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Don Sackett Put a Laboratory in Your Hand - Then Took It to the Racetrack
A nuclear physicist learned to listen in scrapyards, turned stubborn measurement problems into handheld products, and built SciAps toward a deal worth up to $260 million. His second laboratory is louder: a NASCAR garage.
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.