AgriNovus Indiana

Gene editing in plants – it's been heralded as the next step-function change in the advancement of agriculture. One Indiana company is advancing the technology fresh off a $144 million venture capital raise. Claudia Nari, Chief Product Officer of Inari, joins today to talk through this historic time for gene editing and biotechnology at large. They get into:&nbsp;&nbsp; <ul><li>From speed to precision, Claudia lays out the differentiation of gene editing to other types of plant breeding&nbsp;</li><li>Crops of focus for Inari right now and stresses they’re focused on to enable farmer success&nbsp;</li><li>The company’s recent venture capital raise, their value proposition and educating investors&nbsp;</li><li>Inari’s unique advantage (knowing what to do, having the tools to do it and being able to do those at the same time)&nbsp;</li><li>The status of field trials and what commercialization will look like for Inari&nbsp;</li><li>Biggest problems in-field to be solved through gene editing – from yield to resource efficiencies&nbsp;</li><li>Regulatory hurdles and Claudia’s perspective on the acceptance of gene editing as a technology&nbsp;</li><li>When will Inari technology be in customer fields? And what’s next?</li></ul>

Claudia Nari

Chief Product Officer, Inari

Gene editing in plants – it's been heralded as the next step-function change in the advancement of agriculture. One Indiana company is advancing the technology fresh off a $144 million venture capital raise. Claudia Nari, Chief Product Officer of Inari, joins today to talk through this historic time for gene editing and biotechnology at large.

355.  Claudia Nari on Inari’s unique advantage + gene editing as a new paradigm in agbioscience

Claudia Nari on Inari’s unique advantage + gene editing as a new paradigm in agbioscience

This weekly podcast dives into agbioscience, where agriculture, life sciences and cutting-edge technology converge. Agbioscience is an in-depth conversation with leaders and entrepreneurs across food, animal health, plant science and agtech. This one-of-a-kind podcast offers updates on the latest advancements and future trends from those at the forefront of agbioscience innovation.

Agbioscience

Agbioscience comes to you from the first ever Indiana Farm Bureau Indiana Ag Threats and Security Summit hosted in partnership with Beck’s Hybrids, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance. We had the opportunity to speak with Megan Ritter (Indiana Farm Bureau), Herb Stapleton (FBI) and Aaron Pierce (Pierce Aerospace) on the breadth, timeliness and criticality of keeping farming operations secure to maintain a safe, abundant food supply. &nbsp;We also cover: &nbsp;<ul><li>A March Quadrant recap and a look ahead to our May 14 event. Register here: <a href="https://agrinovusindiana.com/quadrant/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://agrinovusindiana.com/quadrant/</a>&nbsp;</li><li>Big pre-seed funding news for startup Gripp. Listen to their recent episode of Agbioscience here: <a href="https://podcast.agrinovusindiana.com/public/215/Agbioscience-8a9a4381/f0137c47" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://podcast.agrinovusindiana.com/public/215/Agbioscience-8a9a4381/f0137c47</a>&nbsp;</li><li>ReproHealth Technologies as the winner of the first-ever Agbioscience Innovator Award at the TechPoint Mira Awards&nbsp;</li></ul>&nbsp;

Agbioscience comes to you from the first ever Indiana Farm Bureau Indiana Ag Threats and Security Summit hosted in partnership with Beck’s Hybrids, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance. We had the opportunity to speak with Megan Ritter (Indiana Farm Bureau), Herb Stapleton (FBI) and Aaron Pierce (Pierce Aerospace) on the breadth, timeliness and criticality of keeping farming operations secure to maintain a safe, abundant food supply

356. Mitch Frazier recaps March from Indiana Farm Bureau’s Ag Threats + Security Summit

The Economic Policy Institute estimates there are 2.4 million employees in U.S. agriculture and Purdue finds that 40% of new ag jobs go unfilled. One entrepreneur is turning to computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics – maybe a little autonomy – to try to address these challenges facing farmers. Mike Jacob, founder and CEO of TerraForce, joins to talk farmer-led innovation, solving for the labor gap and jobs to be done. We get into:&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul><li>The overview of the farm labor market, its challenges and where TerraForce specifically focuses right now in the specialty melon crop market&nbsp;</li><li>What challenges face melon producers when it comes to harvest&nbsp;</li><li>How Mike sees this new era of AI and computer vision shaping precision in agbioscience innovation&nbsp;</li><li>What TerraForce does, solving labor challenges and how they plan to tackle a real problem facing farmers&nbsp;</li><li>Mike gets into seeing his first melon harvest, identifying the problem to be solved and innovating from there&nbsp;</li><li>The criticality of melons – yes melons – to make an impact on his community as an entrepreneur&nbsp;</li><li>Where the TerraForce product sits today and how regional producers are the critical testbed to the company’s success&nbsp;</li><li>TerraForce’s recent fundraise and what it will enable them to do&nbsp;</li><li>Mike’s take on the ag’s jobs to be done: ag becoming less optimized and finding ways to become more resilient to big changes&nbsp;</li></ul>

Mike Jacob

Founder + CEO, TerraForce

The Economic Policy Institute estimates there are 2.4 million employees in U.S. agriculture and Purdue finds that 40% of new ag jobs go unfilled. One entrepreneur is turning to computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics – maybe a little autonomy – to try to address these challenges facing farmers. Mike Jacob, founder and CEO of TerraForce, joins to talk farmer-led innovation, solving for the labor gap and jobs to be done.

