Animal activist launching cultivated-meat group

Vikas Pydah is a former software engineer and biotech entrepreneur based in Bothell, Washington. As an animal rights activist and former backend software engineer at Google Maps, Pydah combines a technical skill set with a passion for ethical food systems and biotechnology. He is currently the founder of a stealth-mode startup working on producing animal-free, precision-fermented whey protein.

A pivotal moment in Pydah’s animal rights journey came at age 16 during a high school debate camp, where a fellow camp goer described the suffering behind leather shoes and dairy production. That conversation marked a turning point, leading Pydah to spend the next 14 years advocating for animals. Today, he is focused on the transformative potential of alternative proteins, especially cultivated meat, which he believes holds the greatest promise for reducing animal suffering globally.

JON HOCHSCHARTNER: When and how did you learn about cultivated meat and come to support it?

VIKAS PYDAH: I first heard about cultivated meat from news articles around 2015, when I was in college. I remember reading that cultivated meat was five years away, an exciting prospect that would soon disrupt the meat industry. In 2017, I reached out to the cultivated chicken company Memphis Meats, now known as Upside Foods, hoping they would hire me. Unfortunately, they didn't need software positions, so I moved on. In early 2025, I revisited cultivated meat, reading the book "Clean Meat" by Paul Shapiro. I realized there was a lot of work to do, but the potential impact to animals was so large that we couldn't ignore cultivated meat or alternative proteins any longer. As a result, I quit my job at Google in April of 2025 to enter the industry, and have since settled on precision fermented dairy.

JH: What kind of animal activism were you engaged in before focusing on cellular-agriculture development?

VP: Though I've been an activist for more than a decade now, the bulk of my activism took place in New York City from 2017-2020. There, I would volunteer with Anonymous for the Voiceless almost every week, distribute pamphlets, and go to anti-fur protests. These protests were centered around trying to change behavior; we would ask others to go vegan or for businesses to abandon fur.

JH: Can you tell me a little bit about your new project, Clean Meat Alliance?

VP: My new project, Clean Meat Alliance, is an activist organization centered around bridging the funding gap for cultivated meat. The field has around a $1 billion cash shortfall, meaning we cannot progress nearly at the rate we'd like to with research. Plenty of Faunalytics data suggests that many forms of protests, including pamphleting and video activism, may not be that effective. Worse still, the Faunalytics data suggests that certain forms of protests actually encourage people to consume more meat than they otherwise would have. With Clean Meat Alliance, I'd like to leverage activist energy to something more productive - garnering donations for cultivated meat. We plan on using the same techniques animal activists use now, including video activism and pamphleting. However, instead of asking for behavior change, we would ask for donations. Evidence from the climate movement suggests people are more open to systemic change as opposed to personal sacrifice, so we feel systemic change focused activism will be more effective.

JH: Why are you soliciting private donations to cellular-agriculture nonprofits, as opposed to advocating for public funding of cultivated meat research?

VP: New Harvest and GFI are already focused on garnering public funds for cultivated meat. There is no need to duplicate their efforts. Instead, I'd like to prioritize building a grassroots support network for cultivated meat to incentivize both wealthy donors and governments to invest.

JH: How can people who are interested in the Clean Meat Alliance get involved?

VP: I'm currenting in the interview process for Kickstarting for Good using Clean Meat Alliance as the application idea. Depending on how that goes, the idea will be refined over the next few months, and I plan on launching the first chapter in Seattle later this year. I have the purchase list already for video activism and pamphleting - I need to refine the pamphlet design and then order all the required supplies.

For now, I'd like those who want to get involved to join the subreddit here. I'll post a discord link there too for those interested in starting their own chapters outside of Seattle.

JH: What would you say to animal activists who are opposed to cultivated meat or skeptical about its potential?

VP: I would ask activists to look at the Faunalytics data to understand the limitations of most forms of animal rights activism. After decades of pushing for a vegan world, the number of animals killed is growing exponentially everywhere we look. If we really want a world with animal rights, it's time to take asymmetric bets instead of relying on lower-impact, legacy strategies. Cultivated meat presents an opportunity to replace meat entirely, so it is worth betting on despite the risk of failure.