Getting started in the GFIdeas community
GFIdeas offers entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, students, and experts the opportunity to connect with each other via monthly seminars, a Slack group, and outside of formal GFI channels by accessing contact information in the community directory.
About the community directory
The community directory is a list of everyone involved in the GFIdeas community who opts in. The directory contains information about each member including contact information, what they’re working on, what they need from the group, and what they can offer to the group. This will allow you to make connections based on shared interests or alignment of needs/offers.
Use the filtering, sorting, and grouping features of the database to narrow your search. You can filter by field of expertise, production platform, business area, technology area, product category, and more.
This directory is intended to be used as a tool for making one-on-one connections. If someone is doing something that sounds interesting to you, please feel free to reach out to them directly! Multiple people have found co-founders and made other helpful connections this way. Please remember: while everyone on this list has agreed to be contacted on a one-off basis, we do not allow use of this list for marketing purposes or mass emailing (and these actions may result in a ban from GFIdeas). Thank you for abiding by these rules and happy networking!
Note: You will find the directory password in your GFIdeas welcome email.
Reminder: You can find the directory password in your GFIdeas welcome email.
Join one of our monthly seminars
GFIdeas seminars are opportunities for entrepreneurs, scientists, students, and other thinkers in our community to get together, learn from experts in the field, and participate in a discussion about the topics covered in each month’s call. We’re excited to offer two tracks:
- The Business of Alt Protein: catered towards entrepreneurs
- The Science of Alt Protein: best suited for scientists, engineers, and students.
Upcoming events
In addition to monthly seminars, we also offer networking sessions and other events.
Fish & CHIPS: Collaborative Huddle for Ideation & Problem Solving
Calling all cultivated seafood researchers and innovators! Join us for our next collaborative huddle on March 25th at 11:30 am ET.
Fish & CHIPS: Collaborative Huddle for Ideation & Problem Solving
Calling all cultivated seafood researchers and innovators! Join us for our next collaborative huddle on March 25th at 10:30 pm ET.
The Business of Alt Protein: Precision fermentation consumer research and nomenclature
Join GFI’s next Business of Alt Protein webinar covering an overview of current precision fermentation consumer research insights and nomenclature best practices.
GFI’s Research Grant Program: 2025 RFP information session
The greatest time of the year is upon us: GFI research grant season! Funding for alternative protein research is up for grabs, and we’ll walk you through GFI’s RFP step-by-step.
Slack group
Participate in discussions and directly connect with community members in the GFIdeas Slack group. Through this resource, you can network with people across the alternative protein ecosystem, access valuable resources, and find out about industry events. You should have received an invitation for the Slack group in your GFIdeas welcome email.
Community guidelines
In the GFIdeas community, we welcome questions, tips, resources, and any discourse around founding and running a good food startup, doing academic research, or exploring alternative protein careers. We ask that community members come in with a willingness to engage and with the intention of helping others in addition to helping themselves. We are fostering a collaborative culture to advance the entire field.
While we are certain that most members of the GFIdeas community will naturally adhere to high ethical standards, we want to ensure that such standards of behavior can be enforced. If we receive substantive complaints about a member’s behavior, we will look into that conduct and make a determination for which action to take. Resulting action may vary from clarifying misunderstandings between parties to no longer allowing an individual or group to participate in the community. We will act as appropriate to the situation, determined at GFI’s sole discretion.
At a minimum, high ethical standards means:
- Behaving with high integrity and honesty.
- Dealing with GFI and with each other truthfully and in good faith, and avoiding unethical or misleading actions.
- Not disparaging the ideas, products, or initiatives of others in the forum.
- Not using members’ contact information for mass marketing purposes.
- Not misrepresenting things like endorsements from, support for, or partnerships with others in the community.
- Not stating or implying GFI endorsement, representing GFI’s opinion, or using internal guidance or statements of GFI staff in promoting or marketing your product without prior written consent from GFI.
- Not using this community to make self-promotional sales pitches unless it benefits the broader group.
Finally, the GFIdeas community by its very nature brings potential competitors together. To avoid violating the antitrust laws, it is very important to avoid discussion of certain topics. Agreements among competitors to fix prices or fees, to allocate markets, to engage in product boycotts and to refuse to deal with third parties are automatically illegal under the antitrust laws. It does not matter what the reason for the agreement might be. All GFIdeas meetings must have a GFI staff member present. Any prohibited discussion must be reported to legal@gfi.org immediately.
Resources for entrepreneurs
Startup manual
This guide lays out the steps involved in starting an alternative protein company, from securing funding and developing your product to scaling up and expanding distribution.
Map of accelerators and incubators
Discover accelerators and incubators around the world that can provide early-stage resources for alternative protein entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship
Learn about planning, launching, and growing an alternative protein startup, from idea to product development, and commercialization.
Resources for scientists
Research grants
Learn about cutting-edge alternative protein research funded by GFI. Find funding opportunities for your own research.
Research funding database
GFI’s research funding database provides curated grant opportunities for open-access alternative protein research.
Science
Explore the science of plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived meat. Discover research ideas, funding opportunities, and open-access tools.
Resources for students
Alternative protein career portal
Discover rewarding alternative protein jobs. Gain insights on building your career and find open positions in this exciting industry.
Student resource guide
This guide will help you steer through the exciting world of alternative proteins.
The Alt Protein Project
Students play a pivotal role in building the alternative protein ecosystem. Explore how you can start a student group at your university to accelerate the global transition to the future…
Support our work
Access to GFIdeas’ thriving community is free thanks to our generous donors. Philanthropic support is vital to our mission. Connect with us today to discuss how you can help fuel this transformative work.
