
The Vision Behind the Impact
Shen Tong
Shen Tong has been a serial entrepreneur since the 1990s and an impact investor with a portfolio of more than fifty investments in the food, media, and other high-tech sectors. He currently serves as the founder and Managing Partner of FoodFutureCo, a food business accelerator and impact investment fund that specializes in scale-up stage food and agriculture disruptions.
Shen's family holds diverse assets in cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, real estate, media, and technology companies, all guided by a commitment to sustainable service to humanity and the environment, with a primary focus on food, deep tech, consciousness for humanity's resilience, and planet regeneration. Presently, his primary focus revolves around the scale-up stage accelerator, FoodFutureCo, its related investor syndicate, several follow-on funds, and two stealth Web3 and Energetic Holistic Wellness accelerator platforms.
He is also the Founder of TheFutureCo, a hybrid venture studio and accelerator that creates digital ecosystems with environmental and social impact, particularly in support of early-stage Web3/blockchain projects. During SXSW 2022 in Austin, Shen led a panel discussion on Blockchain and NFT: Environmental and Social Impact, exploring their environmental and social impact. Additionally, Shen serves as an Adviser/Mentor to Axie Infinity of Sky Mavis.
Shen's portfolio of investments in the good food and sustainable agriculture sectors includes over 50 investments in 40 companies, with continued growth. His social entrepreneurship portfolio encompasses companies like WeFunder. His vision of nurturing tasty, sustainable, healthy, accessible, and affordable food and agriculture businesses is elucidated in his TEDx Talk, along with numerous speeches at events such as Fancy Food Show, Esca Bona, Vitagora, Concordia, James Beard Foundation, Food Tank, Seed to Chips, Harvard Business School, BevNet, and more. Notably, several companies founded or co-founded by Shen have achieved significant financial success, including VFinity, DCF, B&B Media, and GA Media, in addition to two other successful venture investments. He collaborates with social entrepreneurs to establish financially sustainable and impactful businesses.
Shen's work has garnered global media attention in multiple languages, with coverage by prominent outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, ABC, CNN, BBC, CBS, NHK, TVB, The Guardian, Le Monde, and Fortune, among others. Shen Tong also sits on Omnicom's sparks&honey Influencer Advisory Board and serves on boards and advisory boards for organizations such as the Good Food Institute, Food Tank, and Poets & Writers. He is also a member of NEXUS Global Summit and founded FOOD-X in 2014. Additionally, he previously served as a venture partner at SOSV, a global multi-stage venture capital fund.
Named one of Newsweek's People of the Year in 1989, Shen Tong played an active role in the democracy movement of 1989 that occupied Tiananmen Square while studying at Beijing University. He is an alumnus of Peking University, Brandeis University (where he pursued undergraduate studies in botany and genetics), Boston University (where he completed his graduate studies), and Harvard University. Shen has delivered lectures at over 200 universities, colleges, and conferences, both in the United States and globally.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Shen was actively involved in the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement and remains a steadfast advocate for various human rights causes and social justice initiatives. His book, "Almost a Revolution," has remained in print since its first edition in 1990 and continues to be widely used in Western colleges and high school curriculums. Shen is a passionate film enthusiast, avid traveler, food connoisseur, writer, poet, and proud father of three children residing in New York.