3 Nordic Investors and the Food Futures They're Investing In
There are lots of ideas out there on what the future of food will be. But who is funding that future? In this heated convo, three different Nordic investors share the future they're betting on and why
This is a podcast unlike any other I have done before. At Sweden FoodTech's Big Meet in Stockholm, I lured three very different kinds of investors into the podcasting room for a spirited debate on how they are thinking about and investing in the future of food. This is the first time I’ve had multiple guests on the show and I think the conversation perfectly showcases both the spirit of collaboration that we have in the Nordics as well as the potential for multiple food futures all of which warrant investment. Join me, Marika King from Paulig Incubator, Gustaf Brandberg from Gullspång Re:food, and Lauri Reuter from the Nordic FoodTech VC as we get into the nitty gritty of food investing in the Nordics.
Related Links
💼 Marika King on Paulig's investment arm (PINC)
🔬 Lauri Reuter on the Nordic FoodTech VC
🌲 Gustaf Brandberg on Gullspång Invest's Re:Food
🔴 Chromologics on fermenting natural red colors
🍦 Nick's on the future of sweets
☕️ Oatly's startup story with Founder Björn Öste
🎙 Full list of investor interviews
Episode Transcript
Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech Podcast Host 02:05
Hello everyone, welcome back to the Nordic FoodTech Podcast. We are sitting at the Big Meet and I have pulled in a couple of investors from the Nordics into the podcasting room to have a conversation around what we think about the future of food and how these different investors are putting capital to good use to try and create change in the space and really make a difference. So maybe we'll get started just by going around the table and Marika, you're sitting right next to me so I'll have you start. Who are you, and what company are you with?
Marika King, PINC 2:36
Yes. Hi, everyone. My name is Marika King. I'm with PINC, which is the Paulig venture arm. Paulig is a Finnish house of brands with brands like Santa Maria and also Paulig Coffee, for example. Yeah, so corporate venture capital with an impact twist.
Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech Podcast Host 2:54
All right. And then Lauri, what about you?
Lauri Reuter, Nordic FoodTech VC 2:56
I'm Lauri Reuter. I'm with Nordic FoodTech VC. We do exactly what the name suggests, we invest in early-stage, very techie FoodTech companies across the Nordics and Baltics. We tend to like especially the research-based wild ideas solving the really underlying issues in the food system.
Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech Podcast Host 3:19
All right. And then Gustaf?
Gustaf Brandberg, Gullspång Re:food 3:22
I’m Gustaf Brandberg at Gullspång Re:Food. We also want to solve underlying problems in the food system, but invest in Europe and the US apart from the Nordics with a little bit bigger tickets. So $5 million and upwards and we’re really focused on driving sustainability.