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:  

• The current state of venture capital – and the criticality of taking a step back to understand where things sit today 
• Investors’ increased focus on profitability and not being able to cut your way to growth 
• Artificial intelligence as an enabler – not a vertical  
• Does the future include a shift to debt versus venture 
• The cost of innovation and the role of an investor in this era of venture capital 
• What the current conversation with portfolio companies looks like for Elevate Ventures 
• What Matt sees as emerging trends in agbioscience 
• The most important jobs to be done in the industry 

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/

Agbioscience is the only economy that touches every person on the planet. Over the past four decades, we’ve seen massive transformation, innovation and acceleration of output in this economy. Today we are joined by a leader who has had a front row seat to it all. Jay Hulbert, CEO of Ag Alumni Seed, joins us ahead of his retirement to talk:  

• Seeing the world and the globalization of agriculture in his career 
• Biotechnology as a step-function change to revolutionizing the row crop world through improved genetics 
• His perspective on the future of gene editing in agriculture and what’s on the horizon 
• Jay’s support of entrepreneurs and the importance of their flexibility to make business models work long-term 
• His extensive background in specialty crop and some of the market intelligence that has paved the way for new products we see in produce today 
• The job that needs to be done as he sees it – or more like, the resources that likely need to be shifted toward climate resilient crops 

New data from USDA shares that net cash farm income decreased roughly 3.5% from 2023 into 2024 and we’re looking at inflation adjusted numbers. But here’s the piece of the silver lining that may be untold: that number – net cash farm income – is still above average when we look at the last 20 years from USDA data. This week, Natasha Cox, Senior Vice President of Farm Credit Mid-America, joins us to help make sense of the numbers, what it means to producers and to the broader agbioscience economy. We get into:  

• The macro perspective on the health of farm balance sheets across the Midwest 
• Big trends that she’s looking at from a financial health standpoint of farms and agribusinesses 
• Consolidation – from both the farmer and innovator perspective – as a factor in the economic system of agriculture in the US 
• New investments being made on farm or within agribusinesses to better connect to the end market of food is health 
• Natasha’s perspective as a farmer and how she prioritizes where to place her bets for her operations 
• The criticality of surrounding yourself with good partners, knowing your options when it comes to strategic planning and investments and asking the right questions for your operations or business 
• The innovation she’s most excited about in 2025 

The year 2025 is poised to be an interesting one for agbioscience. Venture capital inflows from 2023 to 2024 are roughly flat according to Crop Life, the production cost of corn and soybeans remains roughly in line or slightly below market price and the turbulence around global trade and what tariffs could mean leave an uncertain operating market for what could be ahead. Joining us today is Hoosier Ag Today president, Eric Pfeiffer, to make sense of what’s ahead. We get into:  

• The current perspective of the farmer, their natural optimism and knowing the challenges that lie ahead for 2025. 
• Trends he’s noticing that are operational changes to drive net farm income – particularly biologicals – and why that’s challenging. 
• Property tax reform as a major topic in the Indiana General Assembly and making this issue relatable to the general public – because it does impact them at the end of the day. 
• The biofuels tax credit bill in the Indiana General Assembly and its potential economic impact and jobs to the state of Indiana (not to mention better burning, more sustainable fuel). 
• On a federal level – trade wars – and tariffs potential impact, good or bad, on farmers. 
• Farmers needing certainty on The Farm Bill to make plans for the future – it does not appear to be a priority at the moment.  
• Reason for optimism from farmers moving forward. 

Making a difference in the world – it’s nearly a universal desire for all of us. But where do you fit in? And how best to you make an impact? One college student is making that impact and blazing their trail. Cameron Weber, a biology major at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a Field Atlas Ambassador, joins us today to talk their path to agbioscience, including:  

• Talking to two kinds of people – those that grew up on the farm and those who stumbled into it and are happy they did. Cameron is in the latter  
• Wanting to originally be a doctor until getting connected with Field Atlas at a career fair and learning more about agbioscience. 
• Finding a new path and forging your way forward as a college student 
• Their six-month internship with Corteva Agriscience as a greenhouse assistant in Puerto Rico 
• Field Atlas Ambassadors – what do they do? And what has Cameron’s experience been like in their five semesters with the team? 
• Cameron’s advice for companies searching for young talent (hint: it’s not ping pong tables in the breakroom and pizza on Fridays) 
• Working on their thesis as they wrap up their time at Rose-Hulman  
• Cameron’s plans headed into graduation this spring – pssssss – they're currently looking for a job....  

