Martin Gross is the Founder and President of Gross-Wen Technologies, a next generation wastewater treatment company that makes use of microalgae to provide a sustainable and efficient alternative to conventional water treatment methods. As President, he has raised over $3 million in Angel and Series A investments, applied for numerous patents, and served as Principal Investigator in non-diluting SBIR grant funding. Martin has a Ph.D. in Agriculture & Biosystems Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Iowa State University.

Martin joins me today to discuss the potential of microalgae in innovating the world’s wastewater treatment industry. He explains how their technology works, what sets it apart from traditional methods, and why he believes their process is sustainable and efficient. He also shares how they grow microalgae and why we shouldn’t worry about the possibility of algae-produced toxicity in water as well as describes how accelerators impacted the growth of his company.

“How do you have a successful business with algae? There are two ways today. That is to clean water or produce high-value algae products.” - Martin Gross

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

• How Gross-Wen Technologies grows and farms algae.
• The major advantage of algae to bacteria or chemical to clean nitrogen phosphorus from water.
• Where the nitrogen-phosphorus in water originates.
• Martin's background and how he started Gross-Wen Technologies.
• What piqued his interest in starting a business.
• How the technology works and how they validated the process.
• What makes their system much more efficient and cost-effective than conventional algae-growing technology?
• The challenges in growing one species of algae.
• How have accelerators impacted his business?

Key Takeaways:

• Algae is better than bacteria or chemicals when it comes to cleaning water.
• An efficient water treatment system is sustainable.

Resources Mentioned:

• Ag Startup Engine
• Iowa State University Startup Factory

Connect with Martin Gross:

• Gross-Wen Technologies

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

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Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller are the founders of Pheronym, an agricultural biotechnology company that develops safe and nontoxic solutions to protect a wide variety of plants. Their flagship product is based on pheromones which is extracted from microscopic roundworms called nematodes. Fatma is Pheronym’s CEO/CSO and is an accomplished scientist with a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology and postdoctoral training in Natural Product Chemistry. Cameron is the COO and has extensive experience in entrepreneurship with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master of Science degree in pharmacy healthcare management.

Fatma and Cameron join me today to discuss their pheromone-based pesticide and how it can improve the agricultural landscape in the future. They describe the primary problem regarding nematodes, what inspired them to investigate the use of pheromones as a pesticide, and what eventually lead them to make nematodes work for farmers instead of against them. They also explain the science behind their product and its mechanical and legal challenges as well as share their experience with accelerators.

“We need to have rotations and multiple solutions when it comes to pest control options.” - Fatma Kaplan

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

• What made them look at nematodes for agricultural purposes?
• What pheromones are and how they utilize it to control nematodes.
• The challenges of developing nematodes and the pheromones to control them.
• How to collect nematode secretions.
• How farmers can identify if they have a nematode problem.
• The most effective treatment against parasitic nematodes.
• The difference between nematodes with pheromones vs nematodes without pheromones.
• How damaging are nematodes to agriculture?
• Their experience with accelerators and how they helped the business grow.
• How do connections and networking work with accelerators?
• Should they be worried about nematodes developing pheromone resistance?

Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller’s Key Takeaways:

• Nematodes can hinder farm production, but they can be utilized to benefit the agriculture industry.
• If you’ve done everything but can’t seem to grow your crops or produce right, you might have a nematode problem.

Connect with Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller

• Pheronym
• Email: schiller@pheronym.com
• Phone: (352) 219-4464

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Welcome back to another episode of the Future of Agriculture’s Follow Up Friday series - the segment when we follow up with listener-submitted questions and comments related to their favorite previous episodes of the show.

This week, I highlight Village Capital, an accelerator that finds, trains, and invests in leaders and entrepreneurs solving real-world problems. Village Capital’s US Ventures Manager Alex Arrivillaga responds to some of my questions regarding the company’s missions and goals, including what Village Capital is and its background and history as well as what sets them apart from other accelerator programs. Alex also shares what she loves about working with food and ag companies.

Resources & Related Content:

• Future of Agriculture 114: Sustainable Plastics for Agricultural Use with Tony Bova and Jeff Beegle of Mobius
• Village Capital
• Alex Arrivillaga LinkedIn

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message! We want to hear from you and feature you on a future Follow Up Friday segment!

Jeff Beegle and Tony Bova are the Founders of Mobius, a biotechnology company that envisions to build a future where the world sees organic waste as a valuable resource instead of a burden on the planet. Tony is officially the Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff is the Chief Science Officer. Their current project is a form of biodegradable plastic made from a unique substance found in plants called Lignin. They seek to use their special plastic in various industries such as agriculture, horticulture, and food services.

Jeff and Tony join me today to discuss Mobius’ latest innovation. They share their thoughts on the current economic and environmental issues that surround traditional plastics. They describe their latest product, how it’s made, and why it’s environmentally friendly. They also discuss the different challenges of competing in a plastic market, the difficulty of getting investors, and how they accomplished solving those two problems.

