Nutrition 101, LLC (“101”), a national provider of eco-friendly waste management services, today announced the acquisition of Value Feeds, an industry-leading dairy upcycling company based in Dallas, TX, with strategic supply contracts from the region’s leading dairy producers.
The acquisition will enable 101 to continue its strategic growth into the Southwest region while building upon Value Feeds’ strong customer relationships, efficient operations, and environmentally friendly solutions, which are reflected in its robust processing capabilities and established foothold in a growing market.
“Value Feeds has proven itself in its over 30-year history as the market-dominant player with fantastic operations,” said Rick Shipley, CEO of Nutrition 101. “By bringing its capabilities, unmatched reputation, and customer relationships into the 101 family, we’ll be able to continue helping food processors manage byproducts while providing farmers high-quality proteins and energy for livestock in a new and growing market.”
Founded in 1989, Value Feeds has grown to be one of the industry leaders in dairy upcycling, expanding its incoming milk supply through strategic contracts with leading dairy producers in the Southwest region of the U.S. The company offers dairy producers a sustainable and efficient solution for managing their dairy waste.
“We are very pleased to partner with Nutrition 101,” said Mark Quinn, Founder of Value Feeds. “101’s industry expertise will allow us to continue to provide best-in-class services for our customers while expanding our processing capabilities. I look forward to continuing Value Feeds’ mission with the support of the 101 team.”
FloVision Solutions, a startup focused on AI-powered analytics for the global protein production industry, announced Wednesday that it has raised $8.7 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from Serra Ventures, SOSV and Rockstart.
The company said the funding will support expansion across North America, Europe, Australia, South America and Asia and help grow its workforce. New hires are planned in engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning and sales.
Founded in 2020, FloVision builds technology that uses computer vision and sensors to monitor and analyze food products in real time as they move through production lines. The system collects data on yield, quality, labor performance and can detect product defects, grading issues and foreign materials.
FloVision founder Rian Mc Donnell said the industry has historically relied on limited and outdated tools to manage variability in food production.
“In our field right now, there’s a lot of relatively antiquated technology that only measures one particular thing,” he said. “These industries are dealing with huge quantities of natural biological objects. Every single one is slightly different, slightly unique. So you really have to be quite robust.”
FloVision’s hardware installs directly onto existing conveyor belts and workstations, enabling processors to integrate the system without major infrastructure changes. Customers subscribe to the software platform, while paying a one-time installation fee for the hardware. The system is designed to be customizable to different production environments and workflows.
“We’re already helping protein processors run more efficiently and take control of their operations,” Mc Donnell said. “With these new resources, we’re doubling down on solving real customer problems and speeding up the rollout of features we know the food industry needs.”FloVision’s system is currently installed in 13 food production facilities across the United States, European Union and Australia. The company reports having processed more than 51 million pounds of food, with customers recovering up to 1.5% in yield and achieving up to 15 times return on investment by reducing waste and improving quality control.The company has seen significant growth in the past year, according to Mc Donnell. Previous growth was slower as the team focused on testing and refining the technology.
“2025 has been a pretty big year for us,” he said. “Our revenue growth over last year is in the range of about 3.5X.”
FloVision currently has 16 full-time employees and expects to grow to 21 by the end of 2025, with projections to reach 25 by mid-2026. While the company operates remotely, it is officially headquartered at Innovation Park at the University of Notre Dame.
The company’s platform incorporates recent advancements in computer vision and AI. It has one patent granted, two pending and additional filings planned later this year. As part of the investment round, Madeleine Goldberg of Insight Partners will join FloVision’s board of directors.
“FloVision is setting a new standard for operational excellence in protein processing,” said Insight Partners Managing Director Jeff Horing. “By leveraging computer vision hardware and software, FloVision’s platform can plug into processing stations to create long-term durability and immediate ROI with yield optimization.”
Looking ahead, Mc Donnell said the company sees potential to expand into adjacent sectors.
“The whole world’s changing pretty fast,” he said. “We definitely see it as an opportunity to grow a lot quicker across beef, pork, poultry and potentially into other food spaces in the coming years as well.”
He added that the company is looking for mission-driven talent to support that growth.
“We’re keen to work with people who want to work on a product that they believe can have a big environmental impact,” Mc Donnell noted. “While also having a big impact on our customers and their bottom line.”
Kevin O’Leary, star of “Stark Tank,” entrepreneur and investor, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s RALLY Innovation Conference in downtown Indianapolis.
This will be RALLY’s third year. According to a news release, the conference “brings together cross-sector stakeholders worldwide to experience creative convergence across six innovation studios: software, agriculture and food, health care, sports, hard tech and entrepreneurship.”
Event officials said this year’s programming includes a $5 million Pitch Competition, a curated exhibit hall showcasing “cutting-edge innovation” and the debut of the world’s first vibe coding competition.
