Alum tracks latest in AgTech

Ryan Rakestraw, MBA’13, Venture Principal at Monsanto Growth Ventures, is featured in a Forbes column discussing his AgTech Hype Curve that puts new technologies used in farming in perspective for investors. It’s a work in progress, but clearly caught the attention of the “The Mixing Bowl” a group that connects the food and agriculture industries with IT innovation.

The Mixing Bowl: So, what compelled you to put this curve together? What’s the background on this document?

Ryan Rakestraw: It was mostly for the team at Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV) to think about the investment landscape, think about where technologies are in terms of their maturity levels, and think about some new technologies that are just emerging. We wanted to capture some of the more mature technology that is seeing farmer adoption, and some of the less mature technology that has yet to experience any significant adoption. This is a useful representation to remind us that some of these technologies have a little bit further to go before they get to a level where they see wider adoption.

Link to the complete Q&A with Ryan Rakestraw on Forbes.com