Episode description

Elio Leoni Sceti is founder of The Craftory, a new $375M global investment fund exclusively focused on purpose driven FMCG brands.

The Craftory is a first mover at a time when the investment world is now recognising the need to look beyond profits alone. It is the first investor to focus solely on consumer brands that positively impact society and the planet. These include an $18m investment in food technology brand NotCo, who are using AI to transform the plant-based replacements for dairy products, and a further $18m in TomboyX, who are creating an innovative non-binary range of underwear.  

Elio’s ambition for The Craftory is to demonstrate once and for all that you can do good by doing well as an investor. 

He brings a wealth of retail experience to The Craftory, having spent 20 years heading up some of the world’s biggest FMCG brands. He is the former CEO of frozen-food giant Iglo, where he radically transformed the group’s fortunes while helping turn the business into a force for good – turning Captain Birdseye into an environmental campaigner in the process.

Prior to this, he was CEO of record label EMI and Executive VP at RB, the leading consumer health and hygiene company including brands such as Air Wick, Calgon, Dettol, Nurofen, Finish and Vanish. Elio is a board member of AB InBev – the world’s largest brewer – and Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest cocoa manufacturers. 

Interviewed by Chris Joannou @StartupGrind @DreamPushers