How Syngenta is thinking about AI with Feroz Sheikh

Ask any farmer what their biggest challenge is right now and most will say ‘labor’. But what if, instead of trying to get more farm workers, we focused on changing the types of jobs available on farms? That’s where robotics comes in.Unfortunately, successfully commercializing robots in agriculture has been extraordinarily difficult, especially relative to sectors like healthcare, defence and warehousing.We break down the problem into three key challenges, based on research by Sophie Thorel, robotics expert and researcher at CREO Syndicate. Sophie argues robotics in agriculture needs to overcome the technical challenge of varied, uncontrollable environments; the cost and capital challenges that often comes with hardware; and the social stakeholder challenge of getting farmers and farm workers involved in the design process. Connie Bowen, GP at Farmhand Ventures, also joins us, drawing on her expertise in understanding and investing in agtech from a labor-first perspective and how all of these challenges intersect.Connie, Sophie and Sarah discuss:Sophie’s journey into robotics and why a family office investment platform cares about robots in food & agricultureHow we can overcome the time and cost it takes for on-farm robotics to develop to a stage where it’s actually useful for farmers/growersWhy it’s so important for farmers and farm workers to be involved over the long term in a robotics program- from design into implementationHow overcoming the key challenges in ag robotics could lead to a revolution in farm labor– more attractive and skilled farm opportunitiesUseful Links:Agriculture Robotics: Technologies Enabling the Fourth Industrial Revolution" - CREO reportAg LaunchPete Nelson on partnering with growers to build better agtechBeyond VC: Redeemable Equity in Agtech, with Connie BowenThe Three Categories of Autonomy in Agriculture, SwarmFarm RoboticsBurroTRIC RoboticsFor more information and resources, visit our website.The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

20 Aug 43min

The term ‘agtech’ now encompasses so many different types of businesses and innovations, that from an investment perspective, it can look overly complex. However perhaps the opposite is true?Mark Kahn, Managing Partner of Ominvore, shares his ‘agtech-agribusinesss convergence theory’; where agtech startups eventually grow to look like a more conventional agribusiness company. He argues that if an agtech startup can’t see a pathway to either becoming an agribusiness or at least complementing one, then it’s likely to fail. The recent agtech startup failures in animal protein and vertical farming are an example of this.So what does this argument mean for venture capital, which is all about high growth potential, disruption, and of course, high risk? Are VCs likely to invest in startups which are going to become ‘just another agribusiness’? And does that even matter?For important context, Mark Kahn is based in India, which has a vastly different investment landscape compared with western countries. India has an incredibly large agriculture economy,  worth about $US600 - 700 billion, with about 50% of the Indian workforce employed in agriculture.  If you compare that with Australia, only 2.5% of the national workforce is involved in agriculture. In the United States, it's around 10%. Mark and Sarah discuss:Omnivore’s investment thesis and how it has evolved over time to focus on food security, agricultural prosperity, resource efficiency & rural resilienceThe unique agtech investment conditions in India and how it compares with markets in western countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia Whether we are starting to see a global uptick in agtech investmentWhy Mark believes there is an agtech-agribusiness convergenceHow the Indian agtech market can be overlooked by western investors, because they do not take the time to understand itUSEFUL LINKS:Value creation in Indian agriculture - McKinsey and Company, 2025DeHaat - the largest farmer platform in India and portfolio company of Omnivore.What caused the farmer protests in India and what does it mean for innovation in Ag?- Agtech… So What? episode, featuring Mark Kahn and other investors.For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

6 Aug 29min

“Food is Medicine” is extremely popular right now, and a few facts suggest it might be more than just a trend. The U.S. alone spends something like $1.5 trillion annually on diet-related diseases, and key issues like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other diseases are on the rise around the world. There are costly interventions available to manage many of these problems, but an increasing body of research suggests that some of the least invasive (and most affordable) interventions don’t come in a pill or vial, but in a grocery basket. Agrifood tech is definitely not sitting on the sidelines. We’re seeing a new wave of startups emerging in this space, building on the lessons of food businesses of the past. To explore this trend, we spoke with one such founder– Brad McNamara, CEO and Founder at Morrissey Market, a “food is medicine” distribution startup. Brad was formerly at Freight Farms, a vertical farming company that strove to sell, not the produce, but the farm itself, in the form of a tech-enabled shipping container-sized farm.For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

23 Jul 39min

When it comes to the production of high-value food crops, California is, without question, a global leader. Plus, much of the state’s thousands of acres of farmland lies within close proximity of Silicon Valley, where high-tech tools and solutions are endemic. And yet, many California farmers are struggling to continue their work, and agtech startups are increasingly looking beyond the state for customers and sectors to serve. So what gives? To answer this question, we asked Walt Duflock, Senior VP of Innovation at Western Growers Association on the show to help us connect the dots on why California’s world-renowned ag and its state-of-the-art tech sectors are struggling to align. Policy plays a big role here, but shifting tides around agtech funding are also having an effect. For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

9 Jul 38min

Finding the right solution often starts with finding many, many wrong solutions. When it comes to some of agtech's most beguiling challenges, like real-time, granular soil testing, many startups have found the wrong solution– either ones that simply don’t work, don’t work at the right price, or don’t work in a way that makes them useful enough. But just because a problem hasn’t been solved yet doesn’t mean it’s unsolvable! And with the recent leaps made in artificial intelligence, a new startup– Soil Action– is taking another crack at this problem, hoping that a novel approach will help align the stars of effectiveness, usefulness, and affordability. The co-founders at Soil Action, Jack Oslan and Nate Storey, also know a thing or two about tackling big challenges in agtech. They both were also co-founders at vertical farming startup Plenty, and this week, in addition to hearing about Soil Action, we’ll also hear about lessons learned from that journey. For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

27 Jun 36min

Longtime listeners have heard Sarah and Matthew talk about ideas like “ecosystem disruption” and “adoption chain risk” and “value architecture,” all of which stem from the works of Ron Adner. Ron is a researcher, strategist, and professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, and the author of two books, The Wide Lens and Winning the Right Game, both of which have been influential at Tenacious. So this week, we’re going straight to the source as Matthew sits down with Ron for a wide ranging discussion of how fundamental business strategy has changed in recent decades, and how agtech companies and investors can learn lessons from other sectors to inform their business models, go-to-market strategies, and the very way they understand the spaces where they play. For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

11 Jun 42min

Despite a persistent sense of uncertainty in the AgTech market lately, we’re still seeing startups get acquired– even if information about those acquisitions is opaque. Case in point: Syngenta recently purchased Intrinsyx Bio, a biologicals company, for an undisclosed sum. Why do companies conceal this information? And in this moment when everyone has their eyes peeled for some indication of where the market is headed, what can we learn from exits? Sarah sits down this week with Tenacious Ventures’ Matthew Pryor and Shane Thomas, author of Upstream Ag Insights, to do a deep dive into the latest news and discuss what it all means. For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

28 Mai 35min

Over the last few decades, a lot of products and technologies have promised to disrupt the diets and food buying habits of the world’s consumers. But nothing has made true on that promise quite like the emergence of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. These (as of now) injectables are changing the way people– and their households– eat and shop, and CPG companies, quick serve food brands, and others are already seeing a marked decline in purchasing in the months since these drugs have gone mainstream. Given the speed with which people are adopting these treatments, and how fast the therapy affects their diets and choices, many in the food and ag sectors have been caught flat footed by a dramatic change in preferences among 10% (and growing) of consumers. Who will be the winners and losers?To tell us more about what the future might hold for ag and food alike, we’re joined this week by Mary Shelman, Founder at the Shelman Group. For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

14 Mai 37min