b'Whats the Next Big Thing in Biologicals? JIM SCHWEIGERTWHEN IT COMESto R&Dcoming up with thePRESIDENT, GRO ALLIANCEnext big thing really depends on what opportunitiesjim.schweigert@groalliance.comgroalliance.comyou see in the marketplace. Its always difficult seeing and identifying what exactly that next opportunity is.For us at Agrauxine by Lesaffre, we try to focus on opportunities that have proof of concept or opportuni- Bridging the Gap Between Startups ties that develop through competition watch. The real question you need to ask yourself when scoping out opportunities, though, is: At the end of the day, will thisand Seed Companieshelp us launch a scalable product that brings value? In the biological realm, theres a lot of opportunities popping up. One, in particular, is abiotic stress mitiga- I ATTENDED THEWorld Agri- They seek to change the industry tion. On a daily basis, we are seeing and experiencingTech and Future Food-Tech confer- paradigm and create opportunities climate changegrowers are investing more in genet- ences in March. It was a wild timeoutside of the multinationals. And, ics and hoping that there arent any extreme weatherto be in the Bay Area just daysin fact, the only way to reinvent an events that impact their yield. Biologicals have anafter major banking failures, suchindustry is by taking some big risks!opportunity to help mitigate abiotic stresses caused byas Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), andThis is where Gro Alliance has things like drought and extreme heats.the U.S. government announcedhelped startups find success. We have a strong product to mitigate abiotic stressmeasures to protect depositors andWe bring the entire seed supply called Smartfoil and applied on more than 3.5 millionstabilize the banking industry.chain together for innovators and acres in the world. Because the discussion on climateYouve no doubt heard count- developers. We have a full suite change has developed so much within the last twoless opinions of these bank failuresof breeding services (including years, our technologies have continued to develop andand the possible impact on startupcounter-season), seed production expand due to grower demand.companies. Most of the initial reac- services and can aggregate elite Its hard to see what that next big thing will betions seemed unsympathetic to thegrowers for closed-loop grain sys-in biologicals. But, as we continue to dive into andinnovators caught in the middle.tems. We can also connect these develop biologicals, we know finding the next bigThe traditional seed industry hasinnovators with independent seed opportunity depends on how much growers and regu- sometimes viewed startups likecompanies and provide significant lators alike understand biologicals. Education aboutclassic overpromise but underde- mutual benefit. The innovators get biologicals, how to use them and understanding whatliver ventures that sound good, butaccess to a path to market on more they are and how to createscalable technology witharent actually viable. They see thefavorable terms than with a large proven efficacy is our goal. Once weve achieved this,amount of money raised, the littlecompany. The independent seed 80% of the job will be done.commercial activity and have acompany gets a head start with a Our goal is to use opportunities to grow our knowl- hard time squaring that with theirvalue-added product and achieves edge and develop the next generation of products anddaily battles to make payroll anda measure of clear differentiation in people ready to help grow- squeeze out a margin. The foundersa noisy market.ers in the field achieve theirmay give some great speeches, butI believe the government did dreams. How are you pursuingend up spending all their investorsthe right thing in supporting the new opportunities? money and just move on to thedepositors who had their cash at next idea. Why should the govern- SVB. I also think the independent ment help companies that took onseed industry can benefit by being all that risk, some asked? more active in engaging with start-But my experience from work- ups and innovators to find oppor-RONAN KEMPF ing with dozens of startups in thetunities. Pairing the innovation from seed, biotech and farming space isstartups with the on-farm credibility HEAD OF MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT,just the opposite. They are hard- of independent seed companies AGRAUXINE BYworking men and women who trulycreates a win-win-win scenario for LESAFFRE believe they can make the world ainnovators, seed companies and r.kempf@agrauxine. better place with new innovationsfarmers.lesaffre.com agrauxine.us and collaborative business models. INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2023 SEEDWORLD.COM /39'