354.  TerraForce’s Mike Jacob on farmer-led innovation, solving for the labor gap + jobs to be done

Stage content at events like World AgriTech is always of highest quality but there are conversations happening behind the scenes that give a sense of what’s happening in the industry. Brook Cunningham, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Corteva Agriscience, and Rob Dongoski, Food and Agribusiness Leader at Kearney, joined us for a conversation at World AgriTech to get perspective on many topics, including:&nbsp;&nbsp; <ul><li>A volatile market – and the reminder that it’s also cyclical&nbsp;</li><li>The tipping point for investors and the critical questions they have beyond just yield at this point in time&nbsp;</li><li>Corteva’s balanced approach between internal and external innovation and the company’s areas of focus when it comes to investment and partnership&nbsp;</li><li>How Kearney is advising companies seeking investment – of all sizes – in this volatile time (hint: don’t go it alone)&nbsp;</li><li>Areas of innovation that are seeing traction from investors&nbsp;</li><li>The importance of creating certainty around the noise – from regulatory to policy and beyond&nbsp;</li><li>How they both see this market cycle differently than past cycles&nbsp;</li><li>The role of food and consumers in this next evolution of food and agriculture&nbsp;</li><li>Crystal ball: what are the conversations at World AgriTech like five years from now?&nbsp;</li></ul>

Rob Dongoski

Food and Agribusiness Leader, Kearney

Brook Cunningham

Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Corteva Agriscience

Stage content at events like World AgriTech is always of highest quality but there are conversations happening behind the scenes that give a sense of what’s happening in the industry. Brook Cunningham, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Corteva Agriscience, and Rob Dongoski, Food and Agribusiness Leader at Kearney, joined us for a conversation at World AgriTech to get perspective on many topics on the agbioscience economy.

353. BONUS: Corteva’s Brook Cunningham and Kearney’s Rob Dongoski from World AgriTech in San Francisco 

Identifying customer needs – jobs to be done – it's the core of innovation. But what are the jobs that need to be done? What are those things left undone as we head into the 2025 growing season? And what does the current economy, trade environment and overall farm sentiment mean for innovators and the farmers they serve? Brad Fruth, Director of Innovation at Beck’s Hybrids, joins this week to make sense of it all. We get into:&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul><li>What’s on farmers minds given the current state of the ag economy&nbsp;</li><li>Big trends Brad is seeing aside from the macroeconomic headwinds and tailwinds&nbsp;</li><li>The role of biologicals and seed traits in this current economy&nbsp;</li><li>Beck’s approach to innovation and helping emerging companies bring new ideas to market&nbsp;</li><li>The differentiation of go-to market in ag versus other industries and the criticality of patient capital from VCs&nbsp;</li><li>Areas for great impact in agtech right now as Brad sees it&nbsp;</li><li>The importance of staying lean when you’re starting up and recalling really great technologies that didn’t hit the market because they ballooned and got too big, too fast&nbsp;</li></ul>

Brad Fruth

Director of Innovation, Beck's Hybrids

Identifying customer needs – jobs to be done – it's the core of innovation. But what are the jobs that need to be done? What are those things left undone as we head into the 2025 growing season? And what does the current economy, trade environment and overall farm sentiment mean for innovators and the farmers they serve? Brad Fruth, Director of Innovation at Beck’s Hybrids, joins this week to make sense of it all. 

352. Beck’s Hybrids’ Brad Fruth on agbiosciences’ go-to market differentiation + the criticality of customer trust

Research estimates the global animal health market to be roughly $8 billion, a number analyst firm Grand View Research expects to grow at a 10% compounded annual growth rate through 2030. Much of that growth will be driven by biotechnology. Dr. Todd Zion, CEO and founder of Akston Biosciences, joins this week to help understand what is happening in the biotech markets, specifically as it relates to companion animal innovation. We get into:&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul><li>Where the market sits today and how it is evolving&nbsp;</li><li>Akston Biosciences’ 2024 partnership announcement with Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine focused on a therapeutic for canine oncology&nbsp;</li><li>His approach to animal health innovation through precision proteins creating affordable, effective treatments for companion animals&nbsp;</li><li>What sits in the Akston Biosciences pipeline currently and the company’s approach to cost-effectiveness while also staying innovative&nbsp;</li><li>Todd’s past work in human health, how he sees two sides – animal and human health – coming together to push innovation further, faster&nbsp;</li><li>The regulatory hurdles faced by both human and animal health innovators that delay getting safe, effective treatments to market&nbsp;</li><li>A big need for more risk capital coming into the animal health innovation market&nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul>

