Speakers
Rahul Ray
Finance Director - Tyson Ventures
Andrew D. Ive
Founder - Big Idea Ventures
Andrew is the founder of Big Idea Ventures. Its purpose is to solve the world’s biggest challenges by supporting the world’s best entrepreneurs. Our first fund + accelerator (NY & Singapore) invests in plant-based foods and ingredients to impact climate change, animal welfare and personal health. Investors include Tyson Foods, Temasek and Buhler. Advisory Board member for Tufts Nutrition Council. Friedman School Entrepreneurship Advisor. Harvard Business School graduate, Procter & Gamble brand management trained.
Gil Shalev
Founder - Equinom
Tom Szaky
Founder & CEO - TerraCycle
Tom Szaky is founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams. TerraCycle operates in 20 countries, working with some of the world’s largest brands, retailers and manufacturers to create national platforms to recycle products and packaging that currently go to landfill or incineration.
In May 2019 TerraCycle launched Loop, a circular shopping platform that enables consumers to shop for household products in durable, reusable packaging. Loop is available in Paris, France, the UK and the 48 contiguous U.S. states, and is a key step in helping to end the epidemic of waste that is caused by ‘single- use’ consumption. In 2021, Loop will become available in Canada, Japan and Australia.
Tom and TerraCycle have received hundreds of social, environmental and business awards and recognition from a range of organizations including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, Schwab Foundation, Fortune Magazine, Time Magazine and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Tom is the author of four books, “Revolution in a Bottle” (2009), “Outsmart Waste” (2014), “Make Garbage Great” (2015) and “The Future of Packaging” (2019). Tom created, produced and starred in TerraCycle’s reality show, “Human Resources” which aired on Pivot from 2014-2016 and is syndicated in more than 20 foreign markets on Amazon and iTunes.
Susannah McClintock
Investment Director - Sustainable Ventures
Peter Elwin
Director of Fixed Income,
Head of Land Use and Textiles Programmes
- Planet Tracker
Ivo Mulder
Head-Climate Finance Unit - UNEP
Ivo leads UNEP’s Climate Finance Unit (CFU), created in 2019. CFU brings together various initiatives and finance facilities that aim to unlock public and especially private capital towards sustainable land use with positive impacts for the climate, nature and people.
Under his supervision, the Climate Finance Unit has built a portfolio of innovative initiatives, such as the AGRI3 Fund, set up by Rabobank, UNEP, Mirova Natural Capital, IDH and FMO as part of a USD 1 billion commitment in loans that focus on financing deforestation-free commodity production. Other examples include a new Restoration Seed Capital Facility (RSCF) that stimulates private equity investment in forest and landscape restoration, the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (which issued an inaugural USD 95m ‘landscape bond’ in 2018), or the support for novel ventures such as &Green Fund. In addition, Ivo sits on the Steering Committee of a number of projects such as the GEF Good Growth Partnership, GEF The Restoration Initiative and the Natural Capital Finance Alliance.
Over the past decade, Ivo initiated and led a number of projects that develop business cases for the private and finance sector to tackle environmental challenges. He co-founded and directed the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA). Signed by more than 40 CEOs, this initiative aims to make the link between ecosystem degradation and the financial impact this can have on banks, investors and the broader financial system. The Dutch Central Bank recently found that 36% of Dutch financial assets are at risk of ecosystem decline using NCFA’s ENCORE data. The initiative has developed various other innovative tools for the finance industry to address deforestation risks related to soft commodities, integrating water risk in the valuation of corporate bonds and stocks, as well as environmental risk integration in sovereign credit analysis (ERISC).
Ivo also co-initiated the REDD+ work at UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in 2011 to scale up private sector engagement and over the past years has led the private sector & finance work for the UN-REDD Programme, including building the economic case for governments in various countries to preserve natural capital by reducing deforestation.
Ivo Mulder has over fifteen years of professional experience working for UNEP, private consulting firms and with non-governmental organisations. He has published more than fifty reports, blogs and articles and sits on the Steering Group of a number of initiatives. Ivo is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and a member of the Dutch Association of Sustainable Investors (VBDO). During his free time, he pursues a variety of outdoor sports such as triathlon, diving, alpine skiing and mountain hiking.
Educational background
Ivo holds a Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, with a focus on environmental economics.
Isabelle Laurencin
Fund Manager - Triodos Organic Growth Fund
Isabelle Laurencin is the Fund Manager of Triodos Organic Growth Fund, an evergreen impact Equity Fund providing patient capital to late stage ventures and mature businesses contributing to the Food transition in Europe (45mEUR size / 10 investments). Prior to joining Triodos in 2019, Isabelle set up a startup accelerator focused on sustainable innovations in the fashion industry for Plug and Play, Silicon Valley’s most active VC. She has over 15 years’ experience in Private Equity and Venture Capital and served in multiple Investment committees and Advisory boards at both FMO and PROPARCO, development finance institutions in the Netherlands and France.
Isabelle is a board member of 5 investees of TOGF (Tipa, Beendi, Groupe Natimpact, Hari&co and Farmy) and an Advisor to the Circular Economy Club. Isabelle holds a Master from ESCP-EAP Business school.
Sara Roversi
President - Future Food Network
Sara is an experienced entrepreneur and thought leader in the food ecosystem. As a seasoned growth expert, she works with globally recognized high-profile think tanks on setting the agenda for the sustainable food industry.
Described as a game-changer who knows how to drive change, she has a flair for exploration and prosperity thinking.
For the last 10 years, she focused on the mission to take food leaders and youth to the next level of achievement through education, research projects, and innovation challenges.
