July 4, 2023

Let’s go play outside with microbes! 🦠

Let’s go play outside with microbes! 🦠Maybe a little crazy question to ask fellow Food & Ag investors but we did it anyway and fun it was!

Together with Hanneke Hietink we dove into soil health, the balance of bacteria and fungi in the succession of the ecosystems. Biome Makers Inc. showed us their product to see how soil health, microbial ecosystems and available nutrients can be quantified. At the regenerative farm Schevikhoven we studied a “woodland edge” regenerative farming model, whereby working in several crop layers  maximizes the use of sunlight and hence yields🌞

It was truly inspiring to see how the regenerative farm had more nitrogen availability then the conventional neighbor, without applying any nitrogen! For us the visit to the farm and talking with the experts in the field and our fellow Food & Ag investors was – again – a big inspiration.

It showed us the untapped potential of the regenerative transition. But to make an impact as VC we have to focus on the solutions that truly can make a true difference.  Which one should we choose? 🤔

Send us a e-mail if you think there is a space, technology or business model Rubio should look at to enable this transition. 

Thank you Maarten van Dam for hosting the event. Kudos for being (again) a pioneer in the ag-space. And thank you Jaap Strengers from Future Food Fund, Arnoud Balhuizen from HAL Investments, Daan Wilms Van Kersbergen from The Yield Lab, Florentine Fokma (Fockema Andreae) and Jonas von den Driesch from SHIFT Invest, Kim de Boer from Brightlands Venture Partners, Delphine de Brogniez from Yara Growth Ventures, Maarten, Pieter Vis and Froukje Remmers from Pymwymic, Reynier Arendsen de Wolff en Bor Boer from Convent Capital, Maarten-Yan Wierenga from Nutreco, Mark Durno from Rockstart, Kee Koopmans and Gijs Engelen from Goeie Grutten Impact Fonds, Roderick Kasteel from Knop Ventures, and our own Tijl Hoefnagels, Edward van der Hout, Ava Van Vliet and Sophie Wynaendts for playing outside with us.