November 8, 2012 | seedstock

LOS ANGELES, CA– At the culmination of Seedstock’s inaugural and highly successful SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE INNOVATION CONFERENCE on October 24, VermiSoks, a fledgling farm enterprise, won top honors and $500 prize money in the Agripreneur Fast Pitch Competition for its virtuous cycle growing system.

The competition, moderated by Seedstock co-founder, Robert Puro, and judged by Adam Dell of Austin Ventures, Nick Grouf of Firefly Network and Spot Runner, and Sam Earle of Local Food Systems, Inc., provided start-up companies with the opportunity to promote their endeavors to every segment of the sustainability community, including venture capitalists, researchers, media, and other entrepreneurs.

VermiSoks won first place for its technology to enhance nature through a closed-loop farming system that employs a virtuous cycle of green to convert consumable food by-products into lush organic growth. Waste comprised of fruits, vegetables, and food scraps are collected from restaurants, hotels, and homes to produce gallons of VermiSoks Worm Wine™ which is then applied to VermiSoks – photodegradeable mesh tubes – where the power of earthworms is harnessed to create nutrients to grow organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers.  Once crops are harvested for table use, all leftover organic material re-enters the cycle.

Project Alba, with its mission to create an innovative and efficient social enterprise for sustainable economic development of rural areas in Southeast Asia, came in second to claim $250.  Other Fast Pitch presenters included Freshr.com, an e-commerce marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of fresh food; and, Indoor Harvest, Inc. of Houston, Texas, an emerging developer of commercial aeroponics systems (the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium) for indoor CEA urban farming operations.

UCLA’s Anderson School of Management served as the site for the conference where economic opportunities as well as the environmental and societal benefits of embracing, developing, and investing in sustainable farms, practices, technologies, and start-up companies were touted.  The event drew nearly 250 attendees, including urban agriculture experts, aquaponics entrepreneurs, sustainable agricultural investors, and organic and local buyers and sourcers, along with students, researchers, and practitioners.

To learn more about the Seedstock conference as was featured on CNBC, click here.

About Seedstock:

Seedstock is a social venture focused on innovation and sustainability in agriculture. Through the use of a variety of tools, including the news and information blog Seedstock (Seedstock.com) and live events, the company promotes agricultural startup companies, university research, urban agriculture initiatives, and farmers employing innovative new techniques and approaches.