The 2025 Salinas Biological Summit will see the launch of the Global AgriBio Start-up Network; a network that will provide both in-person and virtual support to the rapidly emerging early-stage biological community.
Whilst the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology in Salinas will provide a physical base, webinars and virtual meetups will ensure that start-ups everywhere can connect and engage with the Network program. The Network will partner with other ag biological-based organizations, innovators and investors, and longer-term will become a potentially significant feeder channel for Platform10.
Supporting the build of the Global AgriBio Start-up Network will be Wharf42’s Palo Alto-based Director, Growth Strategies, Claire Lee.
Claire spent eight years at Silicon Valley Bank – six of those as Head of SVB’s Startup Banking Division and later as Global Brand Ambassador at SVB’s investment arm, SVB Capital.
Claire joined SVB in 2014 from Microsoft, where she spent a decade working on emerging technologies, including cloud and emerging businesses (startups) in emerging markets. During her time at Microsoft, Claire led the Local Software Economy initiative engaging Government, Academia and the private sector, before moving to California in 2011 to join Microsoft’s Emerging Business Group. Claire was part of the leadership team that brought Microsoft BizSpark and Microsoft Ventures to market.
In short, Claire has been here before. Building global start-up ecosystems have been a core KPI for the best part of 15 years. As the Mixing Bowl’s 2023 Biologicals Landscape Map & 2024 Biocontrol Landscape Map demonstrate, there are hundreds of start-ups around the world engaged in ag biological research, development & commercialization. The Global AgriBio Start-up Network is being designed to provide the support and advise necessary to assist these companies scale to assist growers address some of the key input challenges that they face.
At the 2023 Summit, we announced the launch of Platform10. I cannot be more excited that at next month’s 2025 Summit, we’ll be announcing the launch of another major global initiative designed to build a better-connected & strategically important start-up community..