🌾 Issue #92: A Bioherbicide Platform For The World
How Claremont grads Claire Baker and David Sands are creating a solution for a problem that has devastated almost 40 million farms in Africa
💬 Welcome to issue #92 of Between the Lines
Good morning & happy Thursday. We’ve continued to see and share great success stories of Claremont founders and their startups in the US. Many companies coming out of Claremont, however, have also been making a huge impact in other parts of the world.
This week, we share the story of how Claremont alumni Claire Baker (SC) and David Sands (PO) are developing a solution to a problem that has devastated almost 40 million farms in Africa. It’s a Claremont world out there. 👇
~ Josh, Miles, Pat
👤 Community Spotlight: Claire Baker
Authors: April Zhu and Claire Baker
Claremont grad Claire Baker (SC) is the Co-founder and CEO of Kuvu Bio Solutions – a disruptive bioherbicide platform that helps reduce dependency on chemical herbicides. Claire co-founded the company with her father, David Sands (PO). She is also the Co-founder and Director of The Toothpick Company, which was recognized by the United Nations as one of the 50 Best Small Businesses in Africa. The company was recently shortlisted as one of the nine 2023 Food Planet Prize finalists out of over 1,000 nominations. In 2021, the company’s bioherbicide technology received full commercial product registration approval from the Kenya Products Board, making it one of the first bioherbicides to be commercialized worldwide.
The Toothpick Company Uses Fungi as New Weapons in Kenyan Farmers’ War on Weeds
In 2007, retired U.S. Navy surgeon Dr. John Sands was volunteering at a hospital in Maseno, western Kenya, treating one severe malnutrition case after the other. Frustrated by the futility of treating patients in such advanced stages of malnutrition—and confused since there was no shortage of fertile fields around—Sands asked his longtime friend Florence Oyosi, an agronomist, what was happening. She brought him to a field of purple flowers and introduced him to Striga [a genus of parasitic plants commonly known as witchweed]. Sands thought, “I know just the guy for this.”
That guy was his brother, Dr. David Sands (PO), a plant pathologist at Montana State University who has always been, according to his daughter Claire Sands Baker (now Director of the Toothpick Project), an “out-of-the-box thinker.” Among his many paradigm-shifting scientific discoveries, the one that led to The Toothpick Project was his decades-long research on Fusarium oxysporum (“FOXY”), a soil-borne fungus. Over 200 forms of FOXY are highly selective, attacking only one specific plant. It is a natural arsenal of potential bioherbicides.
This is the active ingredient in what would, after Kenyan regulatory approval, become The Toothpick Project’s commercially distributed product, Kichawi Kill.
In 2013, The Toothpick Project ran field trials with 500 members of Oyosi’s farmers’ group, called the Liberty Farmer Initiative. The results were so astounding that Nzioki, Sands, Oyosi and Baker squinted at the spreadsheet: FOXY-T14 increased crop yield by 56% in the long rains planting season and 42% in short rains. Yields increased in 499 out of 500 plots. “That’s better than chemicals,” explains Pam Marrone, former CEO of agricultural biologicals company Marrone Bio Innovations. “They have a nearly perfect win rate, and you don’t see that very often!”
Although much of the world relies on chemical herbicides, these substances have proven harmful to ecological and human health. As of May 2022, for example, Monsanto has settled over 100,000 glyphosate (RoundUp) lawsuits related to its carcinogenic effects, doling out more than €10.3 billion ($11.3 billion USD) in damages and fines. Despite the evident need for bioherbicides, the technical challenges of biological solutions can dissuade investment.
“There hasn’t been a new mode of action discovered for herbicides—meaning a new class of herbicides—in 20- to 30 years,” says Marrone. “Innovation has been low on the chemical side, yet everyone wants to get away from chemicals. Finding biologicals is really important right now.”
Baker, for her part, sees the Toothpick Project as “a bioherbicide platform for the world.” The point is not to stop at Striga hermonthica in western Kenya, Baker says, but to create building blocks for the development of other bioherbicides. They will, in turn, be able to tackle food insecurity, biodiversity loss, pollution and toxicity in a variety of contexts.
“That’s the global idea of the innovation of a bioherbicide,” she says, “all dependent on host-specific virulent Fusaria.”
🚨Claremonster Call-Out: Dan Shapiro
Claremont tech entrepreneur Dan Shapiro (HMC ‘97) is the Co-founder and CEO of Glowforge – a Seattle-based 3D laser printer manufacturing company that raised the world’s largest crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Dan also helped run Ontela before its merger with Photobucket and was the CEO of Google Comparison, a Google subsidiary that provides comparison shopping for personal finance products. While at Google, he decided to launch the bestselling board game in Kickstarter history in his free time with his kids - Robot Turtles.
