Investor directory

Lever VC

Lever VC is a U.S.-Hong Kong venture capital fund founded by Managing Partner Nick Cooney and investing in early stage companies in the alternative protein sector (plant-based and “clean”/cell-based meat, egg and dairy companies). Lever VC operates globally, with offices in Hong Kong and the U.S. and staff in the US, Hong Kong, Europe, and Israel. Entrepreneurs and startups interested in connecting with Lever VC about possible investment can reach the team and submit information about their company at http://www.levervc.com. Managing Partner Nick Cooney is the Co-Founder and former Managing Trustee of New Crop Capital, a private venture capital trust vehicle investing in the alternative protein space, and is Co-Founder of the Good Food Institute, the world’s largest non-governmental organization working to grow the alternative protein space. The General Partners at Lever VC have deployed over $1.5 billion in capital over the past decade across a variety of sectors, including over thirty deals in the alternative protein space.

Focus

Seed RoundOrganic FoodSeries AFood ProcessingEarly VentureShow more
http://www.levervc.com
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https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/company.aspx?companyId=614987232

Lawrence Chu

Partner

Yuk Lun Leung

Partner

48 past transactions

Marvelous Foods

Seed Round in 2019
Marvelous Foods was created in Beijing, China to address needs for gut-healing and allergy-friendly foods.

Good Food Technologies

Seed Round in 2022
Good Food Technologies is a Hong Kong-based startup focused on innovative food R&D and manufacturing.

Blackbird Foods

Seed Round in 2021
Blackbird Foods is a manufacturer of plant-based foods.

Avant Meats

Venture Round in 2022
They focus on technology, commercial product innovation, and branding as well as intellectual property portfolio building in the area of ‘cell-based’ animal protein food products.

Avant Meats

Seed Round in 2019
They focus on technology, commercial product innovation, and branding as well as intellectual property portfolio building in the area of ‘cell-based’ animal protein food products.

NuCicer

Seed Round in 2022
NuCicer is a crop genetics company pioneering ultra-high protein varieties of chickpea. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Davis, California.

Mooji Meats

Seed Round in 2022
Mooji Meats is developing Meat 2.0, the next generation of ethical and sustainable meat.

Good PLANeT Foods

Private Placement in 2020
Our Mission is to do GOOD and be GOOD for YOU and the PLANeT. In everything! When we say everything we mean it. We strive to create value in our relationships, customer interactions, and innovative products. We are constantly on a quest to find new ways to do GOOD and be better. We live and breathe our mission every day, as a brand, company, and individuals. Our mission is more than a statement, it is a lifestyle.

Marvelous Foods

Seed Round in 2021
Marvelous Foods was created in Beijing, China to address needs for gut-healing and allergy-friendly foods.

Bond Pets LLC

Private Placement in 2019
Bond Pets LLC manufactures pet food products from real animal protein. The company grows animal proteins through fermentation, harvests them to meet the nutrition requirements of companion animals, and uses ingredients to produce pet nutrition and food products. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Nederland, Colorado.

The Better Meat Co.

Private Placement in 2020
The Better Meat Co. makes plant-based proteins that foodservice providers and meat companies can seamlessly blend directly into ground meat. Their products improve taste and texture; reduce calories, saturated fat, and cholesterol; and improve the environmental footprint of ground meat products, all in a cost-competitive way. The Better Meat Co. is founded in 2018 by Joanna Bromley and Paul Shapiro and is based in Sacramento, California.

Bond Pet Foods

Convertible Note in 2020
Bond Pet Foods makes pet food from real animal protein, without the animal by working with biotechnology. Bond Pet Foods develops meat proteins obtained from animal cells (no slaughter required) and natural microbes. It is fed a nutrient-rich broth of vitamins, sugars, and minerals in fermentation tanks, without the pharmaceuticals. Bond Pet Foods was founded on 2015 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.

The Better Meat Co.

