A New Chapter For Terramera

For the past 13 years, I have had the profound honour of founding and leading our team at Terramera. What started with a conversation about natural, plant-based alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides while at UBC, has grown into a company that attracts the best and brightest in the world. 

Together, we have worked tirelessly to answer our core question: “How can we use technology to harness the intelligence in nature so we can build an Earth that thrives and provides for everyone?”  Our team has built a technology platform and a powerful intellectual property portfolio with over 340 patents and counting. With the audacious goal of using technology to align economic profit with environmental benefit and health, Terramera is transforming how we grow food and the economics of agriculture. In every step forward we have taken, I have been inspired by what our team has accomplished. 

This is an inflection point for Terramera. In order to reach our goals, we need discipline to grow revenues, and new ways to drive our technology into products and services the world can use. I have always approached leadership by asking the big and bold questions that will ultimately get us to where we need to be. Part of the journey for nearly every successful start-up I know is to welcome leaders with a track record of bringing innovation to market: those who can take the company to the next level.

Today marks another important step forward in Terramera’s journey and my own. I have chosen to refocus my role at the company and bring on an experienced new CEO to help us scale, drive our wealth of knowledge and IP into market leadership, and step our commercial efforts to the next level. I will continue to drive the vision and direction of the company as Executive Chair.

Growth with New Leadership

I am extremely excited to announce and welcome Nate Kelly as CEO of Terramera and our new soil health subsidiary company, Miraterra. I am excited to work closely with Nate as a leader and partner to translate our ambitious vision into greater commercial results and positive outcomes for all.

From the moment I met Nate, I knew he was an incredible fit for the team and that his vision aligned with ours. Nate brings over 20 years of experience, building, leading, and scaling organizations and supply chains at companies including Tesla, Sonos, Microsoft, Glowforge, and Sony Ericsson. I’ve had the pleasure to work with him for the past several months as he built out our new soil health subsidiary. He has made incredible progress, aligning the team around a clear product roadmap and go-to-market plan. He has organized and added strategic leadership resources to the company and is rebranding enrichAg to Miraterra to better reflect the focus of the company: to look at soil.

I am a fan of Gino Wickman’s concept of Rocket Fuel – that every great company needs to divide leadership into two roles: the role of the Visionary to set the vision and direction, and the role of the Integrator, to bring it to life and make it all happen. Nate coming in as CEO and Integrator feels right and true to this concept, allowing me to step into the Visionary role as Executive Chair. Our work together will start with a focus on soil health and green chemistry. This will accelerate as our team of passionate, brilliant people find new and innovative ways to answer our core question and make an impact.

An Abundance of Gratitude

While I am truly excited about how well these changes will position Terramera for the future, as with any transition, this decision has been accompanied by deep reflection. I can’t help but look back on the last 13 years with grace and awe. 

I am immensely grateful to the Terramera team–all past and present. We have a lot to be proud of. Our innovations in cleantech and agriculture have grown into game-changing green chemistry solutions and soil health measurement products. The accolades and recognition we have received are a credit to the amazing humans who have come together to make a difference at Terramera to benefit everyone and our Earth. Over the last decade, our team spent countless hours executing on our vision for healthier food, plants, and soil, and building agriculture as a force for good. Throughout it all, I have been inspired by our team and their unwavering commitment to developing solutions to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I would also like to express my gratitude to our investors and board, our customers, partners, advisors, the community, and our supporters through the years. Your belief in our vision continues to fuel our work.

While this announcement reflects changes in our organization, our goals for agriculture and for the future of our planet will stay the course. We have the opportunity to turn back the clock on the degradation of our planet and build a world that thrives and provides for everyone.

I am excited for Terramera’s next chapter on our journey to enrich our Earth from the ground up. 

With gratitude, 

Karn