Even though there has been a challenging venture capital environment of 2023, venture capital newcomer Joyful Ventures announced the successful closing of $23 million of a $25 million fund, aimed at catalyzing the $1.5 trillion global animal protein industry towards sustainable, and regenerative food solutions.
Following a surge in venture capital in 2021 and 2022, with $329 billion invested, backers have pulled back significantly in 2023. Despite this issue, Joyful Ventures is pushing forward, showing extraordinary resilience and commitment to the mission. Known as the industry’s only LGBTQ- and woman-led firm, Joyful Ventures is dedicated to providing unique and diverse investments into the future of food and driving change through powerful climate solutions.
Joyful Ventures – which is led by partners Milo Runkle, Jennifer Stojkovic, and Blaine Vess – carries a wealth of expertise in the alternative protein sector, entrepreneurship, and investment. This team plans to channel the fund into pre-seed and seed-stage startups from across the globe that disrupt and innovate the food system. The target technologies include plant-based, precision fermentation, mycoproteins, molecular agriculture, and cultivated technologies, with a strong focus on B2B opportunities.
Runkle, founder of Mercy For Animals and co-founder of New Crop Capital and The Good Food Institute, has focused his career on advocating for food system reform and pioneering the alternative protein sector. And during Runkle’s 22-year leadership at the helm of Mercy For Animals, the organization raised over $130 million dollars and partnered with industry giants like Walmart, Nestle, and McDonald’s to modernize their purchasing and improve the lives of over 2 billion animals.
Stojkovic, a renowned name in food-tech innovation, built her career in the tech industry under prolific venture capitalist Ron Conway and worked with the industry’s leading companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Meta. In 2020, she utilized her expertise to found the Vegan Women Summit, the world’s largest platform for the future of food professionals and authored the bestselling book, The Future of Food is Female. As a long-time angel investor, Jennifer collaborates with and serves as an advisor and board member to the industry’s biggest plant-based brands.
Vess, a Kauffman Fellow, seasoned entrepreneur, and investor, has a proven track record in successful startup exits, including as the founder and CEO of Student Brands (acquired by Barnes and Noble Education) and as co-founder of Y Combinator-backed Solve. Vess brings extensive investment experience to Joyful Ventures, having backed over fifty early-stage companies.
Joyful Ventures’ advisory team and LPs encompass a large variety of global industry founders and CEOs representing diverse voices and perspectives such as Bjorn Oste, Co-Founder of Oatly, Dr. Sandhya Sriram, CEO of Shiok Meats, Ryan Bethencourt, Co-founder of Indie Bio and CEO of Wild Earth, and Arturo Elizondo, CEO of EVERY.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re not just passively investing in promising sustainable food technology startups. Our team is fully committed to leveraging our expertise, powerful network, and industry insights to nurture our portfolio companies, guiding them toward growth and success. Not many in the industry have access to the industry’s top founders and CEOs at their fingertips like our team. This kind of connectedness and mentorship experience is invaluable for our founders.”
“Rather than trying to deal with the carbon, methane, and nitrogen that we’re creating, let’s prevent it from happening by changing what is on our plates. Boston Consulting Group found that investing in plant-based protein is 11 times more impactful from a climate investment perspective than EVs, it’s three times more impactful than decarbonizing cement, and four times more impactful than green building, and yet that’s where you keep continuing to see most of the investments go. If you are interested in investing in climate, and you want real, scalable, quick solutions, there’s nothing better than food.”
– Co-founder and General Partner Jennifer Stojkovic
“We believe that the global movement toward food transformation is expanding and accelerating. The future is full of multi-billion dollar, world-changing sustainable protein companies whose founders face critical challenges, particularly in the pre-seed and seed stages.”
– Co-founder and General Partner Blaine Vess
“We are not just investing in companies; we are investing in global transformation. We are proud to champion entrepreneurs forging a future where nutritious, sustainable food is universally accessible.”
– Milo Runkle
