S5E63: Diversifying & Being of Service to the AgTech Industry with Nicola Kerslake

Episode Summary

Founder and CEO of Contain and recurring guest, Nicola Kerslake joins the show today to discuss three exciting and innovative areas of AgTech she and her team at Contain are focusing on currently. Nicola touches on a new microlearning platform they’ve launched, the importance of diversifying revenue streams and what trends she’s noticing in the overall AgTech industry.

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Key Takeaways

07:13 – Harry welcomes back Founder and CEO of Contain, Nicola Kerslake, to discuss innovative and exciting new areas of focus for Contain

13:02 – Rooted, a microlearning platform

18:46 – Trends Nicola has observed about the AgTech industry recently

21:50 – Crop diversity and shifting demands

23:45 – Contain’s growth, growth trajectory and future challenges Nicola anticipates

28:13 – The importance of diversifying revenue streams

31:48 – Solar energy, cryptocurrency and speculating on the future of capital

37:57 – Nicola’s involvement in Venture Capital and lessons she’s learned

40:40 – An ask Nicola has for the audience

42:07 – Harry thanks Nicola for joining the show and let’s listeners know where they can follow Nicola, Contain, Equipped and Rooted

Tweetable Quotes

“So, our expectation was that we would do a lot of container farms. What we found is that anything that helps to offset labor is really popular. So any kind of seeding or automatic harvesting equipment, anything along those lines goes very quickly.” (10:50) (Nicola)

“We’ll never be satisfied with where we’re at. We’re always looking three steps down the road.” (12:18) (Nicola)

“One big trend on the vendor side is European vendors wanting to do more in the U.S. The other is we do, and always have had inquiries from all over the world and so we do, on occasion, look at European deals and some parts of Asia as well. The challenge is how do we make sure that we can give them the same level of service that we could to a U.S. farmer.” (21:25) (Nicola)

“The interesting thing that we’re seeing though is that, even though the economy is obviously not doing great, AgTech and agriculture as a whole has never been hotter. Arguably, this is a really good time to actually start something because you have a shot at getting contracts that you probably wouldn’t have gotten three or four years ago.” (27:34) (Nicola)

“Any successful industry has an ecosystem around it. Our guiding principle is always, ‘How are we of service to the industry?’” (31:03) (Nicola)

“That’s something that we think about. Do you have to be the largest company to be successful?” (37:19) (Nicola)