BYND

Beyond Meat, Inc.

A maker of plant-based meat alternatives, Beyond Meat crafts the Beyond Burger and Beyond Sausage from pea and other plant proteins to mimic the taste and texture of real meat, for everyone from flexitarians to committed meat eaters. Founder Ethan Brown licensed the technology from University of Missouri researchers in 2009, and the company originally went by the name Savage River before renaming itself Beyond Meat in 2011. Fun fact: the name was chosen to signal it went "beyond" traditional meat, and Bill Gates became an early backer after tasting a plant-based chicken taco.