Solving big problems facing society at large is High Alpha Innovation’s aim when building new companies with our corporate, university, and public-sector partners. And there’s arguably no bigger societal issue worth tackling today than helping multiple industries implement more sustainable, eco-friendly practices.
As Athian CEO Paul Myer noted, carbon insetting — not offsetting — is what will help drive meaningful progress with reducing CO2 emissions in the livestock value chain. This approach can make lasting change in the food and agriculture supply chain, Paul noted, not just produce enough credits for corporations to buy.
Athian, a High Alpha Innovation portfolio company built in partnership with Elanco Animal Health, is at the forefront of this green revolution, disrupting and transforming the AgriFood space with its novel solution.
We sat down with Athian CPO Kendra Tolley to discover her journey to join the innovative AgTech startup, how the platform helps put more money in farmers’ pockets, and where the business heads from here to make further progress with contributing to environmental sustainability progress in the U.S.
You come from a FinTech and banking background. What inspired you to join Athian as Chief Product Officer?
Kendra: Honestly, I was looking for a career opportunity that was more meaningful.
I joined my last company when they were still a startup and saw them through a successful IPO. I realized helping bankers make more money was not the thing that would get me out of bed and excited to go to work anymore.
I was already interested in sustainability and had worked a little on it from a lending perspective, so I knew I wanted to move into that space. Athian reached out and got my interest, given the potential of the company’s AgTech in driving sustainable practices and helping out farmers financially.
I have a brother with a small-cow calf operation, and he is very passionate about sustainability. He believes that sustainable practices are the right thing to do for his farm and for his family.
When I told him about Athian, he got really excited about a platform that would provide financial incentives for farmers to do things in what he believed to be the right way. So, I got really excited and took the role.
The mission is inspiring to me every day, and I find meaning in what we are doing — supporting farmers, supporting companies who want to do the right thing, and supporting our planet. How could that not be inspiring?
Why was it important to Athian to find a way to monetize growers for their sustainable farming practice adoption?
Kendra: It comes down to three reasons, really:
- Most large food companies have very little influence at the farm level, so they needed a way to encourage producers to adopt more sustainable practices.
- Growers and producers typically work on very thin margins and cannot afford to invest in practices changes that do not improve production or reduce costs.
- Having a more reliable payment stream from the generation of carbon assets helps de-risk farming operations and improve on-farm sustainability in general.
Many large food companies have made commitments to their customers and stakeholders to reduce their carbon footprint. At the time these commitments were made, though, many of them had no idea that the largest contributor to their total emissions was at the farm gate — around 75-90% for most food companies.
The only way for food companies to reach their sustainability commitments is to work with their supply chain partners to reduce emissions, and Athian enables them to make progress against that goal.
Athian provides food brands with auditable, defensible reduction claims in their supply chains. This gives them the ability to scale their resources to incentivize sustainable practice changes with several types of programs to hundreds of producers at once so they don’t have to manage multiple programs across multiple regions internally.
What kind of tangible ROI have farmers and food brands seen through the use of Athian's carbon-insetting platform?
Kendra: We typically offer farmers a 20% return on investment for adopting the sustainable practice change.
What’s more, we exponentially increase the reach of internal sustainability teams for food brands by providing them access to multiple programs that they do not need to manage internally.
How are discussions with livestock value chain members informing the evolution of Athian and its business model?
Kendra: The feedback we get most often from farmers is, ‘How can you make this easier and faster each month?’
We’re exploring additional functionality in our carbon-insetting platform that reduces the amount of data entry needed by producers and the burden of third-party audits.
Producers also want choice, so we’re adding new protocols to the platform as rapidly as we can.
What's next for Athian? How does the business plan to further disrupt the agriculture and sustainability space?
Kendra: We are exploring additional tools for our buyers to help them manage the sustainability programs they are investing in and to provide them with external reporting.
Also, food companies want the process to be faster, easier and more accurate, so we are spending a lot of time exploring additional functionality to help them achieve their goals quicker.
