Testing and validating new technologies is an essential part of scaling an agtech business. This work being done at EMILI’s Innovation Farms and AIVA Network’s Validation Hubs helps innovators commercialize their products and increases the adoption of their solutions.
During Agriculture Enlightened, Canada’s Agtech Conference, hear from Marcel Kringe, founder and CEO of BranValt, and Katie Friesen, founder and CEO of FarmerTitan, about their experience validating their technologies through the AIVA Network this season. The pair will be joined by Peter Frey, CEO of Spade Technologies, and Darren Anderson, CEO of Vive Crop Protection for a discussion around what they have learned through the validation process in this panel moderated by Chelsea Platzke, board chair of BioTalent.
Marcel Kringe grew up on a family farm in Germany, where he pursued an ag engineering degree. Work and travel studies in Canada, Russia and Brazil led him to move to Canada. He learned English on the go while working on different farm operations all over Canada, before settling in Brandon, Manitoba for a job as a Cargill Agronomist. Marcel left his corporate career to focus full-time on his hobby, Bushel Plus, now BranValt. Today, the agricultural products of Bushel Plus Ltd. are sold in more than 35 countries and the company employs a team of 35 great people in three different countries.
Katie Friesen is founder and CEO of FarmerTitan. Katie grew up on a farm in Niverville, Manitoba. She left for Miami on a beach volleyball scholarship to Florida International University, then spent years in venture capital and worked at a Colombian tech startup that had just raised $58 million.
After returning to Manitoba to help on her family’s farm, she founded FarmerTitan, a QR code and mobile app for the entire farm team that provides a clear record of what got done, when it got done, and who did it. FarmerTitan helps farmers organize and communicate with their farm team, avoid preventable repairs, and most importantly, catch the little things that get missed before seeding and harvest before they stop the whole operation.
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