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Carl Casale, Senior Agricultural Partner at Ospraie Ag Science, joins the podcast to talk about his company’s overarching goal in venture capital: to produce more high-quality food with less impact on the environment.
“By 2030, half the world’s population is going to be middle class or wealthy and the other half of the population is going to have the same issue of needing more calories to meet their basic needs,” he says. “But for half the population – they aren’t going to need more calories, but they are going to care deeply about how those calories are produced.”
To that end, Carl is exploring the potential for biologicals, biopesticides, soil testing and management that will allow ag to adapt to consumer preference and global regulations. But the bar for innovators in these fields has gotten higher this year, he says.
“What we’re seeing as investors is that we’re immediately learning what’s good and what’s not,” Carl says. “Before, if there were 100 companies in a given space, the top 75 would get funded just because they’re along for the ride. Now you better be in the top quartile or you’re not getting any money. It’s the separation of the wheat from the chaff right now.”