5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Grey Silo Ventures’s Matteo Leonardi
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In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.
Matteo Leonardi is an Investment Manager at Grey Silo Ventures.
What future food technologies most excite you?
Precision fermentation: the whole concept of leveraging microorganisms to produce complex compounds is simply fascinating.
What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?
- New crop and genetic variety discovery and/or domestication
- Sugar replacement
- Soil restoration tech
What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?
Globally, introducing the first cultivated products in the market.
If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?
I wouldn’t call this fixing, just as I would not call it plant-based “meat”, as these products deserve their own definition and category.
If there’s one thing I’d like to adjust, though, that is the flavour profile, to make it a bit more complex and longer-lasting.
What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?
Relentlessness, drive, and the ability to look at the grand scheme of things without losing touch with the real world.
The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?
Planet A Foods. We were super late to the party, and the round turned out to be much bigger than planned. Luckily, another great company in the sector came after them (Foreverland), which we invested in.
What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?
xFarm Technologies (also the first).
What has been your most disappointing investment so far?
Quite proudly, none. We have a limited portfolio of companies (seven) as we are not forced to invest as a conventional VC following investment/divestment periods, allowing us to invest only when we build strong conviction. Luckily (and kudos to them), the founders we partnered with are all performing according to the plan.
What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?
Timing plays a much bigger impact than anything else.
What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?
Gotta be the new version of Choruba, Foreverland’s chocolate alternative made with carobs.
Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?
I’ll stick to my roots: a simple pasta al pomodoro. Quality ingredients, tasty, and climate-friendly.
What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?
Working with ambitious people trying to change the planet we live on for the best. No matter what you’re working on, if you are an entrepreneur in our field, you might not always get our money, but you surely (for what it’s worth) have my complete esteem.
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