I started my career as an activist back when I was in college. Even though I was studying Engineering and doing research in quantum computation, I didn’t continue my research and engineering field after my graduation. Instead, I moved into social activism, social entrepreneurship, and impact investing. I spent almost a decade in impact investing and venture capital in emerging markets like India and SEA.
Being a vegan for ethical reasons always made me think - is there a better way to scale the vegan cause by not preaching to people but giving them genuine non-meat alternatives to meaty taste, juiciness, and texture of real meat?
This curiosity led me to discover Claire Smith, whom I first came across probably 3-4 years ago. I was impressed in short - investing in ventures with a focused investment thesis of the animal-free economy. Not many people put money to work to eliminate animals from our plates, and our clothes like Claire was doing with her work with Beyond Impact VC. So, I stayed in touch with her since then, hoping I would be able to do the same one day - put money to work to eliminate suffering.
I wrote an SDG 18 Zero Animal Exploitation piece inspired by Claire’s work with Beyond Cruelty Foundation, which calls for the United Nations to add Zero Animal Exploitation as the 18th Sustainable Development Goal to its objectives.
Why is the title of this post Beyond Impact?
Simple, the fund name is Beyond Impact, and in a literal sense, it is beyond Impact investing of any kind I know. Because if we cut animals from our diet and lifestyle, we not only reduce animal suffering, but we also save the planet earth and improve the health of human beings.
Investing in animal-free ventures is the best way to create a long-lasting impact on people, the planet, gender, and animals. Still, I see very few mainstream impact investors and climate-tech investors are talking about this. The space saw so much interest because of consumer demand, which is growing exponentially for various reasons - ethical, spiritual, health, and environmental.
Very recently, we have successfully launched the second Beyond Impact VC with the first close of nearly USD$25 million. This time, I will be working closely with Claire to build Beyond Impact with my incredible team of partners, who have more experience than me in every way possible - Tyler Mayoras, Hanna Yael Gabbay, and Diane Freymond.
With Beyond Impact, we are keeping the impact on people, the planet, and animals as core investment screening criteria apart from financial returns. We believe this makes us more resilient to changing times. We also believe climate change disproportionately impacts women and minorities. Also, we take the additional effort of actively seeking gender and racial diversity at the team/founder level across the portfolio.
At Beyond Impact, we seek companies accelerating the transition to a kinder, cleaner, healthier world. We don’t invest in anything that harms the planet, people, especially animals, including insects, so we don’t even look at insect protein.
We invest across the board - from alternative proteins to alternative materials and animal testing alternatives.
Alternate Protein - Plant-based, Fermentation, and Cultured
Cruelty-free products - personal and self-care products
Animal testing alternatives
Alternative Materials - Plant-based, Fermentation, and Cultured
Investments till date:
If you are building an animal-free venture and feel aligned with the mission of Beyond Impact VC, we would like to join the ride with you by providing not just capital but also our experience as operators and impact investors. Drop me an email at sagar@beyondimpact.vc or fill out this simple form:
To learn more about our work, visit our website - beyondimpact.vc.