O’Leary, also known as “Mr. Wonderful,” will share his business experience with the crowd, from what he has learned while being a Shark and the future of the American business.
“Kevin O’Leary embodies the entrepreneurial spirit, no-nonsense approach and business acumen that our conference celebrates,” RALLY Chief Visionary Christopher Day said. “His bold perspective on business aligns perfectly with this year’s theme, Creative Curiosity, and will no doubt provide value to attendees’ innovation journeys. We’re pumped to welcome such an accomplished entrepreneur to keynote this year’s event.”
O’Leary has co-founded SoftKey Software Products, founded O’Leary Ventures and co-founded Storage Now.
For more information about the conference, or to purchase early-bird tickets, click here.
SePRO Corporation, a leader in water quality solutions and environmental restoration, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Green Eyes LLC, a founder-owned technology company specializing in real-time, surface water monitoring solutions. This strategic move aims to expand SePRO’s capabilities in offering access to advanced diagnostics equipment for water quality monitoring to its customers.
Founded in 2006 by Vincent Kelly, Green Eyes has been dedicated to the restoration and protection of surface water by providing highly accurate and reliable monitoring equipment. Their product portfolio includes solutions for nutrient monitoring, water sampling, biofouling control, sediment erodibility and real-time data displays.
With over 25 years of experience in developing and deploying scientific equipment, including remote nutrient monitoring systems, Vincent will continue with the business as Technical Development Manager. His expertise will be invaluable playing a key role in product innovation, advancing environmental monitoring technologies, and expanding the company’s solutions into new markets.
“We are excited to welcome Vincent and the Green Eyes team into our growing organization,” said Dr. Tyler Koschnick, CEO of SePRO. “Their commitment to safeguarding natural resources aligns perfectly with our mission, and this acquisition will allow us to offer a more comprehensive suite of environmental monitoring solutions to our customers.”
Green Eyes and SePRO already have an established commercial relationship, particularly through water quality restoration projects within its EutroPHIX division, making this acquisition a natural fit for both parties.
“To reverse the world-wide degradation of surface water quality, natural resource managers need accurate, high-frequency nutrient data,” said Vincent Kelly. “Green Eyes’ NuLABs can meet these needs. I believe that SePRO, with its wealth of talented staff and a mission to restore surface water quality, will rapidly advance Green Eyes’ products to a level that makes real-time nutrient data commonplace. This is a truly exciting opportunity for me and the Green Eyes team to increase the impact of our work.”
SePRO is backed by Stanley Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Alternatives, who invested in July 2024 to support the company’s strategic growth initiatives.
SePRO Corporation, a leading specialty environmental restoration company, is excited to announce Stanley Capital Partners (SCP), has made a strategic, majority investment into the business. Goldman Sachs Alternatives will also participate as a minority co-investor. This investment will further accelerate SePRO’s ability to bring the best-in-class solutions, technologies, and technical support to customers in water management, the Green Industry, and specialty agriculture.
“For the last three decades, our mission and purpose has been to protect, preserve and restore more nature,” said SePRO President Tyler Koschnick, Ph.D. “We want to first thank Excellere Partners for supporting our growth as a portfolio company of theirs since 2019. Going forward, we are excited to begin working with our new partners Stanley Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Alternatives, as their strategic investment will support and expedite our efforts to deliver on our mission.”
SePRO’s consistent historical growth has been driven by high levels of customer engagement and product innovation that has yielded a strong and resilient brand identity. This partnership allows SePRO to tap into a new set of resources, to accelerate continued innovation in products, technologies, digitization, leading to an enhanced customer experience.
“Every day we read headlines about beaches being closed, phosphorus pollution in lakes, invasive weeds, and toxic algae destroying our ability to enjoy our water resources. By providing expanded problem-solving products and services to the market, we will be able to offer customers unsurpassed technical support and solutions for water quality restoration globally,” said Koschnick.
“We are excited to partner with SePRO leadership and Goldman Sachs Alternatives to build a technology-enabled growth story that will continue to build on the significant success of SePRO in profitable partnerships with clients to protect, preserve and restore nature,” said James Brooks, Founding Partner at Stanley Capital. “Investing in protecting our global water resources is core to SCP’s Resource Efficiency strategy.”
Patrick Hargutt, also a Founding Partner at Stanley Capital, reiterated the confidence in the company’s investment. “We identified SePRO as an attractive platform,” said Hargutt. “The mission of using innovation to create environmentally responsible solutions to protect and preserve surface water bodies is incredibly powerful and this strategy aligns perfectly with our focus on Resource Efficiency. We look forward to supporting Tyler and SePRO’s impressive leadership team in driving this exciting new chapter of growth across the United States and beyond.”
