Banking on KC – Kerryann Kocher of Vytelle
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Kelly Scanlon:
Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Kerryann Kocher, the CEO of a fast-growing local ag tech startup that's striving to accelerate the genetic progress of cattle using the company's integrated technology platform. Welcome, Kerryann.
Kerryann Kocher:
Hi. Thank you so much for having me, Kelly.
Kelly Scanlon:
I'm so interested in learning more about this, but first I have to say congratulations. I did see an announcement recently that just a couple weeks ago, Vytelle ranked number two eighty-five on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. That's a huge, tell us about that award or that listing.
Kerryann Kocher:
Yeah, we were super, super excited to be part of such an elite group and be included in that group, and that group is fast-growing companies that really are cross-sections of lots of different industries. What I'm also really excited about is the life sciences section of that was actually the highest ranking group of the entire section and we were part of that life science section. So it's a real honor and it just recognizes what I think the Vytelle team and customers have been feeling for some time now. So exciting for sure to see it in print and we're really proud to bring that home to KC.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yeah. What an honor for Vytelle, for your staff, your team, and for Kansas City and the life science industry as you said. Let's talk about what Vytelle does. I mentioned that you accelerate the genetic progress of cattle. What does that mean? Why is it important? And what are the benefits of doing that?
Kerryann Kocher:
Yeah, great question. We're a precision livestock company that's really focused on genetic progress, and so what is genetic progress? Basically what we do is we use data and science to identify the elite performing animals, the ones that are going to produce the most meat and milk in the most efficient and sustainable way. We call those outliers, right? We want to identify those outliers, and then the second thing we want to do is reproduce them faster, and we do that using our in vitro fertilization. We bring that technology to the bovine space so that we can really bring the most elite animals and reproduce them so that we're always operating our entire ag system on the most efficient animals to produce the most meat and milk for the world.
Kelly Scanlon:
So why is that important producing the most meat and milk and producing it faster? What is the benefit of that?
Kerryann Kocher:
Yeah, it's really about producing it sustainably and so there is a demand for protein around the world as the population continues to grow to that 9 billion that so many of us hear and talk about all the time, the demand for protein increases. And so we talk about what we call the triple challenge. We have to meet that demand for protein, we have to do it in a sustainable way, and we have to do it in a way that our producers can make money. So when we think about those three balls, it's not produce more at the cost of the environment, it's not the cost of the environment at the cost of the producer. All three of those things have to be in sync, and that's really the mission that Vytelle has brought forward as we look to ensure meat and milk are viable food choices for future generations.
Kelly Scanlon:
So it's a triple win when you can manage to do all of those and it's your tech platform that allows you to house this data and assimilate it, analyze it. Tell us a little bit about how that works.
Kerryann Kocher:
Absolutely. We bring two technologies to our farmer producer customers, and the first one is what we call Vytelle Sense. And what this is, it's basically a censored feed bunk that measures exactly how much you eat and how much you weigh while you're eating and drinking. In production agriculture, these are two of the most important things that we measure because it's our costs and it's our revenue. And so when we think about those things, we really want to identify which animals are eating the least amount of feed but producing the most amount of meat or milk. By measuring these animals in a precision way, using our sense technology, it really allows us to bring that data forward so we can ultimately bring our second technology into play, which is our in vitro fertilization.
So our second technology is really about how do we maximize the genetic value of two different animals that we can bring to the table. So we've identified an elite female and now we're going to identify elite male and we're going to essentially mate those animals so that we can reproduce elite animals to put back into our herd. And what that allows us to do is continue to improve the genetic value of our herd, but ultimately we're producing more with less, and that's really how we can solve that triple challenge if you will.
Kelly Scanlon:
You work globally, and I know you've done a lot of work in Australia and New Zealand. Talk to us about some of the different countries that you're working in. First of all, how many are you in right now?
Kerryann Kocher:
We're operating in 22 countries, so we are a global company for sure. We have 16 in vitro fertilization labs around the world, and we have our Sense equipment in twenty-two different countries. And so we are by far the most global young company that you'll see in agriculture.
Kelly Scanlon:
We haven't even talked about that yet. You're only about three years old, right? Three and a half years old?
Kerryann Kocher:
We brought the two technologies together in 2020, and so if you think about the footprint that we've been able to bring and build on, it's been remarkable. It's timely that you asked me this question because I literally just got home from a trip to Japan and to China where I spent the last 15 days and we were in Japan really looking at the market and what the opportunity is in that market. It's so exciting to see such a rich and exciting opportunity to participate in such a high value market like Japan. At the same time, we have a joint venture that we operate in China that we actually open during COVID. Long story, but we did it and we're sharing in that company, and it was the first time that our partners were able to sit down face-to-face to really actively manage that joint venture, which is super exciting to see the progress that we're making.
