In this episode, Hall welcomes Grant Newlin of Newlin Ventures. Grant started his career as a management consultant at UI, before moving to investment banking, M&A, financial planning, and eventually working in food tech with Kraft Heinz. He ultimately started working with New Stack Ventures doing angel deals, before founding his firm, Newlin Ventures.

Grant talks about how the angel and VC investment worlds have changed in recent years, and what excites him about the food tech space, whether it is in CPG, agricultural, restaurants, or software. He explains how food tech differs from other traditional tech businesses, particularly when it comes to fixed costs and volume. Grant also talks about how funding for food tech companies often follows a different roadmap than other startups, and how getting positive gross margin in the beginning is key. He touches on how the food tech space has evolved, and what role the larger CPG giants and small startups are playing. Grant discusses his investment thesis in the food tech space, and some of the technical and regulatory challenges to expect. Finally, Grant advises would-be startups and investors in food tech to five some consideration to building in-house to ensure product control.

You can find Newlin Ventures at newlin.vc

Grant can be reached on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/grantnewlin

 

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Hall T Martin is the director of Investor Connect, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the education of investors for early-stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for the basis of investment decisions.