Todd Zion

CEO, Akston Biosciences

Research estimates the global animal health market to be roughly $8 billion, a number analyst firm Grand View Research expects to grow at a 10% compounded annual growth rate through 2030. Much of that growth will be driven by biotechnology. Dr. Todd Zion, CEO and founder of Akston Biosciences, joins this week to help understand what is happening in the biotech markets, specifically as it relates to companion animal innovation. 

351. Akston Biosciences’ Todd Zion on animal health innovation, companion animals + collaborating with Purdue

Pitchbook reports that of venture capital deals in 2024, roughly 30% of them were down rounds or flat, meaning their valuation of the companies either went backwards or were the same round to round. It’s a trend that will continue, so how can entrepreneurs break the cycle? Matt Tyner, managing partner of America’s most active venture capital firm – Elevate Ventures, joins today to make sense of what’s ahead and how innovators can succeed. He gets into:&nbsp;&nbsp; <ul><li>The current state of venture capital – and the criticality of taking a step back to understand where things sit today&nbsp;</li><li>Investors’ increased focus on profitability and not being able to cut your way to growth&nbsp;</li><li>Artificial intelligence as an enabler – not a vertical&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Does the future include a shift to debt versus venture&nbsp;</li><li>The cost of innovation and the role of an investor in this era of venture capital&nbsp;</li><li>What the current conversation with portfolio companies looks like for Elevate Ventures&nbsp;</li><li>What Matt sees as emerging trends in agbioscience&nbsp;</li><li>The most important jobs to be done in the industry&nbsp;</li></ul>

Matt Tyner

Managing Partner, Elevate Ventures

Pitchbook reports that of venture capital deals in 2024, roughly 30% of them were down rounds or flat, meaning their valuation of the companies either went backwards or were the same round to round. It’s a trend that will continue, so how can entrepreneurs break the cycle? Matt Tyner, managing partner of America’s most active venture capital firm – Elevate Ventures, joins today to make sense of what’s ahead and how innovators can succeed.

350. Elevate Ventures’ Matt Tyner on the cost of innovation + the role of the investor in this next era of venture capital

Mitch Frazier and Cayla Chiddister recap February by reviewing his three big trends in agbioscience for 2025, big investment news for Ingredion, Liberation Labs, Corteva Catalyst and TerraForce and look ahead to big events in March - including Quadrant on March 12. Register here: https://agrinovusindiana.com/quadrant/ Learn more about the Indiana Ag Threats and Security Summit: https://agrinovusindiana.com/2025/02/11/indiana-ag-threats-security-summit/

Mitch Frazier and Cayla Chiddister recap February by reviewing his three big trends in agbioscience for 2025, big investment news for Ingredion, Liberation Labs, Corteva Catalyst and TerraForce and look ahead to big events in March - including Quadrant on March 12.

349. Mitch Frazier recaps February, 2025 trends + investment news from Ingredion, Liberation Labs, Corteva Catalyst and TerraForce

Mitch Frazier and Cayla Chiddister recap February by reviewing his three big trends in agbioscience for 2025, big investment news for Ingredion, Liberation Labs, Corteva Catalyst and TerraForce and look ahead to big events in March - including Quadrant on March 12. Register here: https://agrinovusindiana.com/quadrant/



Learn more about the Indiana Ag Threats and Security Summit: https://agrinovusindiana.com/2025/02/11/indiana-ag-threats-security-summit/

Recent Episodes

SEASON 8

356. Mitch Frazier recaps March from Indiana Farm Bureau’s Ag Threats + Security Summit

354. TerraForce’s Mike Jacob on farmer-led innovation, solving for the labor gap + jobs to be done

SEASON 7

353. BONUS: Corteva’s Brook Cunningham and Kearney’s Rob Dongoski from World AgriTech in San Francisco

352. Beck’s Hybrids’ Brad Fruth on agbiosciences’ go-to market differentiation + the criticality of customer trust

351. Akston Biosciences’ Todd Zion on animal health innovation, companion animals + collaborating with Purdue

350. Elevate Ventures’ Matt Tyner on the cost of innovation + the role of the investor in this next era of venture capital

349. Mitch Frazier recaps February, 2025 trends + investment news from Ingredion, Liberation Labs, Corteva Catalyst and TerraForce

About The Show

Agbioscience

Mitch Frazier

CEO, AgriNovus Indiana