Anya Doherty
Founder & CEO, Foodsteps

Meet the founder

As we come to terms with the reality of climate change, a wholesale re-appraisal of what we consume – and where it comes from – is necessarily underway. While food production accounts for around 26% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, carbon accounting in the industry is incredibly complex. Enter Anya Doherty. She’s a pioneer in the field, having researched it at the University of Cambridge, before putting her learnings to work in an environmental impact assessment of the University’s own catering service. With Foodsteps, Anya is making it easlier for companies to assess their own impact – and helping them find ways of offsetting it.

“Octopus has done far more for Foodsteps than just back us financially. Their support for our mission, growing our team and introducing us to their extensive network has been invaluable.”

Anya Doherty

Why we invested

At Octopus Ventures, we're committed to backing the businesses building a brighter tomorrow. There's no one-size-fits-all solution to the threat of climate change. What the world needs is pioneers, solving across a broad range of sectors, engaging with challenges that may yet need clearer definition. In spite of its significant contribution to carbon emissions, the global food industry still lacks any joined-up oversight. When we met Anya and the Foodsteps team, we knew their solution had a major part to play in leading us down the path to Net Zero.

Initial investment stage

First invested

2022