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In this episode, we hear from George Peppou and Tim Noakesmith, the co-founders, and CEO & CCO at Vow. In 2019 Vow became the world’s first company to make a food product from the cells of an undomesticated animal, in the form of a Kangaroo Dumpling. Yes just the cells, meaning no animals were harmed to create that new form of sustainable food – cultured meat. Listen in to hear George and Tim share their views on food, how they met, the journey they took to start Vow, and the exciting future their company promises.
Time Stamps
- 3:03 - Meet George Peppou
- 5:11 - George's decision to become an inventor
- 7:24 - The project that shifted George's trajectory back towards the food industry - this time with agrifoods
- 10:00 - Meet Tim Noakesmith
- 12:06 - Gaining meaningful brand experiences and understanding human behaviour through working in branding
- 14:15 - Tim and George meet for the first time via phone call and discuss cultured food
- 18:18 - Square Peg principal, James Tynan, who is the lead investor in Vow gives an overview on how the alternative protein market is currently functioning
- 22:13 - The lightbulb moment for George - cutting out the middle man
- 24:17 - Tim's ability to tell a story was crucial to get Vow's idea over the line
- 25:44 - A very simple explanation of how cultured meat is created
- 29:05 - The limitless potential of the cultured meat process and the future of meat consumption
- 35:01 - $50'000, 2 credit cards and 1 proof of concept later, Vow was founded
- 39:02 - Unleashing the potential of scientists through robotic automation
- 40:50 - What makes the Vow team so special?
George Peppou Bio:
George Peppou is founder and CEO of Vow, who are on a mission to make sustainable food both irresistible and available to billions of people. George has supported over 11 agrifood startups since September 2017, including Flurosat, Invertigro and Livestock Labs. He is well known in the industry for being a force to be reckoned with when it comes to helping agrifoodtech startups build great businesses. George is a serial entrepreneur and inventor, with over 30 patents granted. With a background in biochemistry and after nearly a decade working in innovation and deep tech, George is a firm believer that Australia could lead the world in the field of synthetic biology.
Tim Noakesmith Bio:
Tim Noakesmith is a serial entrepreneur, design professional, educator and the co-founder of Vow, a future-focused food company that uses the latest biotechnology to create new foods by using animal cells but not the animal. Before launching VOW, Noakesmith held a number of senior roles in user experience design, service design and product strategy spanning a diverse range of industries and technologies, including Blockchain payments, national communications infrastructure and some of the world’s most recognisable FMCG brands.
Podcast Notes:
Founded in 2019, Vow is defining a new category of food using cultured meat technology. Almost every mouthful of meat eaten on earth comes from just four animal species our ancestors could domesticate several millennia ago. We don’t replicate these meats, instead Vow is building a library of cells from both domesticated and undomesticated species. Vow will draw on this library as a repertoire of new ingredients to create tastier, more nutritious meats than animals could ever produce. Vow is now a team of 31 chefs, scientists, designers and engineers based in Sydney, Australia. They are currently hiring and looking for more talented people to become a 'Vowzer' (what they call themselves.) If you're interested in the work Vow are doing, visit their website for more info. Click here.
