Birmingham-based Chonex raises $5.78M in seed round funding
Chonex receives $5.78M in seed funding to expand production capacity for its biological fertilizer StrongSoil.
Here’s a Company Figuring Out How a Storable Product Can Deliver Diverse, Nutrient-Cycling Microbes
We recently became acquainted with some folks in Alabama who are showing it’s possible to deliver impressive soil microbes through a dried, storable product.
CHONEX Inc. has been working with the larvae of black soldier flies, a popular resource for making highly-quality compost and protein-rich animal food. The folks at CHONEX combine the larvae with chicken manure to produce livestock feed, while also making an organic soil conditioner and fertilizer. Because the larvae eat all kinds of things, CHONEX is helping to answer the growing need in agriculture (not to mention lots of other industries) for a sustainable means of waste disposal.
Meet the Latest Plug and Play Startups
Being part of Plug and Play will give CHONEX the opportunity to demonstrate StrongSoil’s viability to farmers who really need it and link us to a network of startups with whom we can partner to further validate its benefits. Plug and Play’s North Dakota AgTech Program focuses on multiple areas directly related to achieving the optimal growing conditions: Soil Sensing and Analysis, Field Monitoring, Precision Farming, Analytics and Sustainability. StrongSoil is a product designed to create optimal growing conditions. Farmers who are adopting technology to improve their productivity and performance are the same farmers who will be interested in our product and who will immediately benefit from it.
Ag Innovation Showcase 2019
Ag Innovation Showcase is an intimate venue for industry leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs to form relationships and engage in substantive discussions that will enable innovative solutions to come to market for consumer, social, commercial, and environmental benefit. Speakers, sponsors, early-stage companies, and other stakeholders in food and agriculture innovation network with each other to address today’s questions and develop tomorrow’s solutions for feeding the planet.
The common theme across the 10-year span of AIS since 2008 has been to explore global and national issues related to soil health, food production, food sustainability, food waste, and food security. AIS has been at the forefront of bringing thought leaders and influencers in the field of agriculture and related industries to initiate dialogue and drive collaborations domestically and internationally.
Startup CHONEX aims to turn chicken poop into profit, with help from Prosperity Fund
Using a proprietary process, CHONEX applies black soldier fly larvae to poultry manure. The voracious larvae convert the waste into three products: a certified organic protein feed, a fatty acid used in cosmetics, and a high-value organic fertilizer and soil enhancer.