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Sustainable Food Ventures
Ryan Bethencourt’s rolling fund backs cell-based, plant-based, and recombinant food startups, with early bets on Upside Foods, Geltor, and The Not Company.
Sustainable Food Ventures
Ryan Bethencourt co-founded Sustainable Food Ventures after running IndieBio and building Wild Earth, his plant-based pet food company that closed a $20M round from Felicis Ventures, Founders Fund, and Mars Petcare. He started the firm with Mariliis Holm, a food scientist who led R&D at Finless Foods and previously worked at Mondelez International and IFF. The partnership grounds investment decisions in both venture-building experience and deep technical diligence. SFV operates as a rolling fund on AngelList, targeting pre-seed and seed-stage companies across cell-based, plant-based, and recombinant protein categories. The strategy is global in sourcing but concentrated in North America and Europe. Bethencourt was the first institutional investor in Upside Foods, Geltor, The Not Company, and Shiok Meats. The firm frequently co-invests alongside Big Idea Ventures and taps IndieBio’s network for deal flow, reflecting a model built on repeat syndication with specialized food-tech investors. Co-investor Dr. Sandhya Sriram, founder of Shiok Meats, is an early limited partner in the rolling fund. The firm is lean, with Holm leading scientific diligence and day-to-day operations while Bethencourt sources and decides on investments. No additional offices or dedicated operational staff are disclosed. Bethencourt’s concurrent CEO role at Wild Earth creates an unusual adjacency: an active operating executive running a venture fund in the same sector, which concentrates both proprietary pattern recognition and potential deal-flow conflicts. The rolling fund structure itself allows flexible, quarterly capital deployment rather than traditional closed-end fund dynamics.
General information
Firm type
Generalist
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Raleigh-Durham
Corporate office
Raleigh-Durham, United States
Principals
Ryan Bethencourt
Managing Partner
Mariliis Holm
Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Sustainable Food Ventures?
Ryan Bethencourt, Managing Partner, sources deal flow and makes all investment decisions. He has invested in over 180 early-stage food and biotech companies, including being the first institutional investor in Upside Foods and The Not Company. Mariliis Holm, Partner, leads scientific diligence and manages day-to-day operations.
How does Sustainable Food Ventures source proprietary deal flow?
Bethencourt draws on a network built as co-founder and former Program Director at IndieBio, where he helped grow portfolio market cap to $3.2B. The firm also co-invests frequently with Big Idea Ventures and maintains relationships with founders like Dr. Sandhya Sriram of Shiok Meats, who is an early LP in the rolling fund.
Is Sustainable Food Ventures structured as a single family office or a venture firm?
SFV operates as a venture firm using a rolling fund structure on AngelList, not as a family office. The rolling fund allows investors to subscribe on a quarterly basis. Bethencourt and Holm run it as a generalist asset manager focused exclusively on food technology.
Does Sustainable Food Ventures participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
The firm makes direct early-stage equity investments, primarily at pre-seed and seed stages. No evidence of fund-of-funds commitments exists. The rolling fund structure is designed for direct startup investing rather than LP commitments to other managers.
Which sectors does Sustainable Food Ventures explicitly avoid?
SFV exclusively targets cell-based, plant-based, and recombinant food technologies. The firm does not invest outside food tech — no software, general biotech, or non-food climate verticals are part of its disclosed mandate.
Where does the underlying capital come from?
The rolling fund raises capital from individual accredited investors via AngelList. Bethencourt and Holm have not disclosed a single anchor LP or family office backer. Dr. Sandhya Sriram is named as an early LP, but the full LP base remains private.
What is Sustainable Food Ventures’ known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
SFV actively co-invests alongside frequent partners like Big Idea Ventures and likely syndicates with IndieBio network investors. Bethencourt’s history as a super-angel suggests comfort with high-velocity, party-round dynamics rather than leading rounds with concentrated ownership. The firm’s small, partnership-driven structure aligns with a co-investor model.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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