Cocoa Potash was named the winner of the inaugural Land Grant Startup Launch Competition held in late March in the Dr. Kiko Miwa Ross Atrium of the Business Building.
The competition - an innovative collaboration between Penn State's Smeal College of Business and the College of Agricultural Sciences - supports early-stage food and agriculture ventures focused on sustainability
Cocoa Potash transforms high emissions agricultural waste from cocoa, coconut and palm nut into high purity, low-carbon organic potash that provides global industries with a traceable, ESG (environmental, social, and governance standards)-compliant chemical input for next-generation manufacturing in food processing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, electronics (screens and components), batteries, glass, concrete, fertilizers and water treatment.
The company, which received $50,000 in Garber Venture Capital funding, was selected from among four finalists, which also included Chainparency, Kipos Tech and LECOSPEC.
"It was a difficult decision-making process, as there were many worthy concepts submitted for consideration. I was excited to showcase these four finalist ventures, as each brought with it potentially paradigm changing innovations for the food and agriculture space," said Travis Lesser, director of Smeal's Center for the Business of Sustainability, coordinator of Smeal's Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship and an instructor in the Department of Management and Organization.
The final round judges included:
- Corey Phelps, John and Karen Arnold Dean of Smeal
- Jeanette Miller, associate director of Smeal's Farrell Center
- Wendy Clemens, Alan R. Warehime Faculty Chair in Agribusiness and incoming director of entrepreneurship and innovation in the College of Agricultural Sciences
- Katie Morison, manager of climate resilience at The Hershey Company
- Steve Levitsky, chief sustainability officer at Phospholutions and a member of Smeal's Center for the Business of Sustainability Advisory Board
Stephen Carpenter, adjunct instructor in Smeal's Department of Management and Organization, and three graduate students from his Garber Venture Capital class, reviewed 21 applications from across the country and conducted due diligence to narrow the pool.
Then, Mark Gagnon, Harbaugh Entrepreneurship Scholar in the College of Agricultural Sciences' Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, Maria Spencer, John and Patty Warehime Entrepreneur in Residence and assistant clinical professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and Lesser scored the remaining applicants and arrived at the four finalists. Each team received a $2,000 travel stipend.
"We were thrilled to see the quality of the Land Grant Launch applications and selecting finalists was a challenging decision for our judges. I know that these talented entrepreneurs will have impact on our global agri-food fiber system, fostering more sustainable practices," Gagnon said.
The Hershey Company and PepsiCo served as corporate partners for the competition.