With Dan’s leadership, Glowforge has become one of the most popular creative technologies in homes, classrooms, and businesses across the globe. The company also recently announced raising an additional $20M in Series E funds, bringing its total financing to $135M overall.
Dan sat down with Matt Blumberg on the Ask Bolster podcast to share his insights on how the CEO role evolves as the business scales, the issue of changing product market fit, and the importance of maintaining company values and culture over time.
💼 Who’s Hiring?: Whoosh & Wisetack
Claremont entrepreneur Colin Read (CMC ‘06) is the co-founder and CEO of vertical SaaS company Whoosh, Inc. They’re a modern hospitality tech company focused on streamlining club operations and improving the member experience. With a cloud-based and tablet-focused approach, Whoosh streamlines operations to save clubs 20+ hours weekly in staff time per department. They’re backed by top-tier VC investors, including Craft Ventures, and are focused on disrupting the golf and tennis club industry. If you’re interested in sports, tech, and sales, check out these openings:
Founded in 2018 by a team of seasoned fintech professionals, Wisetack is building consumer lending products that help service-based businesses thrive. The fintech startup raised a $45M Series B last year led by Insight Partners, Bain Capital, and Greylock Partners. Business Insider also recognized them as one of the 70 most promising startups in finance, the Best Consumer Lending Solution, and this year’s winner in the Best Emerging Lending Platform category for Fintech. Claremont graduate Bobby Tzekin is the co-founder & CEO, and he’s hiring for a variety of roles:
Check out the other ~5,000 open jobs at 400+ Claremont-affiliated companies here on our Storyboard. Plus, create a profile and enter your preferences to get alerted to new job postings relevant to you, be they the 1,000+ remote jobs, 100+ internships, or 40+ part-time positions available. We’ve published research that shows that Claremont-founded companies that disproportionately hire Claremont talent outperform — so pay attention, Claremonsters!
If any of these roles catch your eye 👀 , apply and mention Between the Lines. Or, if you are an employer looking to hire tip-top Claremont talent, fill out this form to have your jobs featured.
🗣️ Conversations on the Interwebz:
This week’s must-watch 📺
Claremont entrepreneur Stephen Smith (PO ‘17) joined comedian and NOCD partner Howie Mendell on Cheddar News to talk about their experience coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He also explained what people should know about an OCD diagnosis and how his company is helping people manage their condition. Stephen is the Co-founder and CEO of NOCD – the #1 telehealth provider for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
After his move from Pantera to Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Claremont entrepreneur and prominent blockchain figure Joey Krug (PO ‘14) talks with The Wolf Of All Streets about his investment strategies and insights on the upcoming investment narratives in the crypto space. Joey is the Co-founder of fintech company Eco and is currently a Founders Fund Partner.
This week’s top listen 🎧
VC and Claremont grad Seth Winterroth (CMC) was recently on the BoostVC podcast to share what sparked his interest in robotics and how he identifies new investment opportunities. Seth is a Partner at Eclipse Ventures, a VC firm that partners with entrepreneurs to build companies that redefine physical industries.
Claremont grad and crypto expert Jesse Pollak (PO) talks about Stand With Crypto, the movement for fair policy and regulation of the crypto industry in the US. Jesse is the Head of Protocols at Coinbase and a core contributor for Base – a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly blockchain operating on top of Ethereum. He was also interviewed by TechCrunch recently about Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain Base plans for the 2023 mainnet launch.
Claremont grad Samet Yildirim (KGI ‘13) joined his Co-founder Gabriel Tremblay on the Grow Everything podcast to discuss the environmental impact of animal agriculture and the advantages of alternative protein sources, exploring how technology can revolutionize the availability of premium products in the mass market. Samet is the Co-founder and COO of Orbillion Bio – a cell-cultured meat startup working on heritage meats such as bison, elk, lamb, and wagyu beef.
Can’t get enough of Between the Lines? Follow and connect with us on Twitter!
🍽️ BTL Snacks:
💊 Demystifying Traditional Chinese Medicine..... NOOCI, founded by Claremont entrepreneur Stephanie Joyce Tan (CMC ‘06), is a modern wellness brand rooted in the ancient practice of TCM. Originally only a women’s health brand, NOOCI has since expanded its vision with products that treat other health issues. Now, the company is expanding to the Hong Kong market, including a new partnership with Cathay which allows buyers to redeem miles when they purchase NOOCI products, alongside collaborations with brands like matcha café Matchali in Hong Kong.
🍼 The Next OpenAI To Invest In: A Mom….. Nowadays, everyone in the VC space is scrambling to find the next OpenAI and revolutionize the field. Claremont grad, journalist, and author John-Clark Levin (CMC) shares his humorous take on finding the next most promising investment opportunity, a mom.
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