ARTURO ELIZONDO, 27

COFOUNDER, CLARA FOODS

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Arturo Elizondo wants to make the age-old conundrum irrelevant. His Clara Foods has developed a fermentation technology that uses yeast to convert sugar into egg proteins, the way brewers make beer. The animal-free proteins will be a cheaper and greener replacement for the vast quantities of eggs that go into everything from instant cakes and mayonnaise to supplements and pharmaceuticals. “Animals are incredibly inefficient protein machines,” says Elizondo, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico. “It’s fundamental economics that we can make protein that is cheaper and more sustainable.” Clara Foods has raised $45 million, including an investment from $5.6 billion food and pharma company Ingredion. —Robin Andrews, Alex Knapp