James has spent his entire career in the food and drink industry, and is regarded as a sector expert in the animal protein and dairy industries. Prior to joining the Lever VC team, James was the Director of Strategy and Due Diligence for leading consulting firm Gira, running operations globally for this business unit. James has managed strategy projects and investments on the ground across 45 different countries, working with a range of leading players throughout the value chain from farm inputs to major protein and dairy processors and machinery and packaging players. He has expertise across several areas, including procurement, product category expansion and go to market strategies, as well as building out a large number of international expansion strategies, both organic and through acquisition, for leading Food & Ag companies.

He has been involved in the alternative protein space for the last seven years, primarily working with major meat and dairy companies on their expansion into the space, focusing on category selection, R&D and partnership development, GTM strategy, and prospective investment opportunities. James has also worked with several government and legislative bodies on the potential positioning of alternative meat and dairy products in the category and legislation.

James has worked with a number of the leading accelerator programs including IndieBio and Food X, mentoring portfolio companies and assisting them on their expansion strategy, R&D, product development and market selection, as well as giving lectures on topics such as growth strategies and market sizing to start-ups in the food-tech, biotech and ag-tech space.

He has led a number of Lever VC investments, and holds board and chair positions for portfolio companies.