045: Alon Turkaspa - AgriFood Tech Sector Lead at Start-Up Nation Central

What's Burning

Alon Turkaspa is an agrifood tech visionary and expert, dedicated to using tech and science to solve global challenges. With a background in physics and an MBA from Tel Aviv University, he spent almost a decade in the semiconductor industry before pure luck led him to revolutionize livestock farming.

Alon's passion for agritech extended to working with startups tackling tough challenges in crops, poultry, and indoor farming. He strongly believes that feeding the world’s population in a healthy and sustainable way can be achieved by seamlessly integrating food tech and science with startups, large food companies, and the collective creativity of chefs and food visionaries.

Now managing the agrifood tech sector at Start-Up Nation, he supports over 750 startups, empowering Israel's high tech to drive global solutions.

Alon cherishes his family life, and is married to Lior, with three children: Noam, Lia, and Gali. His unwavering commitment to fostering innovative solutions reflects his belief that a brighter, more sustainable future is within reach.

On this episode, Alon joins host Mitchell Davis and discusses Israel’s dynamic agritech scene, how the food industry is tackling global challenges, and cutting edge techniques to make what we eat healthier.

Follow Alon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alonturkaspa/

To learn more about Start-Up Nation Central, visit: https://startupnationcentral.org/

To learn more about Israeli startups and ecosystem players, visit: https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/

Companies working in the agritech space with several mentioned in the episode, include:

1. BlueTree: Reduces sugar content (up to 50%) from a 100% squeezed natural orange juice. Visit: https://bluetree-tech.com/
2. Tastewise: Accelerates growth with AI expertise for food and beverage market intelligence for real-time innovation, marketing, and sales. Visit: https://tastewise.io/home
3. Vanilla Vida: Makes natural flavors more available and affordable, while liberating food companies from the dependence on synthetic materials. Visit: https://vanillavida.com/
4. Wonder Veggies: Agrifoodtech innovators on a mission to revolutionize the vegetable market by marrying the benefits of fresh vegetables with healthy probiotics. Visit: https://wonderveggies.co/
5. myAir: A data-driven smart-food company, offering a personalized nutritional solution to deal with the number 1 silent killer in the world: chronic stress. Visit: https://myair.ai/
6. Maolac: By tapping into functional proteins that are 95% biosimilar to breast milk, they are making nature’s best nutrition available for everyone. Visit: https://www.maolac.com/
7. Amai: Replaces sugar with a healthy sweet protein that tastes like sugar. Visit: https://amaiproteins.com/