In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.
Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.
Episode 31: IUNU
In this episode, we sat down with Adam Greenberg, CEO of IUNU, who just raised $20M from top AI, agriculture, and ag land investors. Adam shares how a decade of building in the greenhouse space converged with today’s AI revolution—and how deep trust, contrarian leadership, and operational frugality helped him build investor confidence over time. From meeting S2G via Joe Montana and the ex-CEO of Whole Foods to the power of servant leadership and third-order fundraising strategy, this is a masterclass in building companies and raising capital with integrity, precision, and long-term vision.
Key Facts IUNU:
- Goal: To drive efficiencies and optimization, allowing everybody access to fresh local produce year-round, using tools like AI and machine vision.
- Recently raised $20M with S2G Investment as lead investor.
Alex’s Top Findings:
- Frugality and Integrity as Leadership Cornerstones. Adam believes that trust with investors and loyalty from employees stems from leading by example — personally absorbing costs and being one of the lowest paid on the team. “ We’re pretty frugal as a company. We’re the best in the world of service. But when it comes to what we do internally, we try to be as frugal as possible, ’cause we have to make the money go as far as possible. In leadership, it’s all about being able to show with actions. So every single day when you work with your team, you gotta put them first. For example, when I’m in town, at the headquarters in Seattle, I’ll clean the toilets and wash the dishes. Why? Because if they see me doing that and know that I’m willing to do that, we’re all willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
- Investor Trust is Built on Logic, Not Hype. Adam doesn’t believe in “selling” to investors but focuses on clearly explaining his logic and decisions, even when imperfect. “ I’m not very good at communicating with investors. I am good at always doing the right thing… and having a why for every decision. Too many people are so grounded that they don’t have big ideas. Too many people are so aspirational that they aren’t grounded. You have to do both.”
- Proving Market-Making Potential in a “Small” Sector. Adam addressed investor objections that indoor agriculture is a small market by showing how his tech can unlock growth and transform the economics. “ I think most investors don’t understand that or truly understand how to make a market. So we fundamentally shift the economics of greenhouse growing, and it’s more profitable to be a greenhouse grower. Then you can not just take the market of greenhouse growing in produce, you can make a market and allow greenhouses to be around every urban area.”
Link to Apple Podcast here.
Catch the full podcast series here.
