Effective Altruist, Food System Innovator, Serial Social Entrepreneur
Sebastian Joy is a Serial Social Entrepreneur working to transform the global food system. Over the last two decades, he has helped launch dozens of nonprofits, coalitions, social enterprises, event series, and campaigns around the world. Sebastian is the Founding President of ProVeg International, one of the world’s leading food awareness organisations.
He invented an award-winning toothpaste and co-founded the Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit as well as VeggieWorld, the world’s largest series of vegan trade shows. He co-founded the ProVeg Incubator, the world’s first incubator for plant-based and cultured food startups, and launched Kickstarting For Good, an impactful incubation and accelerator program designed to support nonprofits and impact initiatives.
Sebastian is a driving partner of V-label International, mentor at Charity Entrepreneurship, and former lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. He and his organisations have received multiple international awards, including the Momentum for Change Award from the United Nations.
He currently lives in Berlin with his wife Dr. Melanie Joy.
My primary motivation in life has always been to help make the world a better place – a place with less suffering and better lives for all sentient beings
I have been inspired and guided by the principles that are now known as effective altruism – the idea that we need to use our resources (time, money, effort, etc) as effectively as possible in order to create as much good in the world as possible.
A key principle of effective altruism is that we should focus on solving problems that are large in scale (affecting many individuals) and relatively neglected by others. The main question for me was for which cause should I use my energy and the short time I have on this planet?
In my early twenties, I came to realise that our current food system, with its heavy focus on animal products, was contributing to many of the world’s most pressing problems.
This includes climate change, loss of biodiversity, wasted resources, human health issues like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and antimicrobial resistance, food injustice, and animal suffering.
At the same time, this problem was not being addressed with nearly the urgency or resources that many other global problems were. After switching to a plant-based diet, I sought the answers to two questions: where is the greatest need for work in this space? And how can I best help fill this gap, given my skills and experience? For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to innovate – so becoming a food system innovator in the plant-based movement seemed like the most logical step.
There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.
This famous quote has deeply influenced me. It helped me realise that the most efficient way for me to help change our global food system is to play a pivotal, yet not always visible, role in kick-starting innovative solutions that can make a lasting impact without my continued involvement.
So I came to see myself as a serial social entrepreneur. Over the last two decades, I’ve initiated numerous initiatives, organisations, products, campaigns, programs, and events. While not all of these projects have been successful, a few continue to have a positive impact on the world.
Some of the global organisations and high-impact projects that Sebastian has kickstarted...
Sebastian is the Founding President of ProVeg International, a food awareness organisation working to accelerate the transition to a sustainable global food system by making plant-rich foods and alternative proteins more accessible and appealing. ProVeg engages with all relevant stakeholders to create a world where the food we eat is good for all people, animals, and our planet. ProVeg has received the United Nations’ Momentum for Change Award and works closely with key UN food and environment agencies. ProVeg has observer status with the UNFCCC, the IPCC, and the CBD, special consultative status with ECOSOC, and are accredited for UNEA. ProVeg creates global impact, with offices in 14 countries across five continents and more than 220 employees.
Sebastian helped launch the ProVeg Incubator, the world’s first startup incubator exclusively supporting entrepreneurs working to develop disruptive plant-based and cultured animal-based products. The ProVeg Incubator encourages potential entrepreneurs to start their own companies and provides business support to them during their planning, founding, and scaling periods. To date, the incubator has worked with over 100 startups from 20 countries, helping them to raise over €450 million and distribute their products achieving more than 15,000 points of sale.
In 2023, Sebastian launched Kickstarting For Good, the world’s first incubator and accelerator for nonprofits and impact initiatives dedicated to food system transformation. The programme has attracted over 1,800 applications since launch and graduating initiatives have raised over $7million in funding.
Kickstarting For Good drives innovation for sustainable solutions, addressing pressing global challenges. Sebastian’s instrumental role in conceptualising and shaping Kickstarting For Good underscores his dedication to fostering positive change and amplifying the impact of endeavors dedicated to food system transformation on a global scale.
VeggieWorld is the world’s largest consumer fair for plant-based living. Sebastian co-founded this landmark event in 2011, and ProVeg has been an official partner ever since. VeggieWorld is about creating awareness of the numerous possibilities of plant-based living. It’s a place to meet people who make things happen, hear fresh ideas, and try products not yet available on supermarket shelves. VeggieWorld has now expanded to 78 events across 13 countries, including China.
As one of three partners of the Swiss-based V-label Ltd. Sebastian is responsible for the international expansion of the V-Label. Established by Renato Pichler in 1985, the V-Label has become one of the most internationally recognized certifications for vegetarian and vegan products. To date, over 4,800 companies from more than 50 countries rely on this trademark to label more than 70,000 products.
Knowing about the importance for the animal and vegan advocacy movement to have a collaborative space to have meaningful conversations and develop diverse strategies, Sebastian kickstarted the Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit. Several times a year it brings together advocates and organizations focusing on systemic change and working on a wide range of tactics and approaches towards a shared vision: Removing animals from our food system and other human use.
Having lived on a plant-based diet for several years and increased his knowledge of nutrition, Sebastian had the idea of fortifying toothpaste with vitamin B12 – a key micro-nutrient found primarily in animal products. While the idea was first met with scepticism, Sebastian managed to get a well-known organic cosmetics brand in Europe excited enough to develop the world’s first toothpaste containing vitamin B12. Since then, several peer-reviewed, placebo-controlled scientific studies have proven its effectiveness, and the award-winning toothpaste has helped hundreds thousands of people meet their vitamin requirements.
VegMed was conceptualised in 2012 by Sebastian, together with medical doctors from Charité, one of Europe’s most prestigious medical research institutions. VegMed is a unique international scientific conference that brings whole-food plant-based nutrition into mainstream medicine. The annual congress takes place in Berlin and London and aims to educate medical professionals on the benefits of plant-based diets and to change the current paradigm in terms of the prevention and treatment of chronic diet-related diseases.
Since 2022, ProVeg International has hosted the Food4Climate Pavilion, which serves as a platform during the annual United Nations Climate Conference (COP). The pavilion was the first of its kind and its mission is to promote a plant-based focus at COP, signifying UN-level acknowledgment of the interaction between climate change and our food system. Through organized events, the pavilion highlights the need for transforming food systems and adopting sustainable diets at the core of COP discussions.
Sebastian helped to found the Physicians Association for Nutrition (PAN) in 2018. PAN aims to raise awareness among health professionals, policy makers, and the public about the role of plant-based nutrition in promoting good health and preventing diet-related diseases. In order to maximise their impact, PAN is expanding and opening new chapters around the world to work effectively under local conditions.
ProVeg’s 50by40 mission generated so much interest that Sebastian helped to turn it into an alliance and platform of its own. Modelled on the concept of collective impact, 50by40.org brings together dozens of international NGOs, large foundations, and key stakeholders from a variety of sectors across the globe in order to implement large-scale and long-term systemic change of the global food system.
The New Food Conference is a B2B event that aims to bring together innovative thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs, food corporations, and the media in order to discuss plant-based and cell-based alternatives to conventional animal-based products. The first New Food Conference, which took place in Berlin in 2019, was an instant success with participants from over 30 countries – owing to its focus on presenting the latest food innovations, exploring consumer acceptance, shaping markets and policies, and increasing media attention and public awareness.
For many years, he taught nonprofit and social entrepreneurship at the Berlin School of Economics and Law.
Sebastian holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management. He was recognised as one of the top students of his class and wrote his thesis on strategy development in nonprofit organisations, while working at and in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers.