Capital Calling: Loopini

This pizza has 50 grams of protein. But is that enough to build a venture-backed brand, or just a better frozen meal?

In the debut episode of Capital Calling, Damiano Messineo, Founder and CEO of Loopini, steps into the arena to pitch a frozen pizza that challenges long-held assumptions about nutrition, taste, and convenience.

Loopini is a lupini bean–based frozen pizza delivering 50g of protein, 20g of fiber, and just 560 calories per pie, without sacrificing restaurant-quality flavor. Damiano argues that pizza doesn’t need to be a guilty pleasure, and that protein density can meaningfully reshape consumer behavior in one of the most competitive categories in food.

Built on a naturally high-protein, high-fiber dough, Loopini sits at the intersection of health, convenience, and sustainability. The product also supports regenerative farming practices in Italy, using crops that require fewer inputs and significantly less water than conventional alternatives. The central question: can this level of nutritional differentiation justify a premium price point and scale into a defensible consumer brand?

Across the table, investors Johnnie Yu of Listen Ventures, Christian McKenzie of Lofty Ventures, and Horace Madison of The Haven evaluate the business in real time: digging into unit economics, pricing power, consumer psychology, distribution strategy, and whether protein alone can change how people buy pizza.

Produced by Coeus Collective in partnership with the NYU Stern Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship, Capital Calling offers founders, operators, students, and investors an unfiltered look at how early-stage investment decisions actually happen, and what separates compelling ideas from fundable companies.

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