Kelly Scanlon:
Being global, you must have a very diverse workforce.
Kerryann Kocher:
We do, and this is one of the most exciting things because I'm so passionate about this. When we look at Vytelle, we're 64% women, and we speak over 10 languages and we come from all over the world, and this is so powerful. When we look at traditional agriculture, traditional ag tech, that's not the picture you see, and this has been a absolute key to our global growth. And so when we look at new markets, when we look at expansion, we bring a global point of view to the table that is unmatched and it's really allowed us to expand at a much higher, faster rate and more successfully. So I'm so proud of the diversity that Vytelle brings in their thinking and the way that we talk and the way that we serve customers.
Kelly Scanlon:
That is exciting to see that you're working so quickly given how long you've been in existence and that you're doing it successfully. In fact, speaking about success, you recently secured a $20 million investment round. What's that going to allow you to do?
Kerryann Kocher:
Yeah, we were so proud to close our series B in March, and really what that $20 million allows us to do is continue our expansion. So we are expanding in Australia with that additional funding. We placed our second, I guess, international lab in Brisbane Australia this year. It's our fastest-growing lab that we've ever placed, so we're pretty excited about that investment. We're anticipating that we'll continue to build out the country of Australia in the coming months. It also allows us to invest in our pipeline and thinking about the technology that we can place around our current two technologies to ensure that we're continuing to create the data that's high value to customers to make that precision selection decision so that we're always driving genetic progress with the right animals.
Kelly Scanlon:
You mentioned briefly that you brought two technologies together. Really, you were bringing two companies together. So tell us about that, what happened?
Kerryann Kocher:
Yeah. The primary assets of the founding of what is now Vytelle really were born out of two different companies that were wholly owned by the Grosvenor family out of the UK. So Grosvenor Food and Egg Tech is a venture investor that is really focused on investing in sustainable agriculture. They had made investments in both the IVF company and our precision technology company, and they had wholly owned both of those assets. In 2018, we really looked at what was the opportunity? Is there a bigger opportunity to bring those two companies together for a more congruent value proposition or a more higher value value proposition to our customers? And so in 2020, we actually made the decision to merge those companies together and really launch the new value proposition that is now Vytelle. And since then, we've been bringing in additional investors. We did a series A, a series B and now have a great group of investors really backing the technology that Vytelle brings.
Kelly Scanlon:
You mentioned the UK connection. I've heard that there's actually even stronger connection to the British monarchy there.
Kerryann Kocher:
It is true. The Grosvenor family is really headed by the Duke of Westminster, the current head and they've been invested in sustainable agriculture and farming for over 600 years. And so this is a legacy that that family brings, and it's quite exciting to always get to say that the Duke of Westminster is part of our cap table.
Kelly Scanlon:
That is very exciting. Why was the decision made to move the company's headquarters to the Kansas City area? It was in Oregon right after you merged the two companies, it was up in Oregon, but just this year you moved it to Kansas City and Lenexas is where I think it is now, right?
Kerryann Kocher:
That's right. We were placed right there in Lenexas City Center, and we are super excited to be in Lenexas, but also in the Kansas City region. And as we looked at where we felt we could drive the most value for the company and the community that we operated in, Kansas City was an obvious choice. As we sit in the heart of the animal health corridor, which there's over 300 animal health companies in the Kansas City region alone, that brings all kinds of opportunities. When we think about looking for bankers, looking for real estate, looking for lawyers, looking for people who are participating in our market and looking for employees and have expertise in the animal health region, this was the obvious choice. And so coming to home to Kansas City was a great payoff for us, and we're excited about what we can bring back to Kansas City as well. As we continue to expand, drive more jobs here locally, we're really excited to be part of the community.
Kelly Scanlon:
It's really interesting when you think about Kansas City's history and historically besides barbecue and jazz, we've been associated with the stockyards and moving the cattle around and so forth, and now over the decades, the centuries even, it's becoming so much more high-tech and you're the face of it now.
Kerryann Kocher:
That's right. I mean, we're heart of Cowtown here. And so when we think about the technology that surrounds the region with not only the vet schools at K-State and Missouri and Iowa State and Nebraska, that's a whole lot of technology surrounding us. And so that's a really exciting part of why we wanted to be here. But there's also a great ag tech ecosystem, and there's a great startup ecosystem here in Kansas City. Three of our core investors came straight out of Kansas City. They're homegrown, they get it. They're ag tech investors. They're based here in Kansas City, and they have an affinity for the market that we operate in, which is a young venture market to invest in. And so that's also part of being part of this community. Those are relationships that we built not over pitch deck. Those are relationships that we built over years of participating in the community and in the ecosystem.
Kelly Scanlon:
Before you became the CEO of Vytelle, you already had earned a reputation within the ag industry. You founded your own ag consulting company, it was called Rock Road Consulting, and you also were at Alonco Animal Health and Bayer. Tell us a little bit about your background and what drew you to the field.
Kerryann Kocher:
So I'm a farm kid from Northeast Iowa, and I grew up on a diversified livestock and grain operation, and my family has been farming for over five generations.
Kelly Scanlon:
So this is near and dear to your heart.
Kerryann Kocher:
I actually don't even know any better. So my entire livelihood has been centered around production agriculture, and my family still operates in farms with my brother at the helm now back in Northeast Iowa. So after graduating Iowa State University, which most good Iowa Farm kids would do, I started out on my career in animal health at Alanco Animal Health where I spent 12 years really in a lot of commercial roles, always serving production agriculture in the poultry industry, in the swine industry and in the dairy and beef industry on a global level, on a domestic level, and did that for about 12 years before moving over actually to Kansas City to lead the Bear Farm animal business. And so that's really what brought my family here to Kansas City. And there is another example of a global animal health company ultimately serving those protein production companies.
And so I've really centered my career around serving livestock producers, those makers of meat and milk that I think are noble cause and a noble job, and it's my small part of participating in what I think is so important at feeding the world with safe, wholesome food.
Kelly Scanlon:
Let's talk about that for a minute. You've obviously, in the three and a half years or so that you've been in existence, well, since the merging of the companies been very successful in your expansion efforts and there's even more demand for what you're doing, it sounds like. What are you going to use to know whether you are successful in your ultimate mission of feeding the world and doing it with less footprint on the environment?
Kerryann Kocher:
Yeah, it's super exciting and something that we take really, really seriously. In fact, when we think about our sense technology and our ability to measure animal's feed intake and the improvement of feed efficiency that we can make on the herd, we've been able to track that over time. And we've made a tremendous 30% difference over the last five years of improving cattle that just by measuring the intake, we can improve cattle to use 30% less resources. That's really, really powerful stuff, and we see the ability to continue that kind of measurement, but continue to see that impact on the world. And we're also seeing that customer by customer. This is our customer's mission as well. So we live in a shared vision to be able to serve that triple challenge that I started the whole conversation with is more protein, more sustainable, and doing it in a way that everybody can participate and make money.
Kelly Scanlon:
So when you piggyback that on top of achieving your mission of providing food for the world, you're really doing some heavy weightlifting there.
Kerryann Kocher:
Yeah, it's true. As we think about how can we live out our mission, which is to ensure meat and milk are viable food choices for future generations, we see this as our ability to continue to measure those animals that are elite, putting more of those animals back into the population. And we've seen a really dramatic impact on feed efficiency alone where we've been able to reduce the amount of feed it takes to produce a pound of meat in those animals around 30%. So that's really impactful stuff that can drive not only a producer's bottom line, but also their ability to produce more with less.
Kelly Scanlon:
What's the future look like for Vytelle?
Kerryann Kocher:
So as we think about our future as a company for our employees, for our customers, we're continuing to grow. We're the fastest growing in vitro fertilization company in the world. We intend to maintain that title. And so you're going to see additional global expansions. You're going to see additional expansions here in the United States so that we can continue to serve more and more customers in helping them feed out their mission. So we're going to continue to grow.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yeah, I know it's all happening right here in Kansas City, in Lenexa to be exact. Well, best of luck to you. Congratulations on all the success you've already enjoyed and on your recent award. We just really appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us and wish you the best of luck.
Kerryann Kocher:
Thank you so much, Kelly. We're really pleased to be here.
Joe Close:
This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Kerryann Kocher for being our guest on this episode of Banking on KC. At Country Club Bank, we encourage a culture of innovation so we can better serve our customers. Kerryann and her team at Vytelle have created a culture of innovation in order to serve the world, specifically to better feed a growing global population and to do so sustainably with the least impact to our environment. As Kerryann mentioned, the work at Vytelle has roots among farmers practicing sustainable farming in England more than 600 years ago. But using technology, Vytelle has taken the concept to a new level with the potential for life-changing global impact. The story of Vytelle underscores the transformative potential within every idea, demonstrating that innovation knows no boundaries. What starts as a small idea, even one from centuries ago, could be today's breakthrough solution. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you Kansas City, Country Club Bank member FDIC.