When Plants Talk: Using Crop Communication to Drive the Future of Farming with Shely Aronov, CEO @ Innerplant

Summary:In this episode of Leaders on a Mission, CEO Shely Aronov discusses how her company InnerPlant is revolutionizing agriculture through real-time plant stress detection. By giving crops a way to optically signal when under attack from fungi and other threats, Inner Plant is transforming farming from an industry of guesses into one powered by data.Tune in to hear how their technology means farmers can pinpoint problems within days instead of weeks, helping boost yields and reduce waste. Shely also shares her entrepreneurial journey and the challenges of scaling an AgTech startup while maintaining focus on the customer. It's a fascinating discussion on empowering plants to share secrets that can supercharge farming as we know it. Timestamps:01:10 Early influences, military, and Stanford04:53 World Bank funded project in Columbia06:15 Building a team, gaining trust, and avoiding biases09:33 Starting a hummus brand regret12:13 Bio sensors and communicating with plants18:20 The importance of early stress detection19:28 Pathogens and overuse of pesticides21:43 The benefits of this technology for farmers26:22 What does the future hold?30:50 The challenges to overcome