Harvest Season
For all of us who glanced up at the night sky this September, from our respective times and places around the world, we shared a view of a Super Harvest Moon. This phenomenon is a combination of the full moon of the autumn equinox and a lunar eclipse. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Harvest Moon marks a time of year with the shortest intervals between moonrises, when the light of the huge moon provided farmers the extra light for their longest workdays of the growing season.
Whether we are harvesting crops or other fruits of our labor, we all may feel the same sense of time running short. There is so much ahead to build a better agriculture and food system, we need all the light to do our work. And we need to celebrate our hard-earned yields as the work gets done.
Some of this month’s bright spots include Edacious’ new website, a look at Walden Mutual’s growth from startup to becoming a B Corp with $75.6 million in assets, the 6th biotope by VIB Basecamp Call for Applications, Anouk Schoors’ perspectives on Food as Medicine, and excitement for upcoming RFSI Forum in October. Our team also kicked off the month with a very special team building day at Domain de Graux led by Louis De Jaeger where we did an edible and medicinal plant hunt in our food forest, harvested and cooked our own meals with fresh produce, plants, and other products from the farm, and camped under the stars.
Join us at RFSI Forum in October 9-10, Denver, Colorado
The Nest’s Hallie Fox is a featured speaker for one of the year’s most important events, RFSI Forum. Hallie, along with David Leon of Biome Capital Partners, will be speaking in a session on October 9, “Fireside Chat: Creating Investment Strategies that Embrace a Systemic Approach.”
Get 10% off your registration fee with the code “NEST10.”
The Nest, in partnership with the Schmidt Family Foundation, FarmRaise, and Kitchen Table Consultants, is also funding Farmer Scholarships for the RFSI event.
If you are attending RFSI, don’t miss other key events including Ethan Steinberg of Propagate presenting an agroforestry case study at 12:15 MT. Propagate will also speak at the RFSI Bootcamp on October 8, and the First Thirty will host a pitch session on October 9.
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6th biotope by VIB Basecamp Call for Applications
The call is now open for the 6th biotope by VIB basecamp!
Applicants should be innovative agrifood biotech startups from all backgrounds and geographies who:
− have a unique, biotech-based solution to a clearly articulated and quantified problem (TRL 3-5)
− preferably have (pending) IP
− need scientific support and high-tech facilities to build a benchmarked proof-of-concept
− have two or more team members
− can get seed stage ready with a pre-seed ticket of €250k and bespoke support
What to expect at the biotope basecamp:
The basecamp, a 3-week hybrid program, challenges participating teams in translating biotech science into a viable business and prepares them and their venture for the challenges that lie ahead. Participating startups will:
− gain confidence through workshops, tailored for agrifood biotech startups
− validate and refine their value proposition with relevant stakeholders
− get a 360° startup assessment and expert sci, IP & business feedback on their venture’s next development
Selected startups will get invited to embark on an 18-month biotope journey. In this tailored support, each startup gets a pre-seed ticket of €250K in cash, access to research technologies and facilities, a spot at the biotope by VIB incubator office and greenhouse and dedicated mentorship by biotech entrepreneurs in our network.
Applications are open until October 16 midnight CET. Apply at this link.
Anouk Schoors Featured on Lively.Earth
Lively.Earth interviewed The Nest’s Anouk Schoors in September. The conversation covered The Nest’s holistic investing strategy, rooted in effecting systemic change with “Food as Medicine” as a guiding principle. The strategy encompasses The Nest’s investments such as Edacious, as well as our foundation partners, including Farm for Good, and our agroecological farm, Domaine de Graux. Read the interview.
The Nest Journal
This month, we published the first post in our series that examines agriculture’s reliance on synthetic fertilizers that cause serious impacts on soil health, biodiversity, water quality, emissions, and human health. Read: Fertile Ground for Change: The Link Between Nitrogen Fertilizer and Water Quality. This next articles in the series will review potential solutions including regenerative practices, and the opportunity for innovation in a $200 billion fertilizer market.
Walden Mutual’s Incredible First Year
Whomever said that “nice guys finish last” likely never met Charley Cummings and the team at Walden Mutual. Walden recently published their 2023 annual report after an inaugural year as an officially licensed mutual bank.
As Charley stated in his report introduction, Walden Mutual is proud to lend to “entrepreneurs and operators who have a vision towards something deeply meaningful and impactful beyond making a buck.”
The bank is equally committed to serving those who trust Walden with their funds. Walden’s customers earned a financial return 6x the national savings rate average while their funds helped build community and solutions to environmental problems.
Highlights from the report include:
− Tripling of assets to a total of $75.6M
− Closing of 36 loans to a net of $33.8M
− 61% of current loans fund women-owned/operated businesses
− 27% of current loans went to small farms
If have had a negative perception of the financial sector, or if you just want to be inspired by how the industry can be reimagined, this report is recommended reading.
Agricarbon in the Spotlight
Agricarbon was featured in an article for Food Manufacture that covered a case study on measuring soil carbon for FAI Farm’s regenerative grazing operations. Their solution, and work for companies like Diageo, was also included in a Reuters article, “How AI is helping regenerative agriculture to grow.” Agricarbon welcomed their new Chief Product Officer, Dave Nicholson, to the team in September.
Monarch Tractor Receives Support from California Grants to Scale Adoption
The California Clean Energy Commission awarded a $2.5Million REDWDS Grant to Monarch Tractor and partners, Gridtractor, and the Valley Clean Energy Alliance. The grant will fund deployment of EV charging technology that responds to dynamic grid signals, enabling farmers to save money by accessing lower cost energy.
The Monarch’s MK-Valso became eligible under California’s Clean, Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE). Under CORE, the MK-V tractor, is eligible for up to $68,750 in savings off the retail price to boost adoption of Monarch’s technology.
Posts and Media
Quick Organics will be launching their first certifier-specific Organic Systems Plan, bringing ease and efficiency to the complicated process of organic certification.
Specialty Chemical Startup Scimplify Secures $9.5 M in Series A Funding Led by Omnivore.
Opportunities
− Arborview Capital announced 56 job openings at 8 companies in their portfolio.
− Agricarbon is hiring a Senior Soil Carbon Scientist.
− Astanor’s listings include 50 job openings at 29 companies in their portfolio.
− Monarch Tractor is hiring for five roles including Director of Product.
− Omnivore lists 215 job openings at 34 of its portfolio companies.
− Walden Mutual is hiring for positions including Integration Engineer.
From the Farm
The team at Domaine de Graux has also been busy with their harvest. Corn will be the last of the crops to cultivate after a challenging season. The most successful of the field crops were potatoes, with a yield that outperformed conventional fields at other farms in the area.
The team harvested mustard and wheat for Farm for Good, while barley grains will be brewed into local beer with a local brasserie Brunehaut. The orchards produced enough fruit to prepare 5 different jams, a total of 1000 jars. Apples are still waiting to be picked for making juice and nuts are ready for processing into oils and flours.
