WELCOME to the 39 North monthly Newsletter |
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Your source for news and happenings in our innovation neighborhood. | March 2023
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Weekly: Danforth Center Scientific Seminar Series
The Danforth Center hosts a complimentary virtual weekly Scientific Seminar Series on a variety of topics. Click here for a listing of upcoming seminars and join the conversation! If you would like to participate or be on the email list for these seminars, please contact Terri Burton, tburton@danforthcenter.org.
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Agritech Thursdays
Second Thursday of the Month
5:30 - 6:30 PM
Geospatial Innovation Center, T-Rex,
911 Washington Avenue 4th Floor
AgriTech Thursdays is a monthly, after-work event focused on agricultural technologies research and collaboration in the St Louis region. At each event, one company or researcher gives a short, 15-minute talk on an existing or solved research problem of their choosing and how it fits into the wider agricultural technologies landscape followed by Q&A, drinks, and networking. Interested in giving a talk? email: george@deepgrain.com
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Feb 21 - March 31
Arch Grants Startup Competition
Arch Grants is building a new economy in St. Louis through its annual Startup Competition by awarding $75,000 equity-free cash grants, plus an additional $25,000 for companies relocating to St. Louis* and pro bono support services to entrepreneurs who headquarter their early-stage businesses in St. Louis.
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March 30
8:30 - 11:30 AM
Painting the Tech Business Model Canvas
Via Zoom
This six-week online free offering by the Missouri SBDC will introduce technology start-ups to the steps necessary for developing a business model canvas for their early concept. This includes a framework that focuses on discovering the customer problems in the space where their potential solution may live. In addition, this course will include steps to develop a value proposition that fulfills the customer’s need, that differentiates them in the marketplace. Participants will learn the basics of conducting customer discovery interviews and will apply real-life learning by completing interviews outside of class. In addition, one-on-one counseling is available following the workshop.
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March 30, 2023
Conversations: Mapping the Future of St. Louis
The new Taylor Geospatial Institute made international waves when it debuted in St. Louis last year. The Danforth Center is one of its founding partners. Learn how plant science and
geospatial science are already intricately interwoven in this panel presentation about cutting-edge technology, the future of agriculture, and the role of St. Louis as a global center of excellence in agtech and geospatial, which is already launching new startups. This event is free to the public, but reservations are required.
Virtual option is also available.
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April 12 - 13, 2023
InvestMidwest is back and applications to pitch at the event are open!
We are looking for growth and newbie companies in Life Sciences, Food / Agriculture, and Technology, with a focus on geospatial companies. If that's you, this is an opportunity to pitch and meet with multiple investors at one event.
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April 30 - May 4, 2023
The 16th Annual International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR) Symposium
Union Station St. Louis
Be part of the only meeting in the world that integrates bio-innovation R&D, regulation, policy, and social engagement in support of sustainability.
Participate in an exceptionally relevant and exciting program of the keynote, plenary, parallel, Pecha Kucha, and poster sessions, together with topic-focussed workshops to explore the theme of Advancing science in support of sustainable bio-innovation.
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Company Spotlight: NanoGuard
Millions of tiny threats – one powerful solution is the motto at NanoGuard Technologies. The powerful solution: patented sterilization technology to eradicate millions of harmful pathogens to bring clean, fresh food to your dining table.
The history of NanoGuard began in West Lafayette, Indiana at Purdue University. The work
through Purdue was creatively improved by St. Louis technology firm, Nidus Partners. “The base technology was not capable of supporting itself in a commercial sense,” said Larry Clarke, CEO. “But after a few targeted approaches inspired by one of the Nidus Partner members, Bunge Limited, a new design focused on larger volume markets was created.”
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Have you met?
Steve Meyer, CPA, MBA
CEO RNAissance Ag
Describe your journey to the 39 North
A lifelong plant and AgTech enthusiast, I started as a summer intern at Monsanto in 1999. After exploring a career in ethnopharmacology which took me to many exotic locations such as Peru, Panama, and Hawaii, I returned to Monsanto in 2004 which began a 15+ year career. My experiences included multiple roles in Biotechnology and North America Commercial. In 2020, I left my career to become an entrepreneur, co-founding and later selling one of the largest medical cannabis firms in Missouri and helping take a Canadian pharmaceutical company from private to public on the Nasdaq. Recently, I became CEO of STL-grown RNAissance Ag, returning to my roots in AgTech in St. Louis, which has truly become an epicenter of plant science and AgTech.
What are you most excited to be working on right now?
Growing RNAissance Ag into the premier RNAi BioSolutions company that it is soon to become! RNAi has been around for more than a decade and we are certainly not the first company to try to develop highly selective, safe, and sustainable biopesticides with it. That said, I believe RNAissance Ag has the leading technology to unlock the potential of RNAi BioSolutions through our low-cost and highly scalable dsRNA biomanufacturing platform. This coupled with an incredibly talented team and an innovative RNAi discovery pipeline makes RNAissance Ag a company to watch!
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Setting time aside for myself and holding it sacred is one of my core life principles that help me be the best version of myself and avoid burnout. I take me to invest in my health, spend me with those I love, especially my wife and kids, satisfy my quest to constantly learn, travel, and enjoy several hobbies. I like to garden, cook, and am an avid outdoorsman finding myself most at peace in nature.
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St. Louis Mosaic Project:
The St. Louis Mosaic Project’s goal is to transform St. Louis into the fastest growing metropolitan area for immigration by 2025 and to add 25,000 foreign born to the region 2016-2025, to promote regional prosperity through immigration and innovation. The Mosaic project wants to connect immigrant entrepreneurs to the resources to successfully launch a business.
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