T.K. Pillan

Senior Advisor, Beyond Meat & GroundForce Capital and Co-Founder, Veggie Grill

T.K. currently serves as a Senior Advisor at Beyond Meat and GroundForce Capital. He began his career in technology receiving an engineering degree from MIT and co-founding an e-commerce firm in the mid-90’s. After exiting from his tech company, T.K. concluded that one of the most impactful ways to create a better future was to change consumer habits around food and co-founded the Veggie Grill chain of restaurants in 2006, which went on to become the leading 100% plant-based restaurant company in the U.S. with 37 locations across the country. T.K. also co-founded private equity firm Powerplant Ventures (now GroundForce Capital) to support and grow companies that deliver better nutrition in more sustainable and ethical ways with investments that included Beyond Meat, Ripple Foods, OWYN, Miyoko’s Creamery, Liquid Death and Thrive Market. In addition to his undergraduate degree from MIT, T.K. received an MBA from UCLA. While at MIT, T.K. was the captain of the school’s baseball team and also a starter on its basketball team.