Startup Series: Prime Roots

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02/03/22 • 51 min

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Today's guest is Kimberlie Le, CEO & Co-Founder of Prime Roots.
Kimberlie a scientist-entrepreneur-foodie and life-long learner determined to make positive changes in our global food system. Kim has been working in management within the food industry (retail, food service, investing) for over ten years and is determined to bring delicious, sustainable, and nutritious foods to the masses and increase accessibility and equity in our food system. She's a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.
Prime Roots is a plant-based meat and seafood company creating better products for you and better for the world. Headquartered in Berkeley, California, Prime Roots is committed to positively influencing our food culture and reducing the hefty environmental impact of meat. Their delicious plant-based meat and seafood products are made using proprietary methods that combine cutting-edge technology with ancient techniques - resulting in better tasting and naturally textured market alternatives that avoid using hyper-processing techniques used by other meat alternative companies.
In this episode, Kim and I explore her path from her PhD to founding a startup, key priorities for Prime Roots over the next 12 months, and the barriers to creating and marketing a product heavily influenced by taste. We also discuss the various alternative meat bases, advice Kim has for founders and entrepreneurs looking to follow a similar path in sustainable food, and the startup's sources of capital to date. Kim is a great guest.
Enjoy the show!
You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded January 24th, 2022
To learn more about Prime Roots, visit: https://www.primeroots.com/
To learn more about this episode, visit: https://myclimatejourney.co/ctss-episodes/prime-roots

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Previous Episode

Ep. 194: Phil Graves, Former Head of Tinshed Ventures at Patagonia

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Today's guest is Phil Graves, Former Head of Tinshed Ventures at Patagonia.
Phil is an executive and board member with over 15 years of experience in M&A, corporate finance, private equity, and venture capital. He has served as the President of The Johnny Morris Foundation & Chief Sustainability Officer at Bass Pro Shops. Before that, he served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Patagonia. At Patagonia, Phil launched and oversaw Tin Shed Ventures, a $79 million investment fund, Worn Wear, a multi-million dollar eCommerce business, Innovation Works, a breakthrough R&D team, and Regenerative Organic Certification, a holistic standard for food and fiber. Prior to joining the company in 2014, Phil spent a decade at Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In addition, he provided financial advisory and investment-related services to clients such as KKR & Co, TPG Capital, Lone Star Investment Advisors, Nike, Walmart, Southwest Airlines, and SunPower.
Phil's perch in the climate industry is unique, and I was looking forward to sitting down with him this week. Phil walks me through his career path, his most recent role as Chief Sustainability Officer at Bass Pro Shops, and his time at Tinshed Ventures. We also discuss the breaking unsustainable consumer patterns, the dirty underbelly of the apparel industry, and the role of policy in a clean future. Phil is a great guest, and this is a must-listen episode for those interested in the intersection of climate and apparel.
Enjoy the show!
You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded live January 13th, 2022
For more information about this episode, visit: https://myclimatejourney.co/episodes/phil-graves

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Next Episode

Ep. 195: Rama Variankaval, Managing Director & Global Head of Center for Carbon Transition and Corporate Finance Advisory at J.P. Morgan

Today's guest is Rama Variankaval, Managing Director & Global Head of Center for Carbon Transition and Corporate Finance Advisory at J.P. Morgan.
Rama leads J.P. Morgan's Center for Carbon Transition since the group's formation in 2020. In this role, Rama is responsible for setting the strategy and implementing the firm's Climate & ESG goals as it relates to its client businesses. CCT also actively engages with existing and prospective clients to provide advisory services on their business transition related to various ESG factors.
Rama has been part of J.P. Morgan's Corporate Finance Advisory team since the group was formed in 2005 and has been leading the team on a global basis since 2017. The CFA team advises corporate clients on various topics, including capital structure, risk management, activism defense, and structured transactions. Rama was part of J.P. Morgan's internal risk management team for two years before joining the Corporate Finance Advisory group. Rama holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, India; an MS in Structural Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, and an MS in Statistics and Operations Research from New York University.
I was looking forward to this discussion as JP Morgan and financial institutions play a massive role in the carbon-free future. We cover various topics, including the Center for Carbon Transition's mandate, Rama's stake in addressing climate change, and how ESG ties into decarbonization. We also discuss how externalities should be prices, our dependency on fossil fuels, and trusting corporate climate commitments. This is a must-listen episode for anyone focused on climate change and decarbonizing the future.
Enjoy the show!
You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded January 14th, 2022
For more information about JP Morgan's Center for Carbon Transition, visit: https://www.jpmorgan.com/solutions/cib/investment-banking/center-for-carbon-transition
For more information about this episode, visit: https://myclimatejourney.co/episodes/rama-variankaval

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant