From Ann Arbor to Africa: Undergrads Team Up to Find a Sustainable Animal Protein
“The Unconventionals” is an award-winning podcast that shares the stories of the CEOs, CMOs, and visionaries who placed unlikely business bets and won big. Now in its fifth season, the series is a dazzling reminder that the biggest risk in marketing is being like everybody else. Hosted by Mike O’Toole, president at PJA Advertising + Marketing.
Innovation isn’t always pretty. Sometimes, it’s a piece of shiny new technology. But other times, it’s down in the dirt with black soldier fly larvae.
Bet you didn’t see that coming. But University of Michigan student, Eric Katz, did. Along with a few other student partners, his startup, Kulisha, is aimed at fulfilling a Darwinian gap — or unmet need — in the marketplace. Named after the Swahili word for “to feed,” Kulisha provides low-cost, high-protein animal feed for aquaculture farmers in Kenya. Bugs feed on organic waste. Fish feed on the bugs. And the fish become food for other animals.
Not the prettiest picture, but the beauty lies in the results. Kulisha’s feed is healthy for the animals, affordable for the farmers, and most importantly, sustainable for the environment. It even has the potential to replace destructive trolling methods, which are a major factor in the depletion of the world’s oceans.
In this episode of “The Unconventionals,” Katz explains how the heck they came up with this idea, what the future holds for Kulisha, and most importantly, the entrepreneurial resources it took to (literally) get their bug-based startup off the ground, from Michigan to Kenya.
Listen in the player above or subscribe on iTunes here.