As the first month of 2025 comes to a close, Mitch Frazier and Cayla Chiddister recap a few of the biggest stories in agbioscience, reasons for optimism on net cash farm income and tease a few upcoming episodes of Agbioscience.

Much has changed in agbioscience over the last three decades. We’ve seen the introduction of gene editing technologies, new digital capabilities, even autonomy. One leader has had a front-row seat to these innovations. He’ll soon retire, but joins us today to share perspective on where we’ve been and where we’re headed. Dan Dawes, Senior Director of Strategy and Growth at AgriNovus joins us to talk about his career and the highlight reel of groundbreaking innovations in agbioscience. We get into:  

• What has kept Dan in agbioscience all these years, his connectivity to the farm and wanting others to feel the same sense of reward that he did.  
• The macro perspective and many cycles of the agbioscience economy – it's down for now, but it’s never forever. 
• What innovations excited Dan the most throughout his decades long career; but also, which ones did he not see coming? 
• Indiana’s unfair advantage – its people. 
• Dan’s biggest lessons in leadership, giving those you’re leading a map to success and the criticality in finding joy in the work that you do. 
• Finding a mentor as a guide to growing in your career – and beyond – and an update on what’s ahead for Dan. 

Keeping the heart of the heartland requires two key things when we think about growing small towns, cities and rural economies: big vision and lots of hard work. Today’s guest is no stranger to either and shares a great perspective on how one small community in the Midwest is reimagining itself into an epicenter of innovation. Nichole Like, CEO of The Pantheon, an innovation engine in Vincennes, Indiana joins us to talk: 

• Investing in small communities while also honoring their heritage to make them a destination for newcomers to move to and hometown kids to return to for their careers. 
• The steady decline of entrepreneurial activity in rural America and The Pantheon’s vision to create the economy they want – not the way they’re given. 
• Vincennes as Indiana’s first city has big stats to tout – including Knox County leading in ag receipts, being the #1 producer of fruit and vegetable production in Indiana and #2 in the United States for melon production. 
• The simple, but effective, equation to building an agtech ecosystem: bring really smart, progressive farmers to the table with innovators to solve critical problems facing their operations.  
• Creating community buy-in and the importance of local support to drive local economies. 
• What’s ahead for The Pantheon and Indiana’s first city. 

According to AgFunder News, gene editing startups have raised $2.7 billion since 2012 in pursuit of technologies that advance everything from crop performance to yield. Today we are joined by a pioneer in science at the largest pure play agriculture company in the world. Dr. Wendy Srnic, VP of Biotechnology at Corteva Agriscience, to talk gene editing and its future. We get into:  

• What is gene editing and how does it differ from genetically modified crops? 
• How gene editing affects that broader value chain and food system at large. 
• Corteva’s partnership with Pairwise via their investment vehicle, Corteva Catalyst, and how they plan to leverage gene editing to make fruits and vegetables more accessible and nutritious. 
• The objective of Corteva Catalyst to advance external technologies that align with the company’s internal R&D strategy – and the importance of staying nimble to seize opportunities and drive outcomes whether they are joint ventures, acquisitions, investments or traditional collaborations. 
• Wendy’s perspective on where we’re at in the evolution of biotechnology, what’s emerging and how artificial intelligence (AI) is speeding up – and de-risking – the scientific discovery process. 
• What does AI bring to the future of a partnership like that of Corteva and Pairwise? 

According to Zion Market Research, the ag biological products market is expected to grow to $320 billion over the next decade. With a huge connection to agbioscience, what does it mean for farmers? What does it mean for agbioscience innovators? Kicking off season 8 of Agbioscience is BioBond CEO Marc McConnaughey. We get into:  

• What exactly is the bioproducts market and how is demand growing? 
• How BioBond’s sustainable adhesives and protective coatings created a eureka moment for Marc as a serial entrepreneur. 
• The Generation Food Rural Partners Fund and its partnership to help BioBond grow its business in rural Indiana. 
• BioBond’s strategy as a technology execution platform that licenses from universities and how its position near Purdue has created opportunities for innovation + talent. 
• Indiana farmers as a critical piece to BioBond’s future and how the state is a perfect storm of location, logistics and people to aid in their success. 
• What’s ahead for BioBond? Hint: continued focus on the customer and of course, revenue.