Food & Agriculture Innovators

Alan Hahn is the co-founder and CEO of MycoTechnology, a food ingredient technology company. The company creates fungi-based powders using a proprietary fermentation process. Their product line today includes a taste modulating powder called ClearTaste and a protein powder called PureTaste. They've also shown the ability to remove toxins in foods and are working through "probably a lifetime of ideas" in using fungi to improve food. The big wins today though are that their ClearTaste product allows food manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar they use in foods without sacrificing taste. Approved in over 70 countries, you may have eaten food with their powder in it (you wouldn't know). And their protein is vegan, allergen friendly, non-GMO, highly sustainable and has minimal taste and aroma - making it a useful ingredient for companies making meat alternative foods. Having just raised $42 million in funding in their Series B funding round, MycoTechnology is just getting started. Get the full show notes here. If you like the show, you can subscribe to it on any podcast app. Support us by leaving a review on iTunes or Apple Podcasts. Reviews really help the show grow and allow other people to find the show, it only takes a minute. We really appreciate it. In this interview, we cover: Thanks for listening, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app. And check out all the shows on the website here, foodaginnovators.com.

Ed Rogers is the co-founder and CEO of Bonumose, a food ingredient technology company. The company’s patented process was invented by co-founder Dr. Dan Wichelecki and utilizes combinations of natural enzymes to convert plant-based raw materials into low cost, “good sugars” tagatose and allulose, that aim to mimic sucrose (or table sugar) and come with a host of claimed beneficial properties. Get the full show notes here. If you like the show, you can subscribe to it on any podcast app. Support us by leaving a review on iTunes or Apple Podcasts. Reviews really help the show grow and allow other people to find the show, it only takes a minute. We really appreciate it. In this interview, we cover: Thanks for listening, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app. And check out all the shows on the website here, foodaginnovators.com.

Dr. Rusty Rodriguez is the CEO of Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies (AST), an ag biotech company that has developed microbial solutions that enable plants to battle climate and environmental stress, increasing crop quality and yields. These stressors include drought, temperature stress and salty soils, to name a few. The company is selling to both commodity crop farmers and smallholder "monsoon" farmers in the absolute worst of drought conditions in India. These farmers have been able to increase crop yields with incredible results to date. In a world of increasing climate and environmental stress, this is a revolutionary technology. The company has raised more than $4 million in private funding, and received a number of grants including USAID’s Securing Water For Food Grand Challenge. Get the full show notes here. If you like the show, you can subscribe to it on any podcast app. Support us by leaving a review on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher Radio. Reviews really help the show grow and allow other people to find the show, it only takes a minute. We really appreciate it. In this interview, we cover: Twynam GroupIndigo Agriculture that’s raised over $100 million Support us by leaving a review on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher Radio. Reviews really help the show grow and allow other people to find the show, it only takes a minute. We really appreciate it.

Phil Cruver is the Founder and CEO of Catalina Sea Ranch (CSR), which owns the first offshore aquaculture facility in U.S. federal waters. This was a fascinating conversation as Phil tells the story of how he had to essentially build a new industry in the U.S. We cover a lot of ground in this interview. And when it comes to raising funding for a startup with grand ambitions like CSR, he has some wisdom from the 6 companies he’s started on how to allocate equity in the early stages of a company. Get the full show notes here. If you like the show, you can subscribe to it on any podcast app. Support us by leaving a review on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher Radio. Reviews really help the show grow and allow other people to find the show, it only takes a minute. We really appreciate it. In this interview, we cover: NOMAD buoyBlue Robotics

David Potere is Co-founder and CEO of TellusLabs, a company that combines decades of satellite imagery with machine learning to predict crop yields and help its customers, which range from farmer to hedge fund manager. Get the full show notes at here. If you like the show, you can subscribe to it on any podcast app. Support us by leaving a review on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher Radio. Reviews really help the show grow and allow other people find the show, it only takes a minute. We cover:

Francisco Jardim is Co-founder and Managing Director of venture capital firm, SP Ventures. In the interview we discuss how his firm is capitalizing on the opportunity of agriculture technology investing in Brazil. Get the full show notes here. If you like the show, you can subscribe to it on any podcast app, drop us a review or send us a message / subscribe to the newsletter at foodaginnovators.com. In this interview, we cover: accelerator program Pulse

Jason Drew is the Co-founder and CEO of AgriProtein based in Cape Town, South Africa. In the interview we go back to the early years and career of Jason, how he got started on his path to farming flies, the business of AgriProtein that’s raised nearly $30 million dollars of venture capital, the art of building your company into the “Sustainability Revolution”, recent growth plans announced to scale farming of insects globally, and more. Get the full show notes here. If you like the show, you can subscribe to it on any podcast app, drop us a review or send us a message / subscribe to the newsletter at foodaginnovators.com. In this show, we cover: