We are excited to highlight Maisie Ganzler, another one of our incredible #mentors! Maisie came to Plug and Play this fall, bringing an array of knowledge to our ecosystem. During her 30-year tenure at Bon Appétit Management Company, she drove #strategy, tackling topics including (but not limited to) local purchasing, antibiotics in meat production, sustainable seafood, climate change, and food waste. Her work positioned the company as the food service industry’s undisputed leader in sustainable purchasing and holistic wellness. Her knowledge spans various industries, offering our startups numerous perspectives, and her enthusiasm for innovation is truly infectious. Maisie, we are so thankful to have you as part of our mentor team!
Plug and Play Food & Beverage
Investment Management
Sunnyvale, California 2,282 followers
Commercializing the food of the future
About us
Plug and Play Food & Beverage is the ultimate innovation platform, focusing on the technology behind farm-to-table processes and innovations. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we help fast-track some of the world’s largest food and agricultural institutions to reach new heights in the industry. Our focus areas include: Personalized Nutrition, Food Freshness & Safety, Automation, Functional Foods, Protein & Ingredient Alternatives, Asset Tracking, Distribution, and Waste Reduction.
- Website
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https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/industries/food-and-beverage
External link for Plug and Play Food & Beverage
- Industry
- Investment Management
- Company size
- 501-1,000 employees
- Headquarters
- Sunnyvale, California
- Founded
- 2015
- Specialties
- Ag tech, Ingredients innovation, Food supply chain, CPG, Food Tech, Livestock Tech, Food & Bev, Innovation, Early stage investment, open innovation, corporate innovation, venture capital, and accelerator program
Updates
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Dominic Jeong, PhD, CEO of Simple Planet, has been inaugurated as the first chairman of the Bio Future Food Association. The Association plans to serve as a communication channel with relevant government agencies, hold regular seminars, build a global network, and promote cooperation programs among member companies. Dominic says: "The Association has been launched to unite the efforts of bio-future food companies, promote cooperation, and devise countermeasures to enhance global competitiveness in response to the rapidly growing global cultured meat market.” Read more about the Association and Dominic's role in the link below. https://lnkd.in/gE8PaXPf
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Listen to alumni batch startup Cultivated Biosciences discuss funding in the Food industry! We love to see our batch startups showcasing their achievements and sharing tips and tricks with the industry. https://lnkd.in/ggQ4BVvW
🎤 Valley partner Cultivated Biosciences talks about 'How to Get Funded in 2024' on the Investment Climate Podcast 💰 CEO & Co-founder Tomas Turner chatted with Alex Shandrovsky about the fundraising process and the strategy they used to raise over $6 million to create creamy emulsions from yeast-grown fats as a B2B ingredient for dairy-free alternatives. ☕️🎧 Grab a coffee and find out what he said here: https://lnkd.in/eicXi888 #Switzerland #foodinnovation #climatetech #podcast #foodtechinvestment vegconomist - the vegan business magazine
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This week we are highlighting Tyrone Jue 🌎 Jue, another treasured mentor for our batch startups! Tyrone was appointed Director of the San Francisco Environment Department (SF Environment) in 2023 after serving as the Department’s Acting Director for over a year. As Director, Tyrone leads a team of 100 to advance SF's climate action, environmental justice, and sustainability policies. He is responsible for implementing the City’s ambitious 2021 Climate Action Plan, which aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 and enhance the City’s resilience, public health, economic recovery, and racial and social equity. Thanks for joining our growing mentor team, Tyrone -- your experience and wisdom in the industry is so valued!
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Alumni batch startup Minus: A Compound Foods Company is adding to their list of achievements! Congrats on the On Deck Top companies feature! https://lnkd.in/gsZdQvaG
Thrilled to have been featured on On Deck Top Companies of 2024! 🎉 We are on a mission to inspire change for people and the planet, and we are doing that through coffee minus the beans! ☕🌍 Check out the full list here: https://lnkd.in/eZck-Amj #ClimateAction #CoffeeMinusTheBeans #TopCompanies2024 #OnDeck
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🤝 Meet one of our mentors, Matt Johnson! Matt is the CEO of LAIIER, which has developed a suite of ultra-thin printed sensors which connect the surfaces of the smart building to the cloud. Throughout Matt's tenure as a Plug and Play mentor, he has provided keen insights and advice to our startups, helping them address key business issues and find solutions. Matt also hosts a highly-rated workshop where he helps startups navigate paid pilots and PoCs. 👏 We appreciate your contributions, Matt! Thank you for always bringing your passion to all the mentor sessions and workshops!
