From Lab to Table: The Startup Founder Revolutionizing the Seafood Industry with Sandhya Sriram, Shiok Meats

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – Intro
02:37 – Crucible moments for Sandhya: losing her father at 15 years old bringing her to science
04:00 – A story of resilience, journalism as a pathway to entrepreneurship
05:58 – A stem-cell hamburger, a professor in Netherlands? Wait, what?
08:40 – 65% of the population now lives in Asia: the opportunity for seafood
09:43 – But, stem-cells? From pharma to food applications
13:00 – Nuts and bolts: the yoghurt starter for crustaceans
16:00 – Licensing as the next step
19:46 – The valley of death, always be closing
23:40 – But not a typical VC play
28:12 – “I was the most introverted person. It took a lot of work to be who I am”
34:17 – Billion Dollar Questions

About Dr. Sandhya Sriram

ON TIME MAGAZINE: THE SCIENTIST LEADING THE PUSH TO BRING LAB-GROWN SEAFOOD TO YOUR PLATE

ON FORBES: IF THEY CAN EXECUTE AND BRING THEIR PRODUCT TO MARKET, IT COULD HELP PUT A DENT IN THE MASSIVE SHRIMP INDUSTRY

Dr. Sandhya Sriram is the Group CEO and Co-founder of Shiok Meats Pte. Ltd., Singapore, the first cultivated seafood & meat company in Southeast Asia and the first cultivated Crustacean company globally. With her at the helm, Shiok Meats has raised USD 30 Million in funding since its inception in 2018 from a global suite of investors – USA, Europe, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. Shiok Meats also acquired Gaia Foods, a cultivated red meat company headquartered in Singapore.

A stem cell biologist and scientist by training and education, a former business development professional, a serial entrepreneur, and a thought leader, Sandhya was recently named as part of the 2021 class of Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts and as one of Forbes Women in Tech. She is also an advisor and investor to trailblazing Food Tech start-ups and has spoken at leading industry conferences worldwide. A proud mother to a 9-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter, a conscious lifestyle blogger, and an avid traveler, Sandhya likes to call herself a productive juggler.