S3E30: s3e30 Eric Levesque - Lending Farmers a Helping Hand

Vertical Farming Podcast

English - April 13, 2021 11:36 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MB
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Previous Episode: S3E30: Eric Levesque - Lending Farmers a Helping Hand

Next Episode: S3E31: Niko Kivioja - High-Tech for Small Vertical Farms

Episode Summary

Join Harry Duran, host of Vertical Farming Podcast, as he welcomes to the show Eric Levesque. Eric is the co-founder and VP of Business Development and Sales at Cultivatd, an organization that works with a wide range of industry-proven technology partners to provide the best fit for a project’s needs. Cultivatd also offers farming guidance, design consulting, and lending and leasing services to its clients. In this episode, Harry and Eric talk about how the pandemic has impacted our food supply chains and the desperate need for our society to solve these issues. They discuss Eric’s time at ZipGrow, the need for indoor and outdoor Ag to coexist and what the future holds for Cultivatd and the AgTech industry.

Episode Sponsor

https://www.cultivatd.com/ (CULTIVATD)

Key Takeaways

03:29 – Harry welcomes to the show Eric Levesque, co-founder of Cultivatd, who talks about his organization, how the pandemic has impacted his business and how he got involved in vertical farming

08:44 – Eric reflects back on his time at ZipGrow and expounds on his sales background

11:58 – Eric talks about what was different about working for ZipGrow and learning the industry on the fly

14:59 – The inspiration to start Cultivatd and what the business model looks like

18:13 – Eric breaks down the three different types of clients that Cultivatd services

21:05 – The work Cultivatd is doing to educate the world on opportunities in AgTech and other offerings the provide to their clients

27:28 – How controlled environment agriculture and traditional agriculture co-exis

32:42 – Eric talks about some of the partnerships between Cultivatd and other companies

34:19 – Eric speaks to Cultivatd’s plans for growth, strategies he utilizes to grow his team and how Cultivatd is approaching the future of AgTech

36:44 – How Eric keeps up with the changing trends of AgTech

38:47 – Mentors who have helped Eric along his journey

40:46 – A tough question Eric has had to ask himself recently

43:21 – What excites Eric the most about the future of vertical farming

43:56 – Harry thanks Eric for joining the show and let’s listeners know where they can connect with him

Tweetable Quotes

https://ctt.ac/W5s90 (“People are really realizing now, there is an issue and the world has to trend in this direction. Obviously the lack of irrigable land and water is an issue. But something like this pandemic sheds light on what the world needs in terms of fresh supply of food.”) (06:14)

https://ctt.ac/3ime8 (“It’s strange, it always kind of came natural to me. It’s my favorite thing. I think I just really like connecting and making new relationships and bonding with people. There’s something to it. There’s a really personal aspect. Obviously with this, there’s a bonus of you’re selling something that’s actually helping to heal the world.”) (10:53)

https://ctt.ac/e4Fds (“There’s something romantic about this industry where when you see the plants growing indoors it’s the same feeling. I fell in love right away when I saw it and I feel like there’s a lot of that.”) (20:22)

https://ctt.ac/1RY7c (“I think we’ve got some pretty ambitious goals but we want to hit the full spectrum where we can support you head-to-toe regardless of your plan.”) (23:50)

https://ctt.ac/5SRbc (“Indoor Ag was never meant to replace outdoor Ag. It’s something that needs to work in conjunction with outdoor Ag so that we can all get to the common goal of saving the planet and growing more food and being healthier and fixing food supply chains.”) (27:56)

Links Mentioned

https://www.cultivatd.com/ (Cultivatd Website)

https://www.instagram.com/cult_ivatd/ (Cultivatd’s Instagram)...

Episode Summary

Episode Sponsor

CULTIVATD

Key Takeaways

03:29 – Harry welcomes to the show Eric Levesque, co-founder of Cultivatd, who talks about his organization, how the pandemic has impacted his business and how he got involved in vertical farming
08:44 – Eric reflects back on his time at ZipGrow and expounds on his sales background
11:58 – Eric talks about what was different about working for ZipGrow and learning the industry on the fly
14:59 – The inspiration to start Cultivatd and what the business model looks like
18:13 – Eric breaks down the three different types of clients that Cultivatd services
21:05 – The work Cultivatd is doing to educate the world on opportunities in AgTech and other offerings the provide to their clients
27:28 – How controlled environment agriculture and traditional agriculture co-exis
32:42 – Eric talks about some of the partnerships between Cultivatd and other companies
34:19 – Eric speaks to Cultivatd’s plans for growth, strategies he utilizes to grow his team and how Cultivatd is approaching the future of AgTech
36:44 – How Eric keeps up with the changing trends of AgTech
38:47 – Mentors who have helped Eric along his journey
40:46 – A tough question Eric has had to ask himself recently
43:21 – What excites Eric the most about the future of vertical farming
43:56 – Harry thanks Eric for joining the show and let’s listeners know where they can connect with him

Tweetable Quotes

“People are really realizing now, there is an issue and the world has to trend in this direction. Obviously the lack of irrigable land and water is an issue. But something like this pandemic sheds light on what the world needs in terms of fresh supply of food.” (06:14)

“It’s strange, it always kind of came natural to me. It’s my favorite thing. I think I just really like connecting and making new relationships and bonding with people. There’s something to it. There’s a really personal aspect. Obviously with this, there’s a bonus of you’re selling something that’s actually helping to heal the world.” (10:53)

“There’s something romantic about this industry where when you see the plants growing indoors it’s the same feeling. I fell in love right away when I saw it and I feel like there’s a lot of that.” (20:22)

“I think we’ve got some pretty ambitious goals but we want to hit the full spectrum where we can support you head-to-toe regardless of your plan.” (23:50)

“Indoor Ag was never meant to replace outdoor Ag. It’s something that needs to work in conjunction with outdoor Ag so that we can all get to the common goal of saving the planet and growing more food and being healthier and fixing food supply chains.” (27:56)

Links Mentioned

Cultivatd Website

Cultivatd’s Instagram

Cultivatd’s Twitter

Cultivatd’s Facebook

ZipGrow Website