MINI BITE—Inside Food Venture Capital: Nate Cooper on Investing in the Next Generation of CPG

This week’s episode is our first ever MINI BITE! You get to learn so much in a shorter episode length. Enjoy!Building a food or CPG company is never easy—and finding the right investors can be just as challenging. On this episode of The Perfect Bite, host Sarah Perkins sits down with Nate Cooper, founder and managing partner of Barrel Ventures, to talk about what it really takes to build, fund, and scale successful food and beverage businesses.Nate shares his journey from growing up in a food-industry family to helping launch LYFE Kitchen, co-founding Wise Apple, and eventually becoming an early investor in brands like Olipop. Along the way, he breaks down how founders should think about fundraising, why not everyone needs to love your product, and how venture capital actually works behind the scenes in food and CPG.This conversation covers:How Nate transitioned from operator to food-focused venture capitalistLessons learned from building and shutting down a startupWhat makes a food or CPG brand investableWhy niche audiences matter more than mass appealThe future of functional beverages, CPG consolidation, and emerging categoriesHow founders should approach investors—and what not to doWhy resilience, network, and long-term vision matter more than perfectionWhether you’re building a food brand, exploring venture capital, or just curious how investment decisions are made in CPG, this episode offers a candid, insider look at the business of food.You can connect with Nate on LinkedIn or email him at [email protected]. You can learn more about Barrel Ventures and its portfolio companies at www.barrelvc.com. Subscribe to The Perfect Bite podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! Want to watch the entire episode? Head here to our YouTube!You can follow us on social media @perfectbitepod and sign up for our newsletter on Substack!