Industry
As a nonprofit working to build a sustainable, secure, and just food system, we work with the private sector across the smart protein value chain to accelerate innovation, drive investment, and scale the ecosystem—all faster than market forces alone would allow. We do this by building open-access market resources for sector-specific insights and platforms for growth for facilitating strategic collaborations.
State of the Industry Report
Insights into the commercial landscape, investments, technical advancements, and more.
India has the largest population in the world, with rising disposable incomes and an increasing percentage of younger, new-age consumers who are conscious about what they eat and are more accepting of diverse cuisines and innovative product formats. The country also has the tremendous advantage of being regionally distinct, with multiple smaller markets to tap into depending on the flavour and positioning of alternative protein options. Given its prowess in processing infrastructure, raw materials, and skilled labour, India holds immense potential to become a manufacturing hub for cost-competitive ingredients, equipment, and end products for the global alternative protein market while meeting the protein needs of the Indian consumer.
Our work with global partners across the private sector advances alternative protein innovation and enables market breakthroughs. We analyse the market to identify key white spaces and emerging opportunities and provide actionable, open-source market data and consumer insights. We foster an idea-rich startup ecosystem and drive capital to scale the industry. We assist established food manufacturers in navigating the alternative protein sector by providing network access and sharing the resources.
In short, we build the enabling ecosystem for smart protein and advance the next generation of products that can compete with conventional animal products on the key parameters: taste, price, and convenience.
Accelerating innovation
We build relationships and provide research and insights to catalyse innovation and commercialisation of alternative protein products, including plant-based meat, eggs, seafood and dairy. We also work with industry experts to track product launches and industry trends in order to effectively identify, catalogue, and analyse concrete white space ideas for companies and researchers to innovate and fill key market gaps.
Driving investment
To inform capital providers about investment opportunities in alternative proteins, we analyse and present market information to various institutions, including venture capital, private equity, family offices, banks, corporations, and investor groups. We also support investors with alternative protein thesis building, an overview of the investment landscape and opportunities, along with up-to-date market trends. Additionally, we explore pathways to secure public financing for the sector, helping unlock funding avenues that can drive its growth.
Scaling the ecosystem
We work directly with stakeholders across the smart protein value chain to identify key product opportunities, hone strategy, and accelerate the pace at which alternative protein products gain market share. We engage with corporates such as equipment suppliers, ingredient manufacturers, and supply chain players to create an enabling ecosystem for the growth of the sector.
We also facilitate constructive dialogue between entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, corporate professionals, and scientists through our GFIdeas India community to ensure professionals with different backgrounds connect, learn, and build business collaborations to advance our shared mission.
Entrepreneurship
Starting a business in a sector as emerging as smart protein can be challenging. Our resources support each step of planning, launching, and growing a smart protein startup.
GFIdeas India Community
GFIdeas India is a community for entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, students, professionals and subject matter experts who are driving innovation in smart protein. Sounds like you?
Investment
Investing in smart protein companies
Explore our resources, tools, and community-building opportunities for investors to learn how you can identify and approach alternative protein companies in India.
Join GFI India’s investor database
Investor database
Joining our investor database allows investors access to an active deal flow of alternative protein companies currently fundraising in India through a dedicated fundraising database. To list themselves on our investor database, investors are invited to share key information about their mandates and areas of interest through this intake form. After submission, they will receive an onboarding email with credentials to access the GFI India fundraising database.
Who has access to the investor database?
GFI India only shares this directory with actively fundraising alternative protein companies in India, who may then reach out to prospective investors they believe are a good fit for their fundraise.
How can I edit my information or remove myself from this list?
Investors can request to edit their information or remove themselves from the investor directory by emailing india@gfi.org.
Access deal flow through our company database
GFI India’s smart protein company database allows investors to explore the landscape of plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation companies, including consumer brands, manufacturers, and ingredient companies in India, and the global company database provides similar insights for companies operating in the smart protein sector worldwide.
Investor education
Our no-cost engagement with investors provides education on the alternative protein industry, including global and regional market data, consumer insights, investment trends, technological updates, regulatory information, and more. Sign up for GFI’s investor newsletter to receive more such updates.
Please note that we cannot review materials from individual companies and only provide context for the industry as a whole that can complement your due diligence efforts.
Further reading for investors
Smart protein economic analysis
GFI India worked with Deloitte India to gauge what smart protein could mean for India’s economic future in terms of market size, export potential, job creation, and more.
