Rethinking Food Innovation Funding With VC funding painfully down and the urgency to fix our food systems higher than ever, we need to rethink how we fund innovation. Thereâs plenty of debate about what venture capital is good for and where public funding should step in, but too often, these roles get muddled, resulting in a proliferation of zombie startups and âghostcubatorsâ.
Drawing unexpected inspiration from the UK Cabinet Officeâs "The Art of the Possibleâ, we believe public procurement has untapped potential to drive national innovation.
Entrepreneurs need proof of product-market fit to attract investors. But off-takers (who given the concentration hold great power) wonât commit without a firm price, and prices arenât competitive until youâve scaled commercially. Enter the current funding gap: no capital, no scaling, no commitmentsâa vicious cycle.
What if public food agencies stepped in with conditional LOIs, breaking this stalemate and giving entrepreneurs just enough runway to take the leap?
The Next Frontier of Biomanufacturing: AI-Driven Cellular Intelligence Cells, the building blocks of life, hold vast untapped potential. Despite decades of research, our understanding of their intricate mechanisms remains incomplete. Unlocking a comprehensive, predictive understanding of cellular processes could revolutionize industries by revealing critical biological pathways essential to the Biomanufacturing Revolution.
A few trailblazers, including biotech industry veteran Dr Sunil Sukumaran, CTO at Perfect Day, quietly envision a transformative future: one where AI-powered Virtual Cells and Circuity Mimics accelerate discoveries. These advanced models could uncover new drug targets, predict cellular responses to environmental changes, and dramatically enhance the speed and scale of hypothesis testing.
Welcome to the dawn of Virtual Cell Modelling powered by Artificial Intelligence. Is it daunting or exhilarating? We cast our vote for exhilarating. |