# T.J. Whalen

> T.J. Whalen is a seed investor at 1% for the Planet backing Food and Beverage and Pet. See 10 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [1% for the Planet](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/1-for-the-planet)
- Location: Burlington, United States
- Total investments: 10
- Last investment: May 2025
- Lead investor: 30%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/t-j-whalen-9753a22/

T.J. Whalen is a seed investor at 1% for the Planet in Burlington focused on Food and Beverage and Pet. T.J. Whalen is the Chair, Board of Directors of 1% for the Planet, He is also a General Partner and Managing Director at FreshTracks Capital. He attended Dartmouth College.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Food and Beverage | 2 | 20% |
| Pet | 1 | 10% |
| Beauty | 1 | 10% |
| Retail | 1 | 10% |
| Winery | 1 | 10% |

19 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 3 | 30% |
| Series A | 2 | 20% |
| Debt Financing | 2 | 20% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 1 | 10% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Zymochem | The world they live in is built from petroleum. The paints on their walls, the carpets in their homes, the tires on their cars, the plastics for everyday consumer goods – these and many more products are made from chemicals that are mostly made from petroleum, creating a $3 trillion/yr industry. To fulfill their dependency on petroleum, theydo crazy things like setting up oil rigs in the middle of the ocean and drilling several miles into the ocean floor! They’ve done these things because they have had no alternative to meet their needs. Not anymore!Over the past decade, advances in engineering microorganisms have afforded us the opportunity to make the same chemicals that are traditionally made from petroleum. Instead of requiring raw materials buried deep within the earth, microbes can use abundant and renewable sources of carbon such as sugars during processes akin to brewing beer. Despite the numerous advantages, making chemicals this way at the industrial level is still rare. This is because it’s still more expensive than using petroleum for producing the chemicals. Although a few challenges need to be solved to usher in the era of renewable chemicals, a fundamental constraint that limits the economic competitiveness of using microbes is the loss of at least 33% of the carbon as carbon dioxide waste during the fermentation – think of this as the head on your beer. Because of this carbon loss, potential product is simply not made. In technical terms, the maximum achievable yields are 67%. As sugars are the most expensive component of a bioprocess, making the carbon dioxide waste translates to as much as 20% of total costs, which severely hampers the economics of the bioprocess and its competitiveness with petroleum-based production methods.At ZymoChem, they are re-imagining the microbe, one that is designed to eliminate (or substantially reduce) carbon loss during the production of chemicals. To do this, they had to design a completely new biosynthetic pathway – one that doesn’t exist in nature – to make the chemicals. Each individual step of this pathway is designed to not lose carbon as carbon dioxide, enabling their biosynthetic pathway to retain all of the sugar’s carbon into the final chemical product. This carbon conservation allows their approach to have superior theoretical yields, up to 50% better than existing state-of-the-art technology! In turn, their technology has the potential to substantially lower production costs and drastically improve cost-competitiveness for making a variety of chemicals from renewable sources, even at today's oil prices. |  | Venture - Series Unknown | May 06, 2025 |  |
| Lost Lantern Whiskey | Lost Lantern Whiskey is a brewing company that focuses on wine and spirits. The company was founded by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski in 2018 and is headquartered in Weybridge, Vermont, United States. | $2M | Seed | Feb 21, 2025 |  |
| Lost Lantern Whiskey | Lost Lantern Whiskey is a brewing company that focuses on wine and spirits. The company was founded by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski in 2018 and is headquartered in Weybridge, Vermont, United States. | $1M | Seed | May 03, 2022 |  |
| Ogee | Ogee is an organic skincare platform. The company adheres to organic and sustainable principles through its commitment to ethical and fair business practices through its suppliers, products, employees, partners, and community. Ogee obtained organic certification by NSF, a strict, internationally recognized standard specifically designed forpersonal care products, and uses only the highest quality natural and organic ingredients to retain the maximum level of antioxidants, polyphenols, and micronutrients in every bottle.Founded in 2014, the company is headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, United States. |  | Debt Financing | Jun 11, 2019 |  |
| Ogee | Ogee is an organic skincare platform. The company adheres to organic and sustainable principles through its commitment to ethical and fair business practices through its suppliers, products, employees, partners, and community. Ogee obtained organic certification by NSF, a strict, internationally recognized standard specifically designed forpersonal care products, and uses only the highest quality natural and organic ingredients to retain the maximum level of antioxidants, polyphenols, and micronutrients in every bottle.Founded in 2014, the company is headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, United States. | $650K | Debt Financing | Jan 02, 2019 |  |
| R.e.d.d. | R.E.D.D (Radiant Energy Deliciously Delivered) is low sugar, plant-based nutrition for a new generation. We currently create delicious protein bars, bite-sized 80-calorie"Boost" bars, and have some exciting developments on the horizon. With amazing taste and functional ingredients that include probiotics and adaptogens, R.E.D.D. offers anelevated snack option at home or on-the-go. | $1M | Debt Financing | Aug 08, 2018 |  |
| Ogee | Ogee is an organic skincare platform. The company adheres to organic and sustainable principles through its commitment to ethical and fair business practices through its suppliers, products, employees, partners, and community. Ogee obtained organic certification by NSF, a strict, internationally recognized standard specifically designed forpersonal care products, and uses only the highest quality natural and organic ingredients to retain the maximum level of antioxidants, polyphenols, and micronutrients in every bottle.Founded in 2014, the company is headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, United States. | $550K | Seed | Jun 30, 2017 |  |
| R.e.d.d. | R.E.D.D (Radiant Energy Deliciously Delivered) is low sugar, plant-based nutrition for a new generation. We currently create delicious protein bars, bite-sized 80-calorie"Boost" bars, and have some exciting developments on the horizon. With amazing taste and functional ingredients that include probiotics and adaptogens, R.E.D.D. offers anelevated snack option at home or on-the-go. | $750K | Series A | Jun 06, 2017 |  |
| HempVet | HempVet manufactures issue-specific superfood supplements by combining phytocannabinoid-rich organic hemp complex with other powerful active ingredients, allowing users to provide optimal daily support for pet's total health and wellness. | $525K | Seed | Apr 21, 2017 |  |
| DRINKmaple | DRINKmaple is a Concord-based maker of maple water, DRINKmaple pure maple water is the sap that comes straight from maple trees. It is a natural hydration that boasts a subtle hint of maple flavor. Containing 46 naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, antioxidants and prebiotics, this refreshing beverage is naturally low in calories,gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and non-GMO. DRINKmaple is a pure form of hydration that contains more manganese than one cup of kale and is half of the sugar of coconut water. | $3.9M | Series A | Mar 30, 2017 |  |

10 of 10 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Burlington Telecom Innovation Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/burlington-telecom-innovation-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Dudley Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dudley-fund) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [GS Futures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gs-futures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Lululemon](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lululemon) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Toyota Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/toyota-ai-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Vermont Seed Capital Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/vermont-seed-capital-fund-5e71) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About 1% for the Planet

VC Fund · Burlington, United States

1% for the Planet is a global organization that connects dollars and doers to accelerate smart environmental giving.

3 contacts available at 1% for the Planet.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Craig Mathews | Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/craig-mathews |
| T.J. Whalen | Chair, Board of Directors | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/t-j-whalen |
| Yvon Chouinard | Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/yvon-chouinard-731d |

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## FAQ

### What does T.J. Whalen invest in?

T.J. Whalen invests primarily in Food and Beverage, Pet and Beauty startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 10 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did T.J. Whalen last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for T.J. Whalen closed in May 2025. Shizune tracks 10 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### 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 Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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