food innovation

What's the Role of Government in Agtech Ecosystems?

What's the Role of Government in Agtech Ecosystems?

It’s fair to say most entrepreneurs (and farmers!) aren’t big fans of government rules and regulations for fear of being slowed down by red tape and bureaucracy. However, the political environment in which a startup develops can have a big impact on its ability to find investment and support, especially in agtech, where ecosystems are still very new for most countries.

The United Arab Emirates is investing heavily in agtech, seeking to make Abu Dhabi the global center for innovation in agriculture. Salvatore Lavallo is the Head of Foreign Direct Investment at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. He’s had a unique, and perhaps unlikely journey, to this position. Growing up in Indiana, his interest in economic development led him to become, at the age of 27, one of the youngest people to travel to every country in the world. Along the way, he became a farm owner in Tanzania, and a consultant with McKinsey in Africa and the Middle East.


Bonus Ep: Later-Stage Agtech Startup Wrap, feat. Anastasia Volkova, Regrow

Bonus Ep: Later-Stage Agtech Startup Wrap, feat. Anastasia Volkova, Regrow

Where are all the women founders in agtech, especially at later-stage startups? What does an acquisition really feel like, and when does it make sense? In this Bonus episode, we answer both these questions, as well as build on the key insights from our latest series: “Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons”.

This episode features Anastasia Volkova , co-founder and CEO of Regrow, an independent measurement reporting and verification platform. Regrow, (formerly Flurosat), recently acquired US agtech company, Dagan, and raised $17 million in Series A funding.

Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons #2 - BrightFarms

Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons #2 - BrightFarms

Paul Lightfoot is a serial entrepreneur who has learned several lessons the hard way, from raising money to communicating purpose to hiring (and firing). After spending much of his career as a software CEO, Paul wanted to follow his “calling” to enter the world of sustainability and foodtech.

But this meant moving from a familiar career trajectory to an industry that, 10 years ago when Paul was entering it, barely even existed. In 2011, Paul founded BrightFarms, which uses hydroponic greenhouses to produce locally sourced packaged salads in the US. Along the way, he has made several critical decisions for his startup’s success, including voluntarily stepping back from the role of CEO.

Designing Crops to Change the Plant-Based Food System

Designing Crops to Change the Plant-Based Food System

Benson Hill is designing crops and ingredients for some of the world’s most popular plant-based food brands. But the company has no intention of becoming a brand itself. Instead, it’s focused on revolutionizing the entire food system, from how plants are grown, to what they taste like, to the range of crop varieties on offer.

Founder and CEO, Matt Crisp, started Benson Hill nearly a decade ago as a plant biology company, using analytics and machine learning to increase yields. Now it has grown to become a technology platform as well as a vertically integrated food and ingredients business, designing high protein soybeans and yellow peas to fuel the growing plant-based protein industry.

Capitalism for Good

Capitalism for Good

Can capitalism be a force for good? David Lee left the traditional corporate world to work for some of the most bullish startup companies in agrifood tech, including Impossible Foods and AppHarvest, where he was appointed the company’s President earlier this year. David did this out of a belief that the levers of capitalism and consumerism are the fastest ways to transform the food system. He says the key to address the world’s urgent food sustainability problems is by creating consumer movements.

Busting food and farming myths with evidence

Busting food and farming myths with evidence

In a world where food and farming are highly polarized issues, Rob Paarlberg’s approach is to follow the evidence. This has earned him great respect, but also means his well-researched views tend to land him in no-man’s land between traditional industry views and the new food movement.

For instance he supports modern commercial farming and the use of fertilizers - but he’s not pro- big Ag. He’s calling for better animal welfare standards - but he’s not against eating meat. As an author and Associate in the Sustainability Science program at the Harvard Kennedy School, Rob is renowned for debunking the popular myths about food and farming.