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A great overview of how the gut microbiome is affected by nutrition! Read more about how specific diets can promote positive health outcomes. https://lnkd.in/ggU8mJ_W
#Diet, #gut #microbiota and #sport #performance: moving towards #personalized #nutrition Diet is undoubtedly the main determinant of the gut microbiota composition in humans, shaping more than 60% of the whole microbiome. With the advances in “omics” and data analysis, #personalized #nutrition has gradually become a certainty. 🎯 Beyond food, #precision #probiotics may help in boosting performance and promoting health. An example? 💊 The gut microbiota contributes to the absorption and utilization of proteins, muscle growth and metabolism. Co-administration of #Bacillus #coagulans (GBI-30,6086) with #protein reduced the inflammation of epithelial cells, improved nutrient absorption and amino acid uptake, finally attenuating muscle damage and facilitating muscle recovery [https://lnkd.in/drkfeUAm]. Let’s focus on some key diets and their effects on gut microbiota’s modulation: 🍽 ✨ #Ketogenic #Diet (KD): It leads to decreased levels of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacilli and increased Fusobacteria and Escherichia, due to the high release of #ketone #bodies, as beta-hydroxy butyrate. While #saturated #fats increase the abundance of LPS-carrying bacteria, as Bilophila wadsworthia, facilitating the immune cell infiltration, polyunsaturated (#omega3) promote GI integrity and higher abundance of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacilli, and Akkermansia muciniphila. ✨ #Plant-#Based #Diet: In a study on 258 participants following different diets, the ones in the #western #diet group reported the lowest abundance of Bacteroides, Lachnospiraceae and Butyricoccus, while the #vegan group showed the highest abundance [https://lnkd.in/dy6TSTSK]. Beyond dietary fibers and SCFA release, #anthocyanins play a fundamental role in muscle metabolism, eliciting antioxidant protection and mitochondrial biogenesis, but their absorption and bioactivity strictly depend on bacterial enzymes in the colon. ✨ #High-#Protein #Diet: Amino acids may be converted into branched-chain fatty acids and SCFAs, ammonia, sulfides, indole, and phenolic compounds via the gut microbiota. Excessive protein intake, as in bodybuilders, risk to increase the abundance of protein-fermenting bacteria such as Clostridium, Bacillus, Staphylococcus, while decreasing carbohydrate-fermenting bacteria such as Prevotella, Roseburia, and Faecalibacterium. ✨ #Mediterranean #diet (MD): It not only increases the gut microbiota diversity, but also facilitates the release of SCFAs due to the prevalence of plant-based food. Previous research reported a positive association between the MD and Prevotella, while according to Griffiths et al., this diet might have positive effects on oxidative stress, inflammation, injury, illness risk, cognitive and vascular function in competitive athletes [https://lnkd.in/devtgYc2]. If it's true that "one does not fit all", which is the best intervention for you? LINK: https://lnkd.in/d8SuF_4C www.minutia.ai
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Voyage Foods has been selected to take part in the Unreasonable Food Fellowship! We are excited to watch Voyage Foods continue to make an impact on global food systems! https://lnkd.in/gjpu85r4
We are excited to welcome 14 new ventures to the Unreasonable Food program! These innovators are leading the charge in transforming our food system for a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. Meet the Fellows: ▪ Mike Zelkind (80 Acres Farms) ▪ Agam K. (Absolute®) ▪ Lisa Dyson, PhD (Air Protein) ▪ Alloysius Attah (Farmerline Group) ▪ Dan Rooney, PhD (LandScan) ▪ Sea F. Briganti (LOLIWARE Inc.) ▪ Alan Hahn (MycoTechnology, Inc.) ▪ Nicolas Pinkowski (Nitricity) ▪ Anastasia Volkova, PhD (Regrow Ag) ▪ Sam Elsom (Sea Forest) ▪ Vinod Kumar (String Bio Private Limited) ▪ Adam Maxwell (Voyage Foods) ▪ Alexandra French (Xampla) ▪ Chris Tolles (Yard Stick PBC) These ventures represent a diverse range of solutions and technologies, all with the common goal of building a better food future for everyone. Unreasonable Food, a collaboration between Unreasonable and Mars, is committed to empowering these entrepreneurs with the resources, mentorship, and network they need to scale their impact. Together, we're fostering a thriving ecosystem of food system innovators. Discover more about these inspiring entrepreneurs and their innovative work on the Unreasonable Food website: https://lnkd.in/gTm7bJUd
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Last Thursday, the Food and Beverage at Plug and Play Silicon Valley hosted an #AI meetup. Three startups showcased their groundbreaking AI technologies working to create more sustainable and efficient food systems after Valeria Cobos gave an insightful trends presentation on the AI landscape in the Food and Beverage industry. Check out the startups below! Fountain9 (YC W21): Offering predictive inventory planning and optimization software for e-commerce, DTC, and retail companies. Innit: Personalized food intelligence that provides actionable assistance across the entire food journey. Agtools Inc.: A dashboard platform for agribusiness operators. Their proprietary award-winning supply chain technology increases profitability while reducing food supply chain waste through more informed decisions. Thank you for joining us!
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🤝 Meet one of our mentors, Shadia Oshodi! Shadia has over 15 years of experience in developing and commercializing biotech innovations ranging from therapeutics to biomaterials and food ingredients. Prior to founding her current device venture, Shadia led Biotech & AgTech Open Innovation for the Americas at Ferrero Group for 3 years. In that role, she identified and partnered with start-ups and institutions to develop new technological approaches to solving food/agtech challenges and unlock opportunities for next-gen product development. 👏 Shadia brings her invaluable experience to help startups navigate relationships with partners, create strong value propositions, and better understand their B2B business development strategy. Shadia, thank you for your ongoing support to our batch programs.
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