Seed Round in 2020
The Better Meat Co. makes plant-based proteins that foodservice providers and meat companies can seamlessly blend directly into ground meat. Their products improve taste and texture; reduce calories, saturated fat, and cholesterol; and improve the environmental footprint of ground meat products, all in a cost-competitive way. The Better Meat Co. is founded in 2018 by Joanna Bromley and Paul Shapiro and is based in Sacramento, California.

The Good Spoon

Private Placement in 2019
The Good Spoon Co manufactures and distributes gourmet eggless sauces and plant-based mayos made using microalgae or microscopic seaweed condiments. The company’s products include Supernaise, Garlinaise, Currynaise, and Spicynaise sauces. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

Bond Pets LLC

Private Placement in 2020
Bond Pets LLC manufactures pet food products from real animal protein. The company grows animal proteins through fermentation, harvests them to meet the nutrition requirements of companion animals, and uses ingredients to produce pet nutrition and food products. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Nederland, Colorado.

Good PLANeT Foods

Seed Round in 2019
Our Mission is to do GOOD and be GOOD for YOU and the PLANeT. In everything! When we say everything we mean it. We strive to create value in our relationships, customer interactions, and innovative products. We are constantly on a quest to find new ways to do GOOD and be better. We live and breathe our mission every day, as a brand, company, and individuals. Our mission is more than a statement, it is a lifestyle.

CellX Limited

Private Placement in 2020
CellX Limited, a cellular agriculture company, produces cell based pork and seafood products. It produces meat products using tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting technologies. CellX Limited was founded in 2020 and is based in China.

Clever Carnivore

Seed Round in 2023
Clever Carnivore is cell-cultured meat startup that uses stem cell biology, recombinant protein, and bioengineering to create cost-effective lab grown meats. With the company's high-efficiency model, cruelty-free, environmentally friendly, and cost-competitive technology it aims to produce sausage, burgers, and chicken nuggets.

THIS

Series B in 2023
THIS is a plant-based meat brand that provides alternative meat products for meat lovers. The company's products are made of plant-based ingredients that are fortified with vitamin B12 and iron, enabling meat lovers to get the real feel of having meat-based products and satisfy their tastes without killing animals.

Marvelous Foods

Angel Round in 2022
Marvelous Foods was created in Beijing, China to address needs for gut-healing and allergy-friendly foods.

GROUNDED

Seed Round in 2022
Grounded is a food and beverage company that manufactures healthy natural drinks. Its drinks make everyday functional products natural by using only raw ingredients straight from nature. It was founded in 2016 and is based in London, England.

Good PLANeT Foods

Series A in 2020
Our Mission is to do GOOD and be GOOD for YOU and the PLANeT. In everything! When we say everything we mean it. We strive to create value in our relationships, customer interactions, and innovative products. We are constantly on a quest to find new ways to do GOOD and be better. We live and breathe our mission every day, as a brand, company, and individuals. Our mission is more than a statement, it is a lifestyle.

GROUNDED

Seed Round in 2020
Grounded is a food and beverage company that manufactures healthy natural drinks. Its drinks make everyday functional products natural by using only raw ingredients straight from nature. It was founded in 2016 and is based in London, England.

Welldone

Series A in 2021
WE MAKE DELICIOUS, NUTRITIOUS AND AFFORDABLE PLANT-BASED MEAT. AND WE ARE GOING WELL. Plant-based meat producer leveraging strong R&D and sourcing in Russia. We are building brand #1 in country to cater plant-based meat to 140+ mln people and to expand abroad. Targeting to reach price parity with meat in 2022 to address the wider consumer audience.

Nude

Series A in 2022
Nude is a food tech that develops its food using oats from small producers. Hey Nude is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and targets, is 100% plant-based, and is led by women. It innovates by focusing on flavor and nature.

Melt&Marble

Seed Round in 2022
Producer of fats for plant-based foods intended to provide the tastiest fats. The company creates yeast cell factories through bioengineering technology that can dictate the structure and properties of the fats that microbes are producing, enabling producers and food manufacturers to make plant-based foods just as juicy and delicious as animal-based foods.

