Jenn Smith’s role with Grow-NY draws on her background in craft beverage market development, most recently as the executive director of the New York Cider Association and the administrative director of the New York State Distillers Guild. She has also served as an NYC-based consultant to entrepreneurs creating value-added products and hospitality ventures. Before that, Ms. Smith was the marketing director of New York’s largest wine and spirits retailer, and earlier in her career she was a director of online community and customer engagement for Citigroup, Bertelsmann, and Time Inc.
Innovators in Food and Agriculture
Event Overview
The contest attracted over 250 innovative, high-growth food and agriculture startups from across the globe to compete for $3 million in prizes. Of the 20 finalists that stepped up to the challenge and pitched business plans, seven walked away as winners, including a few businesses with Cornell ties.
In this session, you’ll learn about these startups’ technologies and solutions – which range from egg sex determination to organic packaging that extends shelf life – and how they plan to revolutionize the food and ag industries.
What You'll Learn
- A preview of some of the latest technologies and solutions being developed for the food and ag industries
- The biggest challenges food and ag startups face as they scale their companies
- Resources and organizations that food and ag startups can leverage for support
Speakers
Edward S. Eveleth, CEO of Halomine, is an experienced entrepreneur who has been a key component of several companies who raised more than $50 million in venture and private equity; $14 million in grant funding from the NIH and NSF, among others; and $70 million in project financing. He has been CEO, COO, CFO, and Chairman in companies covering a broad range of technologies, including medical devices, life science molecular tools, waste-heat-to-energy conversion, new materials, and MEMS devices. Ted was also the Technology Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Small Business Development Center at the University of Albany and has been a reviewer for the NSF. He was a founding member of Veratag LLC, HocusLocus LLC, and Cyclics Corporation. Ted received a B.A. in Economics Phi Beta Kappa in three years from Union College and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University.
Toby Thomas has 30 years of food packaging experience focused on research, new products, and business development. With over 40 patents, Mr. Thomas has utilized food packaging innovations to develop new branded products, including Hefty OneZip and Slide-Rite. He has degrees in Mechanical Engineering from UW-Madison and Texas A&M University. Mr. Thomas’s additional skills include process automation, active packaging, and product development, with corporate roles in capital and business planning, intellectual property, operations management, and product pricing.
Yael Alter is the CEO and co-founder of Soos Technology, a biotechnology company that set out to solve one of the toughest challenges the poultry industry has today: male layer extermination and production capacity loss in commercial hatcheries. She is an experienced executive that brings over 15 years of management experience, many of it from the poultry industry. In her previous role, Yael was the CEO of an a large agricultural projects company focused on building industrial poultry houses and coops around the world.
Jenn Smith’s role with Grow-NY draws on her background in craft beverage market development, most recently as the executive director of the New York Cider Association and the administrative director of the New York State Distillers Guild. She has also served as an NYC-based consultant to entrepreneurs creating value-added products and hospitality ventures. Before that, Ms. Smith was the marketing director of New York’s largest wine and spirits retailer, and earlier in her career she was a director of online community and customer engagement for Citigroup, Bertelsmann, and Time Inc.
Edward S. Eveleth, CEO of Halomine, is an experienced entrepreneur who has been a key component of several companies who raised more than $50 million in venture and private equity; $14 million in grant funding from the NIH and NSF, among others; and $70 million in project financing. He has been CEO, COO, CFO, and Chairman in companies covering a broad range of technologies, including medical devices, life science molecular tools, waste-heat-to-energy conversion, new materials, and MEMS devices. Ted was also the Technology Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Small Business Development Center at the University of Albany and has been a reviewer for the NSF. He was a founding member of Veratag LLC, HocusLocus LLC, and Cyclics Corporation. Ted received a B.A. in Economics Phi Beta Kappa in three years from Union College and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University.
Toby Thomas has 30 years of food packaging experience focused on research, new products, and business development. With over 40 patents, Mr. Thomas has utilized food packaging innovations to develop new branded products, including Hefty OneZip and Slide-Rite. He has degrees in Mechanical Engineering from UW-Madison and Texas A&M University. Mr. Thomas’s additional skills include process automation, active packaging, and product development, with corporate roles in capital and business planning, intellectual property, operations management, and product pricing.
Yael Alter is the CEO and co-founder of Soos Technology, a biotechnology company that set out to solve one of the toughest challenges the poultry industry has today: male layer extermination and production capacity loss in commercial hatcheries. She is an experienced executive that brings over 15 years of management experience, many of it from the poultry industry. In her previous role, Yael was the CEO of an a large agricultural projects company focused on building industrial poultry houses and coops around the world.
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