Bio-Ag Breakthroughs By John H. Tibbetts CALS alumna Pam Marrone draws back the curtain for entrepreneurs, demystifying pathways to success. Since earning a Ph.D. in entomology, she has discovered, developed and guided to market more than a dozen groundbreaking biological solutions for agricultural pest management and built two startup bio-ag companies from scratch to millions of dollars in revenue. Marrone, executive chair and partner at Primary BioAg Innovations and Global BioAg Linkages, focuses on pest control products derived from living organisms—for example, plant extracts and microbes that limit damage from insects and diseases. She says most startups offering one or a few biological products fail to “cross the chasm” from niche markets to mainstream success. A startup’s new biopesticide, for instance, might better control a fungus while improving soil health and providing other environmental benefits. But growers are understandably cautious about unfamiliar products. “There are about 150 companies worldwide that develop and sell not only biopesticides but also bionutrients, biofertilizers and biostimulants, which increase crop growth without controlling a pest,” Marrone says. “But very few get above $10 million in revenue. That’s where I’m helping to advise and mentor.” About half of her clients are startups and half are more established biological companies that want to expand globally and enter the U.S. market. Marrone advises her clients to develop strong scientific data on their products, collaborate with growers on experimental plots, demonstrate grow-out success stories, gain other early adopters, and finally reach out to distributors and agricultural extension specialists who are gatekeepers to mainstream growers. “She is a great mentor,” says Fatma Kaplan, CEO of Pheronym, based in Davis, California. “When you’re a startup like ours, you are very good at running the science aspect, because that’s our training. But when it comes to the business aspect, it’s not that easy.
A Season of Growth, CALS Magazine Spring 2021
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