THIS

Series A in 2021
THIS is a plant-based meat brand that provides alternative meat products for meat lovers. The company's products are made of plant-based ingredients that are fortified with vitamin B12 and iron, enabling meat lovers to get the real feel of having meat-based products and satisfy their tastes without killing animals.

Mission Barns

Series A in 2021
Mission Barns is making the juicy, savory meats they all love in a sustainable, more efficient way. At Mission Barns, they are cultivating animal cells to sustainably grow meat without the negative impacts of intensive animal agriculture. They start with a handful of cells from select animals, grow them in a nutrient-rich environment, and harvest delicious, savory meat. Working at the convergence of biotech and food science, they’re on the path to creating a more sensible food system for the world.

Hero Protein

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Hero Protein operates as an alternative protein company. Hero Protein produces juicy, delicious meat from plants.

Mission Barns

Seed Round in 2019
Mission Barns is making the juicy, savory meats they all love in a sustainable, more efficient way. At Mission Barns, they are cultivating animal cells to sustainably grow meat without the negative impacts of intensive animal agriculture. They start with a handful of cells from select animals, grow them in a nutrient-rich environment, and harvest delicious, savory meat. Working at the convergence of biotech and food science, they’re on the path to creating a more sensible food system for the world.

Bond Pet Foods

Seed Round in 2019
Bond Pet Foods makes pet food from real animal protein, without the animal by working with biotechnology. Bond Pet Foods develops meat proteins obtained from animal cells (no slaughter required) and natural microbes. It is fed a nutrient-rich broth of vitamins, sugars, and minerals in fermentation tanks, without the pharmaceuticals. Bond Pet Foods was founded on 2015 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.

TurtleTree

Pre Seed Round in 2020
TurtleTree Labs is a startup addressing the value gap created by an insufficient and unsustainable animal-based dairy industry. It has created patent-protected technologies to make full-composition, full-functionality, full-flavor milk referencing humanely selected dairy cow cells then mimicking the natural process of milk production in the lab, essentially making real milk without the pollution, inefficient use of land, water and energy (natural resources), pathogen and disease risk, and tangled regulatory politics. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Singapore.

Avant Meats

Seed Round in 2020
They focus on technology, commercial product innovation, and branding as well as intellectual property portfolio building in the area of ‘cell-based’ animal protein food products.

Avant Meats

Private Placement in 2020
They focus on technology, commercial product innovation, and branding as well as intellectual property portfolio building in the area of ‘cell-based’ animal protein food products.

The Good Spoon

Seed Round in 2019
The Good Spoon Co manufactures and distributes gourmet eggless sauces and plant-based mayos made using microalgae or microscopic seaweed condiments. The company’s products include Supernaise, Garlinaise, Currynaise, and Spicynaise sauces. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

NuCicer

Seed Round in 2022
NuCicer is a crop genetics company pioneering ultra-high protein varieties of chickpea. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Davis, California.

HerdDogg

Series A in 2023
HerdDogg, Inc. develops real-time, remote livestock monitoring system for tracing livestock for livestock producers. The company provides HerdDogg a mobile app and software platform that provides breeding, animal health tracking, and traceability insights on individual animals using DoggTag tags that are attached to the ears of the herd animal and DoggBone, a passive device that collects herd data from the tags about the activity, health, and location of each animal. The company’s HerdDogg is used by various livestock industries, such as beef, bison, dairy, and sheep. HerdDogg, Inc. was formerly known as Rogue Rovers, Inc. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Ashland, Oregon.

HerdDogg

Series A in 2024
HerdDogg, Inc. develops real-time, remote livestock monitoring system for tracing livestock for livestock producers. The company provides HerdDogg a mobile app and software platform that provides breeding, animal health tracking, and traceability insights on individual animals using DoggTag tags that are attached to the ears of the herd animal and DoggBone, a passive device that collects herd data from the tags about the activity, health, and location of each animal. The company’s HerdDogg is used by various livestock industries, such as beef, bison, dairy, and sheep. HerdDogg, Inc. was formerly known as Rogue Rovers, Inc. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Ashland, Oregon.