Event description

Join GFI team members Laine Clark, Audrey Spence, Caroline Bushnell, and Aviv Oren at one of the leading alternative protein industry events. Future Food-Tech San Francisco will bring together more than 1,700 industry leaders including representation from CPG brands, retailers, ingredient providers, investors, and startups. GFI will host a roundtable on financing strategies for alternative protein companies. Register with code GFI10 for 10% off.

About our session

Creative Financing: Powering Innovation Beyond Venture Capital
Emerging alternative protein companies at all stages are facing reduced access to traditional pools of capital. In response, GFI has taken a deep dive into non-dilutive and non-traditional funding resources. This roundtable will focus on related insights.

Date: Thursday, March 21
Location: Main Auditorium, Lower B2 Level, Yerba Buena

Event location

780 Mission Street
San Francisco, California 94103
+ Google Map
View Venue Website

GFI speaker

Laine square

Laine Clark

INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANAGER

In addition to founding her own company she exited through acquisition in 2016, she has worked with numerous startups for more than 20 years. Since 2017, she has been an Entrepreneur in Residence for Georgetown University’s Entrepreneurship Initiative at the McDonough School of Business. Additionally, she has served as an entrepreneurship mentor for George Washington University’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, including engagements with the NSF I-Corps Program and the Korean Innovation Center. Laine holds a BA in Communications from Wake Forest University.

Upcoming events

View all events
Dairy-free yogurt with berries and granola
Virtual Event

The Business of Alt Protein: Consumer taste preferences in dairy-free products

Join GFI for our next Business of Alt Protein webinar as we unveil insights from NECTAR’s new Taste of the Industry 2026 report which benchmarks consumer taste preferences across the full dairy-free…

An illustration of the globe with two hands reaching towards one another.  third party event featured image.
Virtual Event

Animal-Free Meat: The Next Agricultural Revolution

Come learn how science, policy, and industry can work together to satisfy the world’s soaring demand for meat, no animals required.

An illustration of the globe with two hands reaching towards one another.  third party event featured image.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The Climate Challenge & Protein Diversification for the Global South

Food systems sit at the center of the climate challenge. This DC Climate Week session brings together development finance leaders, researchers, and industry experts to explore how diversified protein production…

Https://gfi. Org/wp content/uploads/2026/04/sci26012 webinar graphics soap may header featured
Virtual Event

The Science of Alt Protein: Transforming waste to fungal mycoprotein

Learn how Dr. Wang is developing a foundational biorefinery for converting food waste to fungal mycoprotein for practical food applications.

A group of people at a table with notebooks and laptops
Virtual Event

Proposal Writing Workshop: Tips and tricks for securing alternative protein funding

Join our expert-led workshop designed to help U.S.-based researchers strengthen their ability to secure funding.

An illustration of the world with trees and windmills in the background
San Jose McEnery Convention Center

SynBioBeta 2026

Bruce Friedrich joins SynBioBeta to make the case for a new way of producing meat—one grounded in science, built for scale, and critical to the future of food.