Lever VC
VC Fund
New York, United States
Lever VC is a U.S.-Hong Kong venture capital fund founded by Managing Partner Nick Cooney and investing in early stage companies in the alternative protein sector (plant-based and “clean”/cell-based meat, egg and dairy companies). Lever VC operates globally, with offices in Hong Kong and the U.S. and staff in the US, Hong Kong, Europe, andIsrael. Entrepreneurs and startups interested in connecting with Lever VC about possible investment can reach the team and submit information about their company at http://www.levervc.com.Managing Partner Nick Cooney is the Co-Founder and former Managing Trustee of New Crop Capital, a private venture capital trust vehicle investing in the alternative protein space, and is Co-Founder of the Good Food Institute, the world’s largest non-governmental organization working to grow the alternative protein space. The General Partners at Lever VC have deployed over $1.5 billion in capital over the past decade across a variety of sectors, including over thirty deals in the alternative protein space.
- Total investments:
- 60
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 40%
- Fund size:
- $50M
- Last fund:
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Lever VC invests in
Stages Lever VC invests in
Countries Lever VC invests in
Round sizes
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Round size
- Seed
- $700k–$8.1M
- Pre-Seed
- $80k–$850k
- Series A
- $1.9M–$18M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Food and Beverage 31 (52%)
- Food Processing 15 (25%)
- Biotechnology 11 (18%)
- Manufacturing 7 (12%)
- Alternative Protein 6 (10%)
Stage
- Seed 24 (40%)
- Series A 13 (22%)
- Pre-Seed 7 (12%)
- Series B 4 (7%)
- Venture - Series Unknown 2 (3%)
Country
- United States 13 (22%)
- China 6 (10%)
- United Kingdom 4 (7%)
- Brazil 3 (5%)
- Canada 2 (3%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jasmin Kern
Analyst
|
Analyst | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
Julian Ting
Vice President
|
Vice President | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
Lawrence Chu
Partner
|
Partner | Total investments: 1 | Find email | |
Nick Cooney
Managing Partner
|
Managing Partner | Total investments: 11 | Find email |
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peppertux is the company that made sure that pistachio spreads get the spotlight they deserve. From the Original Pistachio Butter to our Vegan Pistachio Cream, we have it all!Fueled with innovation and desire to create additional ways to consume pistachios, Peppertux also recently launched a series of pistachio beverages, ready to take the coffeespace by storm! | $2.4M / Seed / Jul 22, 2026 | ||
| Omni is a plant-based pet food company from the UK, that is developing healthy, sustainable food for dogs. | $14.6M / Series A / Jun 22, 2026 | ||
| ns/tx industries is a food manufacturing and technology company that processes and sells fish and meat products. | $10.5M / Series A / Jun 11, 2026 | ||
| Incapto provides coffee solutions that combine specialty whole-bean coffee, super-automatic coffee machines, and subscription-based delivery services for consumers and businesses. The company supplies freshly roasted coffee beans sourced from multiple origins and delivers them directly to customers through recurring subscriptions, ensuringcontinuous availability and freshness. Its offering includes fully automatic coffee machines that grind and brew beans on demand, enabling users to prepare coffee without single-use capsules or manual preparation steps. The company also provides workplace coffee solutions, supplying machines, beans, and technical support for offices, hotels, and food service environments.Incapto integrates digital tools that track consumption, manage inventory, and automate replenishment, allowing customers to monitor usage and receive supplies based on demand. It also offers complementary products such as accessories, beverages, and maintenance services to support ongoing operation of its coffee systems. | $11.7M / Series B / Apr 24, 2026 | ||
| Mezcla produces plant-based protein bars to provide snack alternatives. Its first product, the Puff-Crispy, replaces the traditional slab-style protein bar with an innovative, crunchy texture developed from puffed pea protein. The company's products use soy, dairy, and gluten-free ingredients to produce protein bars in various flavors such asvanilla, cocoa peanut butter, and hot chocolate to let customers enjoy a delicious and convenient snack that is also packed with protein and nutrients. | $9.5M / Series B / Mar 02, 2026 | ||
XOXO Soda
|
XOXO Soda is a plant-based drink with prebiotic fiber that is low in sugar and calories. | $5.2M / Venture - Series Unknown / Apr 11, 2025 | |
| Joywell Foods is developing the first healthy, protein sweeteners. Derived from exotic plants, protein sweeteners are rare compounds that provide an amazing taste without the calories. These proteins, produced through fermentation, have no glycemic impact and do not affect the gut microbiome. The company has received regulatory approvals, includingFDA "no questions" letters and GRAS status for multiple proteins | $18M / Series B / Feb 13, 2025 | ||
50CUT
|
Mush Foods is an Israeli-based food tech company, growing edible mushroom mycelium to create innovative and sustainable animal-free protein as an ingredient for the food and beverage industry. We harness the fantastic power and innate intelligence of mushrooms to face future global challenges and provide sustainable groundbreaking food solutions tothe food of the future. | $3M / Seed / Dec 31, 2024 | |
| Gavan produces natural proteins designed to improve the quality of food using natural resources.The company extracts targeted proteins while protecting their natural structure and leaving the rest of the biomass unharmed allowing to continue extracting additional ingredients, thereby improving food quality without harming the environment.Thecompany was founded in 2018 in Acre, HaZafon, Israel by Allen Hazan and Uri Jeremias. | $8M / Series A / Dec 10, 2024 | ||
| Boston Bioprocess is a CDMO platform for bringing microbes through pilot scale to industrial scale. The company provides strain evaluation, process development, and scale-up solutions to companies seeking to commercialize yeast, bacteria, and fungal microbes for both fermentation and downstream services. The company uses large bioprocess databaseand expertise to effectively remove knowledge and capacity bottlenecks in the transition from lab to pilot then to commercial manufacturing for bio-based product development. | $6.3M / Seed / Jul 03, 2024 | ||
| See all 60 investments → | |||
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FAQ
What does Lever VC invest in?
Lever VC invests primarily in Food and Beverage, Food Processing and Biotechnology startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 60 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What is Lever VC's check size?
Lever VC typically joins rounds of $700k–$8.1M at Seed, $80k–$850k at Pre-Seed and $1.9M–$18M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Lever VC participates in.
How do I contact Lever VC?
Public channels for Lever VC include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
Who are the partners at Lever VC?
The team at Lever VC includes Jasmin Kern (Analyst), Julian Ting (Vice President) and Lawrence Chu (Partner). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Oct 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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