Boulder Founder Theo Kessler Bets on Plant-Based Protein Startup

After selling his first company, a workplace software startup, Theo Kessler could have taken time off. Instead, he spent a year researching Colorado's legume farming industry before launching Front Range Protein, a company producing plant-based protein powders and snack bars sourced from peas and lentils grown within the state.

"I wanted my next thing to have a supply chain I actually cared about," Kessler said. "Software felt abstract to me by the end. This is dirt, farmers, and a product you can hold."

Building Farmer Relationships From Scratch

Kessler spent months meeting with legume growers across the eastern plains before signing his first supply contracts, a process he says required learning an entirely new industry from the ground up. "I didn't know anything about crop rotation or protein extraction yields when I started," he said. "I had to become a student again, which was humbling after running a company for a decade."

The company now sources from a handful of Colorado farms under multi-year contracts, a structure Kessler says gives farmers price stability while guaranteeing his company consistent supply as the brand scales. He's also invested in a small processing facility near Denver rather than outsourcing extraction to an out-of-state contractor, a choice he says was important for quality control even though it required significant upfront capital.

Applying Startup Lessons to a New Industry

Kessler says his software background has shaped how he's built Front Range Protein, particularly around data-driven decision-making and rapid product iteration based on customer feedback. The company has already reformulated its flagship protein powder twice based on taste testing panels, a pace of iteration he says is unusual in the food industry but familiar from his tech background.

He's raised a modest seed round from local investors and says he's deliberately avoided the aggressive growth-at-all-costs approach that characterized his software startup, aiming instead for steady, profitable growth as the brand builds a regional following before considering national expansion.