Explore the Agenda
8:30 am Check-In & Light Breakfast
9:30 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Maximizing Profitability & Strategic Growth in Alternative Protein Production by Linking Scale-Up Economics with Smart Financing & Valuation Decisions
9:45 am From Proof of Concept at the Bench to Profit at Scale: A Stage-Gated Scale-Up Strategy
- Scaling deliberately by balancing speed with quality
- Relentless focus on process–facility fit through close process and manufacturing alignment
- Implement clear stage gates with defined success criteria, and execute with focus and discipline
- Emphasize those metrics that truly drive COGS (e.g., productivity over titer; final product productivity over product recovery)
10:15 am Exploring Valuation Trends to Guide Smart Fundraising & Maximize Exit Success in Fermentation-Enabled Protein Startups
- Addressing overvaluation risks by learning from inflated early-stage valuations and market corrections
- Implementing rational fundraising strategies by pursuing reasonable valuations and realistic valuation step-ups for alternative protein startups
- Navigating the current post-bubble liquidity challenges by managing the changing investor landscape and securing funding from savvy financial and strategic investors
10:45 am Morning Networking Break
Choosing the Right Approach to Scaling Fermentation Operations While Managing Costs, Risks & Operational Complexity
11:45 am A Default-Alive Biomanufacturing Company
- The Strategic Importance of Biomanufacturing: Biomanufacturing is a first-order priority for food security and public health, moving essential production from farms and petrochemical plants into fermenters using engineered microbes or enzymes
- Evolution of the Industry: Comparing “Gen 1” companies (like Ajinomoto), which prioritized manufacturing efficiency and luck-driven applications, with “Gen 2” companies (like Amyris), which focused on engineering biology but struggled with high capital requirements and in-house infrastructure
- The New Operating Model: Exploring how to combine Gen 2 engineering capabilities with Gen 1 manufacturing scale to build biomanufacturing companies that remain “default-alive” and commercially viable
12:15 pm Networking Roundtable Discussion: Who Pays for the Steel? Rethinking Financing Models for Scale Up
- Why the Old Model Broke: Reassessing the role of venture capital in funding largescale fermentation manufacturing
- Exploring strategic partnerships where incumbents fund capex and recover value through offtake and royalties
- Assessing non-dilutive, debt, and geographic funding strategies for manufacturing expansion
1:00 pm Networking Lunch
Aligning on Commercial & Scientific Risk in Strategic Partnerships for Growth
2:00 pm Integrating Next-Generation Ingredients into Existing Value Chains
- Align with partners to validate manufacturing and scale without building costly facilities
- Strategically navigate regulatory frameworks to enable market entry and avoid cash constraints
- Ensure chemical and mechanical functional compatibility with production processes while improving cost, speed, and efficiency
2:30 pm Networking Roundtable Discussion: De-Risking Fermentation Scale-Up: What Investors, Lenders, & Partners Actually Need to Say Yes
- Aligning scale-up plans with investor, lender, and partner expectations
- Identifying technical and financial risks that block funding approvals
- Demonstrating predictable performance to build confidence in commercialization viability
3:00 pm Pragmatic Approaches to Scale-Up Within Existing Food Systems
- Pragmatic paths to scaling through partnership
- Change from within: Partnering with major corporates
- Regulatory changes: Why self-GRAS is unlikely to be good enough for long