2020-03-01_Fast_Company

As interest in plant-based meats surges, Be-

yond Meat is leading the way, expanding to

67,000 restaurant locations globally, includ-

ing more than 9,000 Dunkin’s, which began

serving Beyond Breakfast Sausage in November. Beyond

also launched tests of a meatball sub with Subway, fried

chicken with KFC, and a “PLT” burger with McDonald’s—

meaning it now works with three of the five largest fast-

food chains in the world. “We ask these global chains

what they want, and then we create different product

lines from our platform,” says CEO Ethan Brown. In re-

tail, the company upgraded its flagship Beyond Burger,

adding cocoa butter “marbling” to mimic beef fat. The

company’s growth rate is 253%, and last fall it reported

its first quarterly profit, on revenue of $92 million.

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FOR POPULARIZING

MEAT ALTERNATIVES

KaiOS is the most

popular mobile oper-

ating system you

probably haven’t

heard of. Instead of

designing software

for full-blown smart-

phones, Hong

Kong–based KaiOS

Technologies (pro-

nounced ky-O-S) has

exceeded 150 million

global users by pow-

ering what it calls the

“smart feature

phone.” Far more

spartan than iPhones

and Samsung Gal-

axy models, these

devices—which sell

for as little as $15—

run must-have apps

such as YouTube,

Google Maps, Face-

book, and Whats-

App, with more

available from the

KaiOS app store. Kai-

OS’s success in India

(where it’s the No. 2

mobile platform after

Android), Indonesia,

FOR OUTSMARTING THE

SMARTPHONE MARKET

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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3. Delivery
   The average time
   from order to deliv-
   ery in Ghana is
   30 to 40 minutes.
   As a drone
   approaches a hos-
   pital, it descends
   (but does not land),
   and the aircraft’s
   4. Return
   The drone flies back
   to its distribution cen-
   ter, where a wire set
   15 feet above the
   ground catches its tail
   and pulls it safely to
   the ground. It is then
   collected and read-
   ied for its next flight.


4. Flight
   Each package is
   given a QR code indi-
   cating its destination.
   (The company’s flight
   routes have all been
   preapproved by
   Ghana’s civil aviation
   authority.) Zipline

cargo-bay doors

open to release

the medical-supply

box, which para-

chutes down.

operators scan

the code, telling the

drone where to

fly, and pack the

box aboard the air-

craft. A catapult-

launch system then

sends the drone into

the sky. Zipline’s

latest model can fly

up to 100 miles round

trip and go as

fast as 80 miles per

hour. A series of

automatic notifica-

tions keeps the hos-

pital informed of the

drone’s arrival time.

Rwanda, and Nigeria

has now piqued the

interest of U.S. corpo-

rate giants. In 2019,

Google participated

in the company’s $50

million Series B round

(adding to the $22

million it had already

invested), and Disney

struck a deal to bring

its characters to

KaiOS phones in the

form of games, wall-

papers, and e-books.

“This is a key strategy

for many of the

largest companies:

reaching the next

billion users,” says

KaiOS CEO Sebastien

Codeville. “Today,

the only way to reach

them is with KaiOS,

because these

users cannot afford

a smartphone.”

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