Ben Pasternak – Simulate

Ben Pasternak, born in 1999, is an Australian entrepreneur and the co-founder of Simulate, an American food technology company. The company has since gone on to accumulate roughly $57 million since the 2019 launch of its signature product, NUGGS (a plant-based alternative to chicken nuggets). The most notable investors to date have been Alexis Ohanian’s venture fund Seven Seven Six, Chris Sacca, McCain Foods, and Jay-Z at over a $250 million valuation.

Pasternak began developing software at the age of 13, when he designed his first mobile app Impossible Rush. It went on to rank 16th on the iOS store after a collaboration with his engineer friend Austin Valleskey. From there, both Facebook and Google offered him internship opportunities, which he ultimately declined. Instead, Pasternak dropped out of high school at 15 and moved to New York City to receive funding for his first company. He then developed Flogg, a a social networking app for young people to buy and sell. Eventually, the company was shut down to prioritize the development of Monkey, a video-chatting app. It reached the top ranking on the iOS store three years after its initial release.

Now, Ben Pasternak focuses mostly on Simulate, designed to “upgrade the world to a positive food system.” He has openly spoken about choosing to create products that have a significant impact on others rather than chasing “traditional corporate success” and actively advises and invests in early-stage ventures founded by other young entrepreneurs.