“If someone really wants what you have and they're willing to give you a dollar for it, that's the thumbs up we need to know we're on the right track.” - Tony Bova

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

• How they became inspired to start Mobius and the problems they are trying to solve with their products.
• Why plastics are double-edged swords
• How their biodegradable plastic works.
• What makes their product different from traditional PET plastics?
• How their biodegradable mulch affects the soil.
• What they did to prevent their product from biodegrading too fast.
• How they scaled their business.
• The challenges they faced while searching for investors.
• Why they chose to team up with Village Capital as an accelerator.
• The most challenging part of establishing their brand.
• What's in store for Mobius in the near future?

Tony Bova and Jeff Beegle’s Key Takeaways:

• Biodegradable mulch films are actually improving soil health.
• There's no bacteria and fungi that can actually eat plastic in the soil.
• When we start using low-cost, but durable materials like plastic for single use, the problem is what we do with them afterwards.

Resources Mentioned:

• Village Capital Accelerator

Connect with Tony Bova and Jeff Beegle:

• Mobius
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Tony Bova LinkedIn
• Jeff Beegle LinkedIn

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Welcome back to another episode of the Future of Agriculture’s Follow Up Friday series - the segment when we follow up with listener-submitted questions and comments related to their favorite previous episodes of the show.

TERRA’s Regional Manager Anil Suren answers some of my questions regarding the company’s ideas and services, including what it’s like being part of the TERRA organization, the company’s partners an this week, I highlight the TERRA Accelerator, a business that seeks to bring together the ag industry’s most disruptive startups and progressive corporations to boost innovation and set new standards for food and agriculture. d achievements, and the benefits startups can expect by becoming part of their accelerator program.

Resources & Related Content:

• TERRA Accelerator

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message! We want to hear from you and feature you on a future Follow Up Friday segment!

Abi Ramanan is the CEO of Impact Vision, a company that seeks to build a more secure and transparent food system with the use of hyperspectral technology. The company envisions to reduce the cost of food waste and food fraud through software that provides users with information on food quality, rapidly and non-invasively. Abi is also the founder of Papi’s Pickles and Co-founder of DayOld, food enterprises that tackles food waste and unemployment in migrant communities and promotes gender equality.

Abi joins me today to discuss her company’s fantastic innovation for the food and ag industry. She describes what hyperspectral imaging technology is and how space technology can fuse with the food supply chain to solve food waste and food fraud problems. She also describes how their software works in detecting food fraud, how it provides users with information, and shares some of their current and future projects.

“We need to decrease food production and produce more food for the growing population with less resources.” - Abi Ramanan

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

• What hyperspectral technology is and how it can benefit the agriculture industry.
• What inspired Abi to apply hyperspectral technology to food?
• How this technology can reduce food waste.
• The economical and global impact of testing 100% of food instead of a small representative.
• What food fraud is and how hyperspectral technology can help test for it.
• Their business strategy in choosing where to apply this technology.
• The company's plans for the future.
• Why they choose Terra over other accelerators.

Abi Ramanan’s Key Takeaways:

• We need to equip the supply chain with newer tools to test for food safety.
• We can combine space technology with the supply chain in order to bring about a technological revolution in the ag industry.

Resources Mentioned:

• TERRA

Connect with Abi Ramanan:

• Impact Vision
• Papi’s Pickles
• DayOld
• Email: abi@impactvi.com

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Sarah Nolet is the Founder and CEO of AgThentic, a company that helps ag businesses and their entrepreneurs and innovators build the food systems of the future. She is a renowned food systems innovation expert and is the reason behind Australia’s early stage agtech ecosystem. Sarah holds a degree in System Design and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Computer Science and Human Factors Engineering.

Sarah joins me today to share her insight regarding the future of ag businesses and how she seeks to help expand them faster. She shares the story behind AgThentic, how it started, and how it helps farmers and agbusinesses bridge the gap between agtech and traditional agriculture techniques to create innovative solutions for various problems throughout the industry. She also defines the concept of business accelerators and incubators and how they help agtech startups gain the traction they need to succeed in the agtech industry.

“If connecting to a big company is of strategic importance to your startup, then an accelerator or incubator program can be a good way to do that.” - Sarah Nolet

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

• What inspired her to start AgThentic.
• Her experience regarding farmers who don't adapt to the latest technologies.
• Do a lot of farmers need help when it comes to using basic software?
• What agtech accelerators are and how they help agtech startups.
• The criteria your agtech startup must meet to join an accelerator program.
• The difference between agtech accelerator programs and agtech incubators.
• The transformation that happens when an agtech startup goes through an effective accelerator program.
• Budding countries in the agtech startup space.
• How AgThentic helps improve the agtech ecosystem between agriculture and agtech.

Sarah Nolet’s Key Takeaways:

• There is potential in combining technology and entrepreneurship that can solve a lot of problems.
• There's a gap between ag and agtech, and it needs to be filled to push innovation.

Connect with Sarah Nolet:

• AgThentic
• AgThentic Resources Tool
• Bushtech Podcast
• Twitter
• Email: sarah@agthentic.com

Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

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Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

Share the Ag-Love! 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram