Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change - From Moore's Law to Moo's Law - Ep136: Jim Mellon

From Moore's Law to Moo's Law - Ep136: Jim Mellon

07/26/23 • 51 min

Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

This week's guest on Cleaning Up is entrepreneur, author and philanthropist Jim Mellon. Jim is Executive Director at Agronomics, one of the world’s leading investors in cellular agriculture, or lab-grown meat. Bypassing traditional agricultural methods with precision fermentation could have huge implications for CO2 emissions and the climate, and in 2020 Jim wrote Moo’s Law as a guide for fellow investors into what he calls the "new agrarian revolution."

Jim and Michael discuss the latest developments in cellular agriculture - from pet food to leather goods and restaurant-grade sushi - and how far we are from finding lab-grown products on our supermarket shelves.

Links and Related Episodes

Watch Episode 110 with Lord Adair Turner: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep110-adair-turner-lord-of-the-net-zero-transition/

Discover Agronomics and their portfolio companies here: https://agronomics.im/

Read more about Moo’s Law here: https://mooslawbook.com/

Discover Jim’s children’s book, Juno’s Ark, here: https://junosark.com/

Jim spoke to Bloomberg’s In The City podcast in April about Britain’s economic health: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-06/podcast-burnbrae-s-jim-mellon-sees-a-bright-future-for-britain-and-the-city?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner#xj4y7vzkg

Guest Bio

Jim worked in Asia and the United States at two fund management companies, GT and Thornton, before establishing his own business in 1991. This business continues today, but Jim no longer works as a fund manager and is instead focused on biotech, clean food and property, with other business interests managed by his family office, the Burnbrae Group. Jim has a special interest in health resilience and longevity science, and is the co-founder of Juvenescence, a company investing in the development of therapies for ageing and the diseases of ageing. Jim also co-founded Agronomics Limited in 2011, an investment company focused on opportunities within the nascent industry of environmentally-friendly and cruelty-free modern foods.

Jim holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oriel College, Oxford, where he is an honorary fellow and supports the Mellon Scholarship in Ageing and Cell Senescence.

Links and Related Episodes

Watch Episode 110 with Lord Adair Turner: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep110-adair-turner-lord-of-the-net-zero-transition/

Discover Agronomics and their portfolio companies here: https://agronomics.im/

Read more about Moo’s Law here: https://mooslawbook.com/

Discover Jim’s children’s book, Juno’s Ark, here: https://junosark.com/

Guest Bio

Jim holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oriel College, Oxford, where he is an honorary fellow and supports the Mellon Scholarship in Ageing and Cell Senescence.

Previous Episode

The Climate Venture Adventure - Ep135: Kim Zou

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Kim Zou, CEO and co-founder of CTVC (Climate Tech VC). Launched in 2020, CTVC is a leading climate innovation resource and newsletter with 50,000 weekly readers, providing data-driven insights and analysis into the latest deals and developments in climate tech.

CTVC launched their H1 2023 climate funding update at the end of June, reporting a 40% drop in venture funding. Michael wanted to hear from Zoe whether this was a moment of crisis or correction, and to compare notes on building a market intelligence platform, having jumped through so many of the same hoops building New Energy Finance.

Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/

You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup

Links and Related Episodes

All of the episodes mentioned by Michael at the end of the show can be found in our “Women Leaders of the Net-Zero Transition” playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe8ZTD7dMaaBJwVk9CfU-CZLeX42M7flC

You can subscribe to CTVC here: https://www.ctvc.co/

Read CTVC’s H1 2023 climate tech funding update: https://www.ctvc.co/climate-tech-h1-2023-venture-funding/#:~:text=Highlights,35%25%20from%20H2'22.

CTVC’s Climate Capital Stack is here: https://www.ctvc.co/the-climate-capital-stack/

In May CTCV announced their new climate intelligence platform: https://www.ctvc.co/ctvc-platform-fundraise/

Kim and co-founder Sophie Purdom spoke to Techonomy in September 2022: https://techonomy.com/video/the-state-of-climate-tech-venture-capital/

Guest Bio

Kim has spent the last three years building Climate Tech VC, a leading source on climate and innovation with 50,000 weekly readers among climate investors, operators and market leaders. CTVC generates data-driven insights on the climate tech market which have been featured in channels including Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, and TechCrunch. From 2020-2022, Kim was an Investor at Energy Impact Partners, a $2.5B AUM venture capital firm, and from 2018 – 2020, an Investment Banking Analyst at JP Morgan. From 2017 – 2019, Kim was Managing Partner at A-Level Capital.

Kim holds a bachelor’s degree from John Hopkins University in Economics, Environmental Science and Applied Mathematics.

Next Episode

Bags of Sustainability - Ep137: Anya Hindmarch

Cleaning Up is back for its 10th season, and to start proceedings in style, Michael's first guest is Anya Hindmarch. Anya is one of Britain’s most celebrated fashion designers and a leading voice in the industry on sustainability. Anya started her business in London in 1987 and now has 16 stores worldwide, as well as her own retail village in Pont Street, Chelsea. With the launch of her I’m Not a Plastic Bag totes in 2007, she helped kick-start a country-wide debate around single-use plastics, and this year Anya is collaborating with leading supermarkets again to prevent plastics pollution in style. In 2017 Anya was awarded a CBE, and in 2019 she became a Greenpeace Ambassador.

Links and Related Episodes

Read about the impact of the original ‘I’m Not a Plastic Bag’ campaign: https://www.anyahindmarch.com/pages/im-not-a-plastic-bag

You can read Anya Hindmarch’s pledges to sustainability and more here: https://www.anyahindmarch.com/pages/our-commitments

The Industry: Anya Hindmarch brings circular shopping bags back with Tesco and Morrison’s: https://www.theindustry.fashion/anya-hindmarch-brings-circular-shopping-bags-back-with-tesco-and-morrisons/

Politico: Fashion’s sustainability reckoning: https://www.politico.eu/article/fashion-sustainability-reckoning-industry-textile-regulation-evironment-human-rights/

Guest Bio

Anya Hindmarch founded her business in London in 1987 and it has since grown into a global brand. Today, it is as known for its luxury, organisation-obsessed accessories as it is for its ground-breaking work in sustainability and its playful experiential retail concepts. I Am A Plastic Bag was launched in 2020 to tackle post-consumer waste, with each bag crafted from 32 half-litre recycled plastic bottles. 2007’s I’m A Plastic Bag ignited the debate around the use of plastic bags and contributed to the decision to charge for plastic bags in the UK. In 2021, Anya launched The Universal Bag, a unique collaboration with supermarkets to rethink the reusable shopping bag.

Anya is an Emeritus trustee of both the Royal Academy of Arts and the Design Museum. In 2017, Anya was awarded a CBE in recognition for her contribution to the British fashion industry. In 2021, Anya published her first book, If In Doubt Wash Your Hair.