In our new interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.
Nadav Berger is a Founding General Partner at PeakBridge.
What future food technologies most excite you?
AI applications in food tech, but not just for the reasons you might expect. The food industry has relatively low gross margins – it’s not even in the ballpark of software, pharma and biotech. Artificial intelligence applied right has potential to make all the highly complex (and sometimes archaic) processes in the food system far more efficient and accurate.
That means a huge potential change, from a better topline, to better processes across the value chain to more precisely-tailored products. And bigger margins mean more money to put into innovation. Into food tech. Right now, that’s a hurdle.
Solid-state fermentation is another technology I’m excited about, already being used by MFL for example to create thousands of taste and aroma molecules from real food ingredients. SST requires less capex and production is more efficient, but does deal with complex ingredients so you need the knowhow to master the composition.
What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?
I’m excited about health & nutrition, specifically the intersection of health tech and food tech. That includes several directions, like AI for fully personalized nutrition and natural GLP-1 inducers. I’m also always looking at companies that address food security, because that’s a massive issue that nations around the world are grappling with and will only become more urgent – climate change, population growth, geopolitical tension and more are all at play. Scalable agri-food technologies are absolutely key in addressing that.
What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?
It might surprise you, but I’d say alternative proteins – no question. The alt-protein market was around $8B in 2016, and worth around $80B seven years later. And I think it’s not just here to stay, but will always grow, because there’s simply not enough water and land to sustain the animals we raise for our food. That’s without mentioning the ongoing shift in consumer preferences around health and our food.
Think about just alternative dairy; plant-based milk is a $17B market that’s growing, and add to that fermentation and now cell-based technologies to replace real milk proteins. It’s not about if a particular company fails or succeeds. It’s about the greater shift in tech that’s undeniable, and critical given the reality we face.
If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?
Easy. I’d make it 20% cheaper than real meat. If it’s a really magic wand? 40% cheaper. Texture and flavour are the other keys, but that’s already well on its way. The technology is there.
What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?
I’d say the ability to raise money, because you simply can’t survive without it. What’s behind a founder who’s great at fundraising? At the core, it comes from selling something they wholeheartedly believe in, and are deeply invested in themselves.
The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?
InKind, an Austin-based company doing financing solutions for restaurants. Restaurants are ultimately small, risky businesses that struggle for backing – banks aren’t interested in that risk. They have an interesting model with a lot of potential.
What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?
Since you’re limiting me to one here, I’d say BE WTR. It’s a company with an exceptional, mission-driven founder (and two-time unicorn builder); a worthy mission of taking plastic bottles out of the equation along with global shipping of water; a killer application, IP, and beautiful design; JVs and partnerships all over the world, and a deep understanding of what the customer is looking for. PeakBridge was their first investor.
What has been your most disappointing investment so far?
Prenexus Health, the only company in our portfolio that’s had to file for bankruptcy. They had a great team, great tech, and strong backers, but we failed to understand the magnitude of scale-up costs, especially capex. But of course, there’s a lesson in everything, and that one was valuable. We’ve since been far more cautious with capex-intensive investments because at the end of the day, you need to scale.
What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?
Founders often don’t understand a VC’s agenda and thinking: that there are specific multiples that need to be achieved, according to a specific timeline. Founders need to do due diligence on their investors just as much as investors do on them.
What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?
I got a chance to taste Forsea’s unagi, or cultivated eel, for the second time – and it did not disappoint. The taste of real (endangered) eel that you find in Japan is something chefs are really looking for, and they’ve done it. Incredible taste, a breakthrough technology behind it and soon at price parity.
Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?
The first that comes to mind is one of my favourite spots in general, Au Père Lapin just outside Paris. Au Père Lapin was one of the first restaurants to fully integrate Mediterranean Food Lab’s SHO stocks in all kinds of dishes – meat, fish, vegetables. Their stocks are super flavorful, those kinds of meaty flavours that stick with you – but are plant-based and made from real food without all the junk.
What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?
Where do I begin? Think about where we gather with the people we love most: around the table. Food is a fundamental language, and also one that’s brought me to meet the most inspiring people to whom I’ve become closest to.
On a broader level, the food industry is the only one in the world that touches literally everyone on the planet, in one way or another. And there’s so much to improve. All of that combined gives me (so far!) endless energy to do what I do.
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