Disruptive innovation is crucial to secure a liveable future, and combating the climate crisis requires our urgent and immediate attention. On November 17th, 2022 industry leaders from across the global agtech and foodtech sectors convened at the San Jose Convention Center in Silicon Valley for the THRIVE Global Impact Summit.
The summit provided critical insights on the future of agtech innovation while also affording the opportunity to meet and network with top industry leaders, global entrepreneurs with disruptive and ground-breaking solutions, investors, thought leaders and other drivers of agtech innovation. “San Jose has a rich history in agriculture, so it was extremely fitting to hold the summit here.” Mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo told the audience on the day.
We were delighted to welcome Israel based ICL as headline partner for the summit.
As a global leader in agriculture, food, and engineered materials, ICL Group is constantly developing impactful solutions to improve the quality of life for millions worldwide through its unparalleled R&D infrastructure. ICL Planet Startup Hub is the vehicle in which ICL chooses to work with innovative companies, synergize with their novelty, and short-cut their way to global scale. The Hub enables exceptional ideas, technologies, and innovators in the Crop nutrition & Food domains, to immerse into the growth points and cross points of ICL.
The summit was the culmination of a six-month global search for the most innovative startups with solutions centred on three key themes:
- Soil health and Biodiversity
- Increasing Food Security
- Reducing and Offsetting Emissions
The 10 finalists, 3 from the USA, 3 from Canada and one each from Australia, Israel, Nigeria and Singapore were selected from a global applicant pool in excess of 500 startups.
One of the many interesting conversations on the day was the fireside chat with John Hartnett, Founder and CEO of SVG Ventures|THRIVE, Microsoft’s Ranveer Chandra and Teddy Bekele from Land O’Lakes. Farmers are facing threats from all sides. To survive today and thrive in the future, farmers need to protect supply chains, automate operations, navigate trade issues, expand sustainability practices, and close the rural broadband gap. Land O’Lakes, one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives, and Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, shared insights on how they are
pioneering agtech to accelerate agriculture innovation, advance sustainability initiatives, and connect rural communities.
Ranveer Chandra
CTO of Agrifood, Managing Director of Research for Industry, Head of Networking at Microsoft
Ranveer previously served as the Chief Scientist of Microsoft Azure Global. Ranveer’s research has shipped in multiple Microsoft products, including XBOX, Azure, and Windows. Ranveer initiated the Farmbeats platform and is recognized by Newsweek as one of the most innovative and disruptive guys in the tech space.
Teddy Bekele
CTO of Land O’Lakes
Teddy is responsible for developing and implementing technology solutions for retail and farmer customers to help them produce more sustainable outputs. Prior to his current role, Teddy served as Vice President, Ag Technology for WinField United, as well as Business CIO for WinField United providing full IT management and leadership responsibilities. Teddy holds an MBA from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.
How can Microsoft help farmers and all humans who are consuming agriculture to do more?
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every organization and everyone on this planet to achieve more. Across the world, Microsoft is known for their reach as the largest software company on the planet but, they are not directly an agricultural company.
This is where the collaborative seed between Land O’Lakes and Microsoft was planted. Their goal is to enable data-driven farming, building cloud, edge computing, sensors, and AI solutions to improve services for farmer and dairy producers and to boost broadband in rural areas. The farming giant Land O’Lakes uses Microsoft’s Azure technologies to spur sustainable farming practices and help farmers be more efficient in operations.
“When you think of our mission, this is where Land O’Lakes fits in well. They work with farmers, they are a cooperative in agriculture, have a vast amount of data, and the partner ecosystem. If Microsoft can empower Land O’Lakes with the latest in technology, it could seriously transform the future of agriculture.” says Ranveer Chandra
The future of this strategic alliance
Teddy and Ranveer discussed the 3 main pillars that the Land O’Lakes and Microsoft partnership will continue to focus on, including:
Soil Health and Sustainability
The recycling of nutrients, sequestration of carbon & regulation of our climate, purification and storage of water and soil are an important habitat for biodiversity. Teddy detailed that “Water demand will outstrip supply by 56% by 2030, and Ag is the biggest consumer of freshwater.” These issues are very real and need the right amount of expertise and technology to combat the problems.
Food Security
Land O’Lakes is one of the most important food suppliers in the U.S. Their ability to rapidly adapt to changing market forces through innovation is something farmers rely on. America’s farmers continue to deliver the world’s safest, most affordable food supply, but there are an increasing number of obstacles to face that are beyond their control.
The data-based, precision agriculture tools that Land O’Lakes are building with Microsoft will provide the edge they need.
Connecting Broadband in Rural Areas
Broadband is essential in our modern economy and the COVID-19 pandemic made the digital divide even worse for many people. Remote work, education and healthcare are still out of reach for people living in rural communities without online access. Land O’Lakes and Microsoft are committed to bridging the broadband gap and solving this issue to enable better access to telehealth, educational resources, and digital skilling.
Through this partnership, digital solutions built on Microsoft Azure, the Cloud and its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will help farmers better react to current and future challenges and build tighter connections between them and the consumer.
Farm data has great potential to help farmers reach new heights in emerging carbon and other ecosystem markets to premium grains and risk management offerings. But none of this will work without reliable internet which is why this partnership is vital. Forty-two million Americans still need access to the internet and the American Connection Project made up of more than 175 organizations will help bridge that digital divide and certainly move the needle forward.
