impossible start to become manageable. Of course, not all markets move at the same pace. Some regions and supply chains take longer to evolve. And constraints are real. But in most cases, they are not permanent, and many of the shifts we see today only happened because companies were willing to commit and work through those challenges over time. In practice, change happens when purchasing requirements become clearer, and when companies engage suppliers around a defined direction, with a clear timeframe. That clarity creates alignment and momentum. I know what you may be thinking: what about accountability and the risk of being criticised if change does not happen within the timeframe? I understand the hesitation. But avoiding timelines does not remove that exposure. In many cases, companies without clear commitments face the same level of scrutiny, while progress remains uncertain. At the same time, the cost of inaction is often overlooked. Without clear timelines, progress can stall, leaving companies exposed in a market where consumers are more aware and investors are increasingly focused on long-term resilience. So perhaps the question is not why timelines matter, but whether we are willing to use them to turn intention into measurable progress. Curious how others are approaching this balance in practice. #AnimalWelfare #SustainableSourcing #SupplyChain #FoodIndustry 👉Lever Foundation
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Nick Cooney liked thisNick Cooney liked thisI missed this: WE ARE EATING THE EARTH made The New Yorker's list of the best books of the year so far! https://lnkd.in/gsNPj_qZ
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Nick Cooney liked thisThank you Philippe Prochasson, Ph.D. for the nice words!Nick Cooney liked thisLooking for the right partner to scale your fermentation process? I highly recommend Boston Bioprocess, led by my former Motif colleague and good friend Michael Tai, PhD. Their team specializes in custom fermentation, separation, and downstream processing, with capabilities ranging from bench to 1,500 L scale! What sets them apart: - Integrated wet lab + AI data platform for process optimization - Deep expertise in challenging separations & protein stabilization - Proven track record of helping companies scale repeatable, cost-efficient fermentations So, if you’re developing precision fermentation ingredients, alternative proteins, or any biotech process that needs to scale fast and reliably, Boston Bioprocess should be on your radar. 👉 Happy to make a warm intro to Michael Tai - just reach out to me! #Bioprocess #fermentation #PrecisionFermentation #PrecisionProteins #Alternativeproteins #scaleup #pilotfermentation
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Nick Cooney reacted on thisNick Cooney reacted on thisCompanies often ask me: What exactly does Lever Foundation do, and is it really free to work with you? Yes. 100% free. We help food and hospitality brands make smarter, more responsible decisions around sourcing animal protein, decisions that meet stakeholder expectations, reduce risk, and add lasting value to sustainability strategies. I love this work because it sits right at the intersection of business, ethics, and innovation. And I’m lucky to do it with a team that supports companies every step of the way, from policy development to supplier engagement and staff training. This short video explains it better than I ever could. If you’re curious how this might apply to your company, I’m always happy to chat.
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Nick Cooney reacted on thisNick Cooney reacted on this→82 billion land animals are killed for food each year. But seafood far exceeds that: up to 2 trillion wild fish and 700 billion farmed fish and shrimp. And yet, we rarely talk about their welfare. When I began my work at Lever Foundation, I thought I had seafood sustainability figured out. Like many people, I trusted the packaging labels and the “responsibly sourced” claims on menus, assuming welfare was part of the package, just as it is today with cage-free eggs or higher-welfare chicken. But the deeper I looked, the more the picture changed. Take shrimp: on some farms, females have their eyestalks cut off to force reproduction. Or fish: mortality rates can reach up to 40% due to a lack of water quality control, parasites like sea lice literally eat them alive, and antibiotics are heavily used. In too many cases, slaughter still means being cut open or boiled while conscious. As a consumer, I never would have guessed. Most of the logos and standards we see focus only on the environment, leaving welfare out of the frame. That’s why I’m proud that Lever Foundation, together with seven respected global organizations, launched www.seafoodwelfare.org. It offers food companies, retailers, restaurants, and hospitality groups simple, science-based guidelines. The same kind of baseline that cage-free standards brought to eggs, or the Better Chicken Commitment brought to poultry. And the good news? Momentum is already building. Retailers and hospitality groups are beginning to use these guidelines to expand the progress they’ve already made with other animal proteins. →If you want to learn more or explore how your company can get involved, DM me. Lever Foundation’s support is free of cost, and we’re always happy to share insights, connect you with suppliers, and help with next steps. #SeafoodSustainability #AnimalWelfare #SustainableSourcing #FoodService #HospitalityIndustry #RetailSustainability #ESG
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