Benny Pei invests in alternative protein and food technology at Lever VC while also serving as Chief Investment Officer at DFP Capital, a role shaped by more than a decade of board and executive experience with several China-listed companies, and he made an early bet on alternative protein back in 2018 before approaching other VCs to build out the space. He also mentors students in entrepreneurship at Singapore Management University and Shantou University, meets with both startups and large Chinese food and beverage companies, follows developments in fermentation and air-to-protein production methods, and has written about the business culture of the Chao-Shan region.
About their Fund
Lever VC is a venture fund that invests entirely in alternative protein and, more recently, broader food and agriculture technology, built by investors who backed companies like Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and JUST before starting the fund; it draws roughly 70% of its early capital from Hong Kong and Asian family offices and runs a dedicated China-focused fund and accelerator with Brinc in Guangzhou. The firm tracks a database of more than 1,200 alternative protein companies worldwide, looks for startups that can serve both a large low-cost market and a smaller premium market as a backup, and has backed unusual projects like cultivated pork fat and fermentation-made pet food protein, while also publishing its own scientific benchmarks so investors can evaluate cultivated meat startups using detailed technical metrics.
















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