fertilizer
(8)
Addis Energy
Addis Energy is a Somerville, Massachusetts climate-tech company turning the Earth's subsurface into a chemical reactor to make ammonia. By injecting nitrate-bearing water into iron-rich underground rock, its process uses natural heat and pressure to convert nitrogen into ammonia without hydrogen feedstock, added electricity, or CO2 emissions. Spun out of MIT research and paired with deep oil-and-gas engineering experience, the company aims to produce clean ammonia - a fertilizer and potential fuel behind more than 1% of global emissions - at a fraction of conventional cost.
TerraBlaster
TerraBlaster is a California agtech startup building a rugged, tractor-mounted soil sensor that reads nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, pH and other nutrients in real time using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) - the same laser technique NASA uses on Mars rovers, licensed from St. Louis deep-tech firm Impossible Sensing. Led by CEO Jorge Heraud, who previously co-founded Blue River Technology (acquired by John Deere for $305M), the company aims to replace slow, sparse lab soil sampling with instant, plant-level nutrient maps so farmers can apply exactly the right amount of fertilizer - cutting waste, boosting yields, and protecting waterways.
Jorge Heraud
Jorge Heraud is a Peruvian-born engineer and serial agtech founder who co-founded Blue River Technology — sold to John Deere for $305 million in 2017 — and is now CEO of TerraBlaster, a Redwood City startup using NASA-pioneered laser spectroscopy to give farmers real-time soil nutrient data, aiming to cut fertilizer waste and transform how agriculture feeds the world.
Nitricity
Nitricity is a Fremont, California climate-tech company turning air, water, renewable electricity and discarded almond shells into organic nitrogen fertilizer. Its flagship product, Ash Tea, replaces fossil-fuel-derived fertilizers with a regionally produced, OMRI- and CDFA-certified alternative that cuts emissions by more than 90%. Founded in 2018 by three Stanford PhDs, the company closed a $50M Series B in September 2025 and is building its first commercial plant in Delhi, California.
Michael Alexander
Michael Alexander is the co-founder and CEO of Addis Energy, a Somerville, Massachusetts startup turning the Earth's crust into a chemical reactor to make clean ammonia. A chemical engineer who spent more than eight years refining oil at Shell and Marathon Petroleum, he discovered geologic hydrogen at Harvard Business School and teamed up with classmate Charlie Mitchell and MIT professors Iwnetim Abate and Yet-Ming Chiang to commercialize a process that stimulates ammonia production from iron-rich rock underground. In December 2025 Addis raised an oversubscribed $8.3M seed round, bringing total funding to $17.3M.
Chris Abbott
Chris Abbott is the Chief Executive Officer of Pivot Bio, a Berkeley-based agricultural biotechnology company pioneering microbial nitrogen solutions that replace synthetic fertilizers. A Minnesota native and University of Minnesota graduate, Abbott built his career at the intersection of agriculture finance and agtech investing - from Wall Street sell-side research at Piper Jaffray to co-leading Continental Grain's Conti Ventures. He joined Pivot Bio's board in 2018, and in August 2023 stepped up as CEO, guiding the company past $100 million in annual revenue while scaling its gene-edited microbes to over 5 million acres. Under his leadership, Pivot Bio achieved 60% year-over-year revenue growth and has helped farmers reduce synthetic nitrogen use by over 129,000 metric tons.
Pivot Bio
Pivot Bio engineers nitrogen-fixing microbes that live on crop roots and feed corn, wheat, sorghum and small grains directly, replacing a portion of synthetic fertilizer with a biological alternative that does not volatilize into the atmosphere or leach into groundwater.
Hiro Iwanaga
Hiro Iwanaga is the Co-Founder and CEO of Talus Renewables (TalusAg), the company behind the world's first commercial modular green ammonia production system. A Stanford-trained engineer-turned-investor-turned-builder, Iwanaga spent years at hedge funds like Baupost Group and Silver Point Capital before channeling a decade of philanthropic green ammonia research into a full commercial venture. His technology - containerized units that turn air, water, and renewable electricity into fertilizer - is now operating in Kenya and Iowa, cutting farmer fertilizer costs by 30-50% and proving that decentralized, zero-carbon ammonia production is not a distant dream but a deployable reality.