On a flight to Norway, Luke Young noticed an oil tanker floating in the Atlantic. Although he knew the vessel was huge, it was dwarfed by the vastness of ocean.
On a flight to Norway, Luke Young noticed an oil tanker floating in the Atlantic. Although he knew the vessel was huge, it was dwarfed by the vastness of ocean. Young had been grappling with ways to sustainably and environmentally eradicate hunger. He immediately wondered about the ocean’s potential for growing food.
Working with his friend and Durham University classmate, Rory Hornby, the two started Agrisea, a company developing opportunities to grow food crops in salt water. While the company got their start at IndieBio, a life science accelerator in Silicon Valley, they ultimately chose Waterloo and Velocity to take their startup to the next level.
Tackling World Hunger
The Agrisea founders were looking for lasting impact in the world by tackling hunger, which is listed as one of the key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. With their experience in genetics and biology, Young and Hornby knew they could make a scientific contribution.
“A real problem is that agriculture is based off of two standard requirements — freshwater and fertile land,” says Young. “But when you look at hydroponics and aeroponics, they both use minimal water and no fertile land at all. What could you use to help plants grow with less land and less water?”
Read more at University of Waterloo
Photo Credit: LTapsaH via Pixabay
