In a gold rush, selling picks and shovels is the most reliable way to make money. Matt Crisp is betting that will be true in the plant-based protein revolution too.
Crisp is founder and chief executive of Benson Hill, the Creve Coeur company that uses artificial intelligence, data analysis and gene-editing technology to improve crop breeding. Its initial focus is on soybeans and yellow peas, key ingredients for firms like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
Just as the prospectors needed picks and shovels, Benson Hill is betting that meat-substitute makers will need products like its ultra-high-protein soybeans.
It鈥檚 also betting that investors will embrace the picks-and-shovels strategy. Benson Hill鈥檚 shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange at the end of this month, after a at Star Peak Corp. II.
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Star Peak is the publicly traded shell company that agreed in May to merge with Benson Hill. The deal values Benson Hill at $1.35 billion and will bring in an estimated $625 million of new capital.
The cash will accelerate the company鈥檚 growth as it prepares to take its high-protein soybean meal to market. Benson Hill soybeans were planted on 70,000 U.S. acres this year, and Crisp expects a 鈥渕aterial increase鈥 next year.
鈥淲hat we are is a bet on the trend rather than a bet on a brand,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e feel like we鈥檙e helping power an industry with incredible opportunity.鈥
Benson Hill鈥檚 beans not only come with the high protein content food companies want, they also require less processing than traditional varieties.
Benson Hill鈥檚 yellow peas are a couple of years away from being grown in commercial quantities, but they鈥檒l bring similar nutritional and cost advantages. Soybeans are the biggest ingredient used by the fake-meat industry, but yellow peas are the fastest-growing.
Beyond those two products, 鈥渨e鈥檙e always looking at new crops,鈥 Crisp said. That could include fresh vegetables, bred for flavor and nutritional value using Benson Hill鈥檚 CropOS system.
A former warehouse a few blocks from Benson Hill headquarters will play a big part in such efforts. It鈥檚 being converted into the company鈥檚 Crop Accelerator, filled with growing chambers that allow employees to manipulate temperature, light, moisture, carbon dioxide content and other variables as plants mature.
Plant breeding can only go as fast as growers can produce new generations. The accelerator will at least double the pace of conventional field trials, Crisp said.
The market for meat alternatives is expected to be worth $140 billion by 2029, and it definitely has Wall Street鈥檚 attention. Beyond Meat went public two years ago and its shares have nearly quintupled.
Carter Williams, managing partner of iSelect Fund, believes investors will like Benson Hill too. His 50度灰视频-based fund was an early investor in the company, and helped line up investors for a private placement that鈥檚 part of the Star Peak deal.
鈥淭he opportunity is big in the plant-based meat space, and Wall Street hasn鈥檛 really priced it in yet,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very exciting space, and we have some of the best talent here in 50度灰视频.鈥
Crisp credits a lot of the company鈥檚 success to its ability to recruit here. The company has 350 employees, the majority of whom are in 50度灰视频, and more than 40 open positions.
The company鈥檚 headcount has quadrupled in the last three years. With new capital and new visibility on the stock market, it should continue to grow rapidly.