"It is turning into quite a hot area, and justifiably so because the sizes of the markets are enormous," Beyond Animal co-founder Claire Smith said on Friday.

The former investment banker turned "angel investor" has been vegan/vegetarian since she was 15 and set up the world's first comprehensive vegan investment platform a few years ago.

"We are investing for humanity - for humanity as in humans, but also for the other meaning of the word humanity, which is to be humane," she said.

The Swiss-based digital platform has inked more than 500 deals, signed up almost 4000 companies, and hosts dozens of online events that connect worthy companies with capital.

She says some people think vegan portfolios are just "oh well, you buy Beyond Meat or you buy some other plant-based product company".

"That's certainly part of it. We do have a portfolios that are doing that," she said at an online event hosted by the international Women in Sustainable Finance network.

"But the key thing about veganism philosophy is the avoidance of animal exploitation."

Firms are ruled out during a detailed analysis of entire product ranges and supply chains.

How much animal agriculture contributes to climate change is a key consideration, including growing and feeding, transportation and processing.

The entrepreneur said understanding the risk of factory farm operations, anti-biotic resistance, and the pandemic was also on the radar of investment banks, which were starting to use this analysis to reduce their risk.

Conservative global estimates show there are more than 10 billion egg-laying hens, 400 million dairy cows and 175 million animals used for testing.

"Chickens and mice taking a lot of the strain in terms of animals slaughtered and also in terms of animals being tested," she said.

"Just standing here and being a vegan, that is a big issue to me that there is just so much slaughter and harm to animals going on.

"But also, it's very much undermining our ability as humans to achieve many of the (sustainable development) goals that have been put forward as the targets for human society."

It's not just about human consumption. Rather, it's about how animals are used in the creation of products, the testing of products and in research.

Rather than use 10 per cent of all leather globally to make car seats, manufacturers could look at non-animal alternatives, some of which are made from upcycled food waste such as vegetable or fruit skins.

Her portfolio also includes cultivated meat, food tech firms creating molecules of protein, and others producing ingredients.

"The key aspect here is creating the alternatives to animal products that are superior in many ways, in taste and texture."

She said these companies were also producing ingredients that giants such as Nestle, Unilever or General Mills use in their own products.

"They have the consumer-facing side of things wrapped up. They have enormous distribution. They're in supermarkets."

Globally, there was a US$1.5 trillion ($A2.1 trillion) market in animal protein, a $US3 trillion market in food service, and $US3 trillion in packaged foods, she said.

Alternative materials for plant-based apparel is being developed for the clothing industry, not for fast fashion but for more sustainable garments.

There is also a massive market in personal care products, which are becoming safer, more natural, and are less likely to be tested on animals.

But she says the $US25 billion market which is currently involved in animal testing should be replaced by more accurate and humane cellular versions of testing devices.

"That is an area of scientific progress, which is extremely exciting and will deliver much better results in terms of drug development."

She says Beyond Animal is creating products as quickly as it can to allow people to build entire pension portfolios catering for this theme.

There's also a homegrown option.

The vegan investor noted Cruelty Free Super as Australia's first superannuation fund that doesn't exploit or harm animals.

The ethical super fund screens out cosmetic testing, factory farming, animals in sport and entertainment companies.

Fossil fuels, nuclear energy, pollution, environmental destruction are also out, as are companies that harm people by using slave labour or running detention centres.

If there is buying interest in ethical firms, then it helps them attract capital and grow into the larger companies that mainstream investors must hold.

Quizzed about performance, Ms Smith said animal-friendly ventures would outperform.

"That's my hope and expectation."

She said the vegan index had outperformed the benchmark US S&P 500 index since 2019.

"If you're running a portfolio, you should definitely be very conscious of this trend, and how it could pose a threat to existing portfolio holdings," she said.

"They have high efficiency because you're not using the inefficient animal-based production system and they have the potential to scale."

Nor will they face the same legal issues and carbon charges around greenhouse gas emissions, she says.

"The startups are very nimble in this space and they are able to get access to capital."

She expected incumbents to come under threat from changing patterns of consumption and leaps in technology.

"What we are doing is replacing an existing market for animal products."

Australian Associated Press