She founded Future Food: a purpose-driven ecosystem facilitating evolving positive change in life on earth, promoting food innovation as a strategic element to achieve sustainable and impactful growth.
She recently co-founded the goodaftercovid19.org initiative and, among others she is also a member of the Google Food Lab, B20 Task Force, and partner of the Food For Climate League.
Seth Tibbott
Founder and Chairman- The Tofurky Company
In 1980, Seth Tibbott founded Turtle Island Foods, now “the Tofurky Company”, on $2500 savings from his 8-year career as a teacher/naturalist. The company’s first product was a tasty fermented Indonesian soy product called Tempeh. Many people, including his midwestern Aunt and fellow elementary school teachers, thought selling moldy soybeans to the meat centric American public was a very bad idea. For 15 years it appeared the naysayers were right as Seth pursued his dream while losing his shirt as a pioneer of the early plant-based foods movement. With an income of only $300/month, Seth built a 3-story treehouse that he called home for 7 years. In 1995, also against the advice of his partners, Seth introduced the first nationally marketed vegan holiday roast named “Tofurky”. The Tofurky brand now includes 43 different vegan products which are sold in 27,000 stores worldwide. Seth has chronicled his “40-year overnight success story” in a new book, In Search of the Wild Tofurky-How a Business Misfit Pioneered Plant-Based Foods Before They Were Cool.
Robyn O'Brien
Co-founder - rePlant Capital
Robyn O’Brien is a visionary voice in the food industry. She is the co-founder of rePlant Capital, the author of “The Unhealthy Truth” (Random House 2009), and she advises multinational food companies, non profits, startups and governments around the world. Her work has been recognized by Prince Charles, Ted Turner, CEOs across the food industry and in the media – from Forbes to FOX News to the Today Show, Runner’s World and CNN.
Robyn was a founding team member of of AIM/Invesco’s first hedge fund of $100+ million and a team member on their $20 billion Constellation Fund. She is an advisor to Paul Hawken’s “Drawdown” and has advised startups, banks, governments and multinationals, while working with global CEOs and management teams in the food industry. Robyn is also the founder of Do Good, a strategic advisory firm, and AllergyKids Foundation, which serves the 1 in 3 children with allergies, asthma, ADHD and autism. Random House published Robyn’s book, The Unhealthy Truth, in 2009, and her TEDx talk has been viewed by millions and translated into multiple languages. Robyn is from Texas, attended Washington and Lee in Virginia where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, and went on to pursue a Fulbright Fellowship in Paris, France before earning her MBA from Rice University on a full scholarship. She is an adjunct professor at Rice University’s business school and a married, mother of four.
You can learn more at www.robynobrien.com and www.replantcap.com
Marion Schuppe
Investment & Impact Manager - Quadia
Marion brings strong expertise in corporate finance and the food sector in France and Spain.
Prior to joining Quadia in 2017, Marion worked for almost 3 years in Madrid, first at Eurohold as a Financial Analyst and after at Pramex International (Natixis subsidiary) in the International Corporate Strategy team. There she worked on the International strategy design and roadmap setup for French startups and SMEs, analysis of the Spanish subsidiary performance and implementation of KPIs and cross border M&A, from screening to valuation, documents drafting and negotiation.
Marion has developed her passion for sustainable food and agriculture by collaborating and being a board advisor of Make Sense, an international organization promoting and supporting social entrepreneurs around the world. There she organized and participated in a food social entrepreneurship tour around South America, for 7 months in 7 countries to meet and work with social entrepreneurs on social and environmental issues within the food production cycle. She also played a key role in building Make Sense’s network in Spain.
Marion holds a double master in Business Administration and Law and Finance from ESCP Europe between Paris and Madrid (Universidad Carlos III), as well as an exchange program in the University of Texas, Austin. Marion is fluent in French, English and Spanish.
Maija Itkonen
Chief Innovation Officer & Founder - Gold and Green Foods
Maija Itkonen is the co-founder and CEO of Gold&Green Foods®, the purpose-driven brand behind the revolutionary new plant-based protein, Pulled Oats®.
She is also an entrepreneur, innovator, industrial designer and brand lover. In 2015 she co-founded Gold&Green Foods, the company behind the phenomenal success story of the “perfect protein food” platform and its first product Pulled Oats. The new proprietary product type resulted in a first-of-its-kind plant-based protein source that is not only versatile and packed with health benefits, but one that can be sustainably sourced and processed. Pulled Oats is a new kind of meat alternative based on the Nordic superfood oats, built around the team’s unique scientific knowledge and design thinking under Maija’s leadership. Maija has a degree in industrial design and considers Gold&Green® to be a food design company. She is a mother of four based in Helsinki, Finland.
Martin Frick
Deputy of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy - Food System Summit
Martin Frick is the Deputy of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Food System Summit 2021. He served before as the Senior Director of UN Climate Change where he was overseeing the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the secretariat’s Climate Action work. As programme director for former Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Foundation, he developed the founding narrative of climate justice. He previously served as Director for Climate Change at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He was the German representative for human rights and humanitarian affairs at the UN General Assembly and served as the European Union’s lead negotiator in the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council. As Ambassador to the international organizations based in Germany, he helped building up the UN’s sustainability hub in Bonn. He holds a PhD in Law from Regensburg University and was a guest lecturer at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
Annina Winkler
CEO - Sector Specialist, Food & Agriculture
Abby Lyall
Vice President - Big Idea Ventures
Anna Barker
Head of Commercial Partnerships - Fairtrade Foundation