Global State of the Industry Reports
Our global State of the Industry reports dive deep into the key technologies, business developments, and scientific advances propelling the industries for plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived meat, eggs, and dairy.
ESG measurement and reporting
GFI & FAIRR’s ESG frameworks supply investors and companies in the alternative proteins industry with tools to monitor, measure, and report on risks and opportunities.
Cultivated meat in India
GFI India, in collaboration with CIIE, presented a comprehensive analysis of the cultivated meat sector in India, examining its current landscape and future potential. Additionally, our joint report with Invest India identified key opportunities and recommendations for policy development to support the industry.
Solutions Database
Take a look at investment priorities at each stage of the alt protein value chain by exploring our global solutions database. For India specific innovation priorities, please view the smart protein repository.
Investor due diligence
Technical due diligence is important for investment in any food manufacturing business, especially in the ever-evolving smart protein landscape. You can access industry experts who can provide valuable insight for evaluating potential investments, sample questions to pressure-test the technical strategies yourself as well as further education material to build your investment thesis.
Funding the build
A review of the funding landscape for alternative protein scale-up and commercial manufacturing. Moving beyond venture capital, we explore financing strategies that companies can deploy today and highlight the significant challenges that remain.
Manufacturing
Find curated resources, insights, and collaboration opportunities that power product development and large-scale manufacturing across plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated protein platforms.
Plant-based
Fermentation-derived & cultivated meat
Ecosystem toolkit
GFI India’s curated databases and directories, together called the ecosystem toolkit, facilitate opportunity discovery and effective partnership building across the smart protein value chain. Whether you are looking to hire scientific and business talent, exploring job prospects or collaboration opportunities, scouting for co-manufacturers or ingredient suppliers, looking to connect with investors for fundraising, or trying to find advisors and consultants, there is something for everyone.
Market and consumer insights
Our high-impact market and consumer research highlights the rapid growth of the different plant-based categories in India and identifies key opportunities for accelerating R&D, innovation, industry collaboration, product launch, and scaling. Explore the resources below to best position your smart protein solution for your target market.
The Next Course: Reimagining Protein
This report presents insights from qualitative interviews with food service experts and plant-based meat brands, highlighting opportunities and challenges in integrating smart protein into food service.
Meat Your Match
This report details consumer feedback on plant-based meat products and benchmarks their performance against their meat counterparts to provide insights on areas that need improvement to enhance the adoption of plant-based meat products among consumers in India.
Alt protein marketing
Learn from industry experts on key considerations when marketing alternative protein products.
Packaging and labelling guide
This report aims to understand the consumer perception of existing packs of plant-based meat and dairy in the market and provides insights that can help manufacturers in India with consumer-relevant labelling practices.
Insights on the plant-based dairy category in India
Gain insights into consumer perception and experience of both plant-based and animal-derived milk by examining familiarity, trial experiences, and motivating factors and challenges that influence their consumption choices.
Insights on awareness, trial, and purchase behaviour – plant-based meat and dairy, India
GFI India, in collaboration with Kantar World Panel, conducted a market study focusing on evaluating consumer awareness, trial, and purchasing behaviours within the plant-based meat and dairy sector in India.
Early adopters of plant-based meat
This report provides an attitudinal and sociodemographic profile of the early adopter segment for plant-based meat in India along with their usage and attitudes toward conventional meat.
Key resources
State of the Industry Report: Smart Protein in India
In our detailed report, you’ll get current insights into the state of the smart protein industry including the commercial landscape, consumer and investment insights, technical advancements, and regulatory updates.
Ecosystem toolkit
GFI India’s curated databases and directories, together called the ecosystem toolkit, facilitate opportunity discovery and effective partnership building across the smart protein value chain.
Meet our experts
Aiyanna Belliappa
Senior Innovation & Entrepreneurship Specialist
Aiyanna unites stakeholders across the smart protein value chain and executes strategies to accelerate investment and scale-up in the alternative protein ecosystem.
Rajyalakshmi G
Market & Consumer Insights Advisor
Rajyalakshmi is a marketing veteran with a finger on the pulse of the Indian consumer, working to catalyse corporate innovation and the growth of smart protein in the market through consumer research.
Fathima Beevi A
Industry Engagement Associate
Fathima advances smart protein ecosystem development through stakeholder engagement, strategic resource management, and community-building initiatives.
