I sit down with scientist-turned-investor Jenny Kan, co-founder and general partner at Juniper VC, to talk about why bio-manufacturing is critical to making cleaner chemicals, materials, ingredients, and products—closer to home.
We discuss the shift from making things with petroleum to microbes, why decentralized production is key to national security and resilient supply chains, and the hard-won lessons from the last, “industrial biotech bubble.”
Topics we cover:
If you’re interested in synthetic biology, deep tech investing, or the future of decentralized, clean production, this one’s for you.
Recording date: October 26, 2025
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:18 Industrial Biotech Explained
03:53 Explaining Feedstock
05:25 Why We Must Replace Petroleum
06:59 Fermentation And Decentralizing Production
08:38 Explaining The Bio-Industrial Revolution
10:11 Juniper VC And Investing In Bio-Industrial Startups
11:07 Why The Biomanufacturing Bubble Keeps Popping
14:11 AI's Impact on Biology
16:43 Jenny’s Approach To Investing In Bio-manufacturing
19:26 Current, "Fat" In Our Supply Chains
23:12 Juniper’s Ecosystem Building Approach
26:15 Venture Capital Signaling & Flex
28:15 Jenny's Journey: From Scientist to Investor
32:15 Current Fundraising Environment
34:05 "Deep Truth" To Bio-manufacturing
35:11 Explaining The Importance Of A Techno-Economic Analysis
37:28 #1 Mistake Scientist-Founders Make
38:32 Understanding Consumer Behavior
41:27 Consumer Education Around Bio-manufacturing
44:11 Top Geographies For Bio-manufacturing
46:23 How We Accelerate the Bio-Industrial Revolution
53:12 Rapid Fire
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Links to Jenny's Work:
Key Influences and Resources Mentioned:
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