Investment Climate Podcast: Giacomo Bastianelli of Rainbow Crops, How to Get Funded in 2025

In the Investment Climate Podcast, host Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors to discuss funding benchmarks for Alt Proteins in 2025, uncovering the investment strategies of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. In Episode 33, Shandrovsky speaks with Giacomo Bastianelli, CEO of Rainbow Crops, a VIB spinout focused on engineering complex traits in crops using AI-driven genome editing. Rainbow Crops emerged from a venture studio model at VIB, where deep science is matured before bringing in an entrepreneur-in-residence to shape the business.

During the podcast, Bastianelli shares insights on building trust with investors, cap table construction, and addressing investor concerns about long development timelines. Rainbow Crops aims to develop resilient crops using AI trained on plant "omics" data and has recently received investment from PINC, the venture arm of Paulig. The podcast provides valuable lessons on deep-tech fundraising, transparency, empathy, and setting valuations using net present value.