Brian Schuman

Principal, Strategic Investments at PepsiCo

Brian Schuman is the sole investment professional focusing on strategic investments within PepsiCo R&D's External Innovation team. Brian is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, executing, and managing investments on behalf of PepsiCo with a specific focus on innovation. Certain areas he works on include ingredients, packaging materials, sustainability, manufacturing processes, food & ag tech, among others. Brian currently manages investments in Danimer Scientific, Origin Materials, SousZen, Finistere Ventures and other stealth mode startups. Representing PepsiCo, Brian sits on the LPAC for Finistere Ventures II, LP. He is also responsible for negotiating, executing, and managing outlicensing of PepsiCo IP to other companies. In addition, Brian is an Advisory Board Member for Big Society Capital's Good Food Fund, a £1.4B venture capital fund focused on "better for you" food, beverage, and ingredient companies in London, UK. Brian began his career as an Analyst at J.P. Morgan before moving to H.I.G. Capital, a $50B+ private equity fund where he was responsible for sourcing and evaluating growth equity and buyout transactions. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Brian was an early employee at SeedInvest, a VC platform and fund that raised funds for early stage start-ups and invested in start-ups. He grew with the company through its acquisition in 2019.