“Getting scientific discoveries from the lab to the market”: Laura Thissen’s vision for impactful foodtech investments

We’re delighted to introduce Laura Thissen, Venture Partner at Grey Silo Ventures, whose global experience and deep commitment to agrifood innovation provide fresh insights into the evolving foodtech landscape.

Drawing from her extensive background at StartLife and her international work fostering high-impact collaborations, Laura highlights how technology, smart capital, and strategic partnerships can drive genuine sustainability across the food value chain.

In this interview, Laura discusses the critical role of Corporate Venture Capital in scaling foodtech solutions, the importance of resilient founding teams, and the opportunities awaiting Europe’s innovation ecosystem. For Laura, the path to a sustainable future is clear: leveraging technology and collaboration to transform how we produce, consume, and value food.

• You recently joined Grey Silo Ventures as a Venture Partner, drawing on extensive experience from StartLife and other global initiatives. What first attracted you to the agrifoodtech space, and what do you see as the most urgent goals for building a better food system?

The agrifood sector is key to safeguarding planetary boundaries: cutting emissions, reversing land use change, using less water, and stopping biodiversity loss worldwide. We know that a lot of that impact can be made upstream– and tech is vital in making big, scalable changes here. This is exactly where Grey Silo ventures has its sweet spot: supporting those companies that can make food supply chains more sustainable, be it through investments in soiltech or biopesticides, alternative fats or proteins, or enabling data-driven platforms to scale biomanufacturing or support farmers’ nutrients use. We only have a couple of decades left to turn the tide and I’m incredibly grateful to work in this space at such a crucial point in time.

• With your background in creating international networks of food & ag innovators, how do you see the global investment landscape evolving, and where might the European innovation ecosystem play a unique role in advancing sustainable and regenerative food systems?

VC funding into agrifood is still bouncing back globally. In 2021 a full-blown rationalization hit startup valuations, investors’ multiples and hyped segments such as vertical farming and cultivated meat. We’ve seen a lot of generalist investors jump in over the last decade and pull out again after 2021. Conversely, the push for more sustainable food systems has only gotten stronger – farmers are seeing daily how climate change is affecting their crops. The investors who stuck around really understand the sector and can offer smart capital. Grey Silo Ventures is a perfect example, leveraging Cereal Docks’ assets, network of farmers and customer knowledge to scale startups proposition. The European innovation ecosystem should capitalize on what it has been building in recent years. The US is pulling back GRAS and climate-driven regulations. Europe should now accelerate regulation on natural biopesticides and NGTs for plants and microorganisms and ensure that agrifoodtech innovation can scale in Europe.

• Grey Silo Ventures emphasizes a “people-first” vision. Based on your experience collaborating closely with numerous startups and investors, how can a people-centric approach effectively guide investment decisions in a complex, science-driven market?

It’s always the founders who will drive the startup’s success, especially in those first few years. Of course, putting your energy on solving a must-have need and having a tech edge is important but what you’ll mostly see is that multiple startups are targeting the same specific sector need. Intrinsically motivated founders who can build teams with execution power and sector connections have the best shot at getting their solution out there, scaling it and making real impact. In conversations with founders you can sense that drive. What I also look for is whether a team takes feedback, acts on it, and pivots if needed.

• You’ve worked extensively with impact-driven startups and seen the importance of strong partnerships in fueling innovation. In your view, what are the key elements that distinguish successful, high-impact food-tech ventures?

Nobody can scale a foodtech startup in isolation. Value chain collaborations are a real driver for success and impact. This isn’t just any sector you can easily step into without understanding how it is structured. You need to understand where in the value chain you’re positioned and how your product impacts that chain. Successful ventures have validated their position and can therefore make the right choices on which partners to work with.

• Looking at the bigger picture, which strategies do you find most promising for bridging scientific discovery and commercial impact in the agri-food sector, and how can different ecosystem players—corporates, VCs, universities—collaborate to accelerate truly sustainable and innovative solutions?

I see a lot of positive change here, where corporates, VCs and universities co-locate and find modes to collaborate, by backing accelerators, setting up pre-seed funds for spinoffs and building pilot facilities. I’ve also been working with venture studios and I like that model as they tend to have a founder-first approach. Getting scientific discoveries from the lab to the market is a tough process, and it really comes down to finding the right people to drive it forward.