Juan Pablo Castelblanco

During my 6 years in trading and Operations of crude oil and refined products in Colombia and the US, I obtained deep knowledge on how supply chains, international logistics and natural resources work. This valuable knowledge has given me strong foundations to dedicate the past 9 years to an entrepreneurial adventure in the sustainable ag tech innovation sector. After these past 9 years, I have been able to understand the challenge humanity´s main economic activity faces: the current agricultural model has proven to be unsustainable and a profound technological shift is needed in order to secure enough food and agricultural raw materials for all of us and for generations to come. Walking down this path I discovered new solutions and innovations that can help us solve this urgent matter in the best way possible: maximizing land use, minimizing water consumption with incremental yields and lower costs while eliminating the pressure on limited natural resources dedicated to food production. From soil and seed treatments all the way to agricultural commodity trading, I identified disconnections in the supply chain and took upon my professional responsibility the mission to restablish those broken links with technological advances and innovations. I also had the opportunity to design, implement and coordinate succesful scientific validation programs with mexican universities acquiring extensive knowledge in a variety of these leading technologies with a focus mainly on sustainability and environmental protection. I have been invited to build public policies, draft law reform proposals and sustainable rural development plans as a result of my expertise, working shoulder to shoulder with teams of government officials and NGOs. Built project prep-and-pitch for impact investment funds, accelerators and other potential partners. My passion, my calling and my purpose in life are all dedicated to restore the lost balance in humanity´s most important activity: food production.