Barclays served as lead financial advisor to SCP and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor. Raymond James served as lead advisor to SePRO and Piper Sandler served as co-advisor to SePRO, while Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal advisor to both SePRO and Excellere Partners.
Agronomics (LSE:ANIC), a leading listed company focused on the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that it has invested US$ 10 million in its portfolio company Liberation Labs Holding Inc. (“Liberation Labs”) as part of a wider US$ 12.5 million financing round with participation from existing investor Siddhi Capital. The investment was made in the form of a Secured Convertible Promissory Note (“SCPN”), a form of convertible debt, for the continued construction of its facility in Richmond, Indiana in advance of Liberation Labs’ Series A round (a “Qualified Financing”). The SCPN will convert into the same instrument and terms as the Qualified Financing which is anticipated to raise a minimum of US$ 37.5 million through a combination of debt and equity. The investment was made using cash from the Company’s own resources.
Including this SCPN, Liberation Labs has now raised US$ 33.5 million in equity-linked instruments and has formal commitments for non-dilutive funding totalling a further US$ 55 million. This includes US$ 30 million in equipment financing and a US$ 25 million loan from Ameris Bank which is backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture via the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program.
Liberation Labs is seeking to become the industrial biotechnology industry’s global fabrication partner through the design, build and operation of Bio3, its purpose-built biomanufacturing platform. This platform will address the critical bottleneck which fermentation companies face. Liberation Labs broke ground in June 2023 on its first facility which when complete will have 600k litres of fermentation capacity. Today, the project is approximately halfway through its build programme and, subject to completion of the Qualified Financing, is expected to be commissioned in Q1 2025. This site, located in Richmond, Indiana which has the potential to be expanded by an additional 4 million litres of capacity was selected considering several key metrics such as access to sugar inputs, utility rates, cost and availability of labour, regulatory environment, availability of government incentives.
Including the SCPN, Agronomics has invested US$ 17.6 million in Liberation Labs which, subject to audit, is currently carried at a book value of £25.7 million. This position represents approximately 14.8% of Agronomics’ last stated Net Asset Value, including post-balance sheet date adjustments. Agronomics now holds 37.5% of Liberation Labs on a fully diluted basis.
Mark Warner, CEO and Co-Founder of Liberation Labs said:
“The new funding from Agronomics and Siddhi Capital comes as we continue to make significant progress in building out our operations team and advancing facility construction – including the installation of key equipment like fermenters and spray dryers. Each day we’re closer to our goal of unlocking the potential of domestic manufacturing of novel proteins for both food and industrial use. We greatly appreciate the continued support of our major funding partners.”
Jim Mellon, Executive Chairman of Agronomics added:
“Liberation Labs continues to deliver on the project milestones of its launch facility in Indiana. We have huge confidence in the team’s ability to execute and believe that Liberation Labs will become the first company in Agronomics’ portfolio to be cash generative.”
New Investment and Partnership Platform Will Accelerate Next Generation Ag-tech Innovation
Corteva today announced the launch of Corteva Catalyst, a new investment and partnership platform focused on accessing and bringing to market agricultural innovations that advance the company’s R&D priorities and drive value creation. Corteva Catalyst will partner with entrepreneurs and innovators to accelerate the development of early-stage, disruptive technologies that enable farmers to sustainably produce more food and feed.
“Corteva has a long tradition of addressing the critical challenges farmers face around the world by advancing innovation in partnership with the global scientific community,” said Sam Eathington, EVP and Corteva Chief Technology and Digital Officer. “Through Corteva Catalyst, we will build upon that tradition by pairing our considerable expertise and resources with the agility of start-ups and universities to deliver new solutions for farmers globally. This initiative will expand our pipeline and accelerate growth.”
Leveraging Corteva’s expertise, recognized R&D capabilities, global footprint and go-to-market infrastructure, Corteva Catalyst is uniquely positioned to support the development and commercialization of groundbreaking technology and deliver it directly into farmers’ hands.
Corteva Catalyst will initially focus on identifying opportunities across four strategic verticals aligned with the company’s R&D priorities: genome editing; biologicals and natural products; technology platforms; and decision science.
What exactly is the microbiome? And why is it important when it comes to animal health – both in livestock and pets? All those questions and more get answered this week as we are joined by Aaron Schacht, CEO, and Eric Bonabeau, CTO, of BiomEdit. They talk the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in microbiome science, the intersection of human and animal health and new partnerships paving the way for the acceleration of innovation.
From collaborative partnerships with Nutreco and funding from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, what’s ahead for BiomEdit? Aaron and Eric get into new challenges, leveraging the microbiome to reduce methane emissions in cattle and taking advantage of studying things in animals that can be translated to humans.
We are bringing you something new with this episode: a look back at February’s news in agbioscience including Elanco’s sale of their aqua business, a new partnership between Corteva and John Deere, Indiana as a top ag state and the current operating environment for the farmer.
