Welcome and Opening Remarks

Carter Williams – CEO, iSelect Fund

The world needs to change. The days of public equities delivering all the return you need are gone. The best investors in the world over-allocate to private, illiquid investments. But private takes access most investors don’t have. Investors are also realizing that money talks and opportunities exist for their investment dollars to help change the world. And two of the areas where change is most needed is in our Food and Healthcare systems. Carter will discuss how iSelect is working to enable each of these items simultaneously.

CowPots: A Better, More Sustainable Pot for Gardeners and Growers

CowPots uses composted cow manure to create 100% biodegradable, renewable and recycled plant pots for both home and commercial use. As an alternative to plastic pots, CowPots quickly decompose once planted, enriching the soil and breaking down completely in just one growing season. And, as an all natural product made from 100% recycled materials, they don’t contribute to landfill waste and are made using zero waste stream manufacturing.

SoMax: Turning Organic Waste into Energy, Clean Water and More

SoMax BioEnergy uses organic waste as a resource for sustainable development and resilient waste management in agriculture, manufacturing and sanitation. The company diverts agricultural, food, septic, green and other organic wastes from landfills and wastewater treatment plants, and instead uses it as the feedstock for value-added bioproducts, currently including renewable energy, clean water and fertilizers. Agriculture activities will get soil amendment from their manure or agricultural waste, while food manufacturers and wastewater treatment plants would receive a renewable fuel source from their waste.

Afineur: Creating the Next Generation of Food Ingredients from Fermentation By-Products

Afineur is designing microbiomes, selecting and team-up microbes for their ability to naturally improve food nutritional value, taste, and texture through fermentation. Its technology platform uses the latest advances in biotechnology and food science to transform fermentation into a process that is controllable and can be tailored to naturally improve specific characteristics of a food product.

iSelect Portfolio Overview and Opportunities – September 2019

Generations of slow innovation in food and health are playing out right now in the form of higher prices and lower quality across the board, opening up massive new opportunities for venture investors like iSelect:

Feeding the world: Alternative protein companies like Beyond Meat aren’t just for vegans, but rather are coming up with new ways to scale protein production.

Making people healthier: The future of the food system is low cost, more nutritious and less wasteful.

Claiming market share: Right now the U.S. spends $1.6T+ annually on food and $1T on healthcare. Small optimizations can move these huge markets.