Coller Alternative Protein Competition

In partnership with the Entrepreneurship Centre, Cambridge Judge Business School. Launching 9 May 2022 and running throughout June 2022.

Do you have an idea for an alternative protein startup that can help feed ten billion people by 2050?

Do you have an idea for an alternative protein startup that can help tackle the global issues we face around climate change, global food insecurity, food safety, public health, antibiotic resistance, and animal welfare?

Would your idea benefit from winning £100,000 investment to help you realise its potential?

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, industrial animal agriculture sits at the intersection of the most pressing issues we face today: climate change, global food insecurity, food safety, public health, antibiotic resistance, and animal welfare.

There is, however, scope to innovate and rethink how we produce our food from the ground up – this is the promise of alternative proteins.

Alternative proteins encompass all the technological solutions aiming to create meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood more sustainably and without animals. These animal product alternatives can be made directly from plant sources, through fermentation technology or by cultivating cells in bioreactors.

With alternative proteins, we can mitigate the environmental impacts of the global rising demand for proteins, decrease the risk of zoonotic diseases and feed more people with fewer resources.

This represents an extraordinary market opportunity predicted to reach $17.9 billion by 2025. The long-term opportunity is even greater as sales are estimated to rise by up to $1.1 trillion by 2040, eating up 60% of the total meat market.

Although there has been an impressive wave of innovation and investment in food technology and alternative proteins in the last few years, considerable opportunities remain across the supply chain to ensure that these alternatives are competitive in terms of taste, price, and availability, and are accessible and adopted by more consumers.

There are great opportunities for startups looking to innovate in this space and the Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School and Jeremy Coller are excited to be supporting a future innovator through this competition.

What can you win?

• The winner will receive a £100,000 investment or £5,000 prize. Options selected at the winner’s discretion.
• A place on a Cambridge Accelerate cohort in 2022/2023. Option selected at the winner’s discretion.

However, simply by entering you will benefit from finding out more about the Alternative Protein market and the opportunities for innovation. You will also get access to some key industry stakeholders and begin the all-important process of building your key contacts and networks.

Format

Step 1: Launch and information session

Monday 9 May, 17:30-19:30 at Cambridge Judge Business School

Join us to hear more about the market and the opportunities for innovation and to network with representatives from CPT and other invited guests.

You will have the opportunity to ask questions and get detailed information on how to enter the competition.

Step 2: Supercharge your entry

Wednesday 25 May 2022, 17:30-19:30 at Cambridge Judge Business School

To enter the competition, you need to submit a completed Business Model Canvas and a three-minute video pitch by noon on 6 June 2022.

Download the Business Model Canvas template

The judges will be looking for you to have an idea of your target customer and your value proposition.

This workshop session will provide you with guidance on how to complete a Business Model Canvas and complete your video pitch.

It is not compulsory to attend this workshop, but attendance is highly recommended.

Step 3: Submit your pitch

You must submit your completed Business Model Canvas and Video Pitch by noon on 6 June 2022.

To submit, please send your completed Business Model Canvas and a link to your video to our Team.

We recommend creating an unlisted YouTube video or password protected Vimeo video for your pitch.

Step 4: Review of submissions

The Judging Panel will review applications with the shortlisted finalists announced on the 10 June 2022.

Step 5: Final and networking

Thursday 23 June,17:30-19:30 at Cambridge Judge Business School

The shortlisted finalists will be invited to a live final with the opportunity to pitch your idea to our judging panel.

• Harry Kalms, Senior Investment Associate, CPT Capital
• Jamie Macfarlane, Founder and CEO at Creator Fund
• Jim Laird, Co-Founder and CEO at ENOUGH
• Benjamina Bollag, Founder and CEO at Higher Steaks
• Ann Davidson, Head of Practice, Entrepreneurship Centre, CJBS

The competition winner will be announced at this event.

Shortlisted Finalists

The 2022 Coller Alternative Protein Competition finalists will be announced shortly.

Focus and Scope

The focus of the Coller Alternative Protein Competition covers a wide range of technologies including, but not limited to:

• Plant-based proteins.
• Recombinant proteins (both using precision fermentation and molecular farming).
• Cell culture/cultivated meat and seafood products.
• Enabling technologies (eg equipment manufacturers, ingredient optimisers, contract organisation for production scale-up etc).

Terms and Conditions

Eligibility

• You can enter as either an individual or as a team. If entering as a team, at least one member of your team must be a University of Cambridge student (includes postdocs, PhDs, and researchers) academic, alumni, or working in the wider Cambridge ecosystem.
• You can enter either as a new idea or as an existing early-stage venture.
• For existing ventures, grant funding is allowed, however you must have raised less than £200,000 in non-founder equity. It is not mandatory that have raised any external funding.
• For new ideas, you should ideally be working towards a proof of concept or minimum viable product (but not mandatory).

Important

The competition scope does not cover ventures which aid or facilitate the use of animals. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Novel crops/proteins for animal feed.
• Probiotic treatments to replace antibiotics for farm animals.
• Tracking and monitoring systems for farm animals.

The Founder of the Coller Alternative Protein Competition

Jeremy Coller is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Coller Capital, a pioneer and leading institution in the Private Equity secondaries market which he founded in 1990.

Jeremy is also the founder of CPT Capital, a dedicated alternative protein investment arm within his family office. CPT has been investing in the alternative protein space for over seven years, supporting early-stage companies and founders looking to disrupt the incumbent, unsustainable food and materials supply chain that currently relies on animals. CPT has built a portfolio of over 50 companies across plant-based, recombinant proteins, cell culture and enabling technologies.

Jeremy also leads a number of philanthropic initiatives focused on highlighting the risks associated with intensive agriculture with the goal of ending factory farming in his lifetime.

These include:

• The Jeremy Coller Foundation – A strategic grant-making organisation, focused on ending factory farming and improving venture and management education.
• The FAIRR (Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return) Initiative – The world’s fastest growing investor network focused on ESG risks in the global food sector with members representing $52 trillion of AUM, leveraging the power of capital markets to address the risks of intensive animal agriculture.
• CALF (Coller Animal Law Forum) – An interactive database of laws and policies that impact farmed animals, accelerating policy and law around the world.
• APA (Alternative Proteins Association) – The largest association of its kind in Europe, designed to promote the value of alternative proteins in the UK.

“The UK has all the ingredients to be a global leader and food innovation hub for the world. We are supporting this competition in the hope that the next generation of Cambridge students, researchers and academics will focus on the huge business and research opportunities available in alternative proteins and food technology more generally. We look forward to being inspired by your ideas and passion to make a difference.” – Jeremy Coller.