Karsten Temme, CEO of Pivot Bio: Bringing a wealth of experience and insight — as well as a shared vision for how technology can improve agriculture and world

Nitrogen is critical to plant growth and reproduction. Pasture and crop growth will often respond to an increased availability of soil nitrogen. This situation is often managed through the addition of nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas and accounts for 5 per cent to 7 per cent of global greenhouse emissions with 90 percent of these derived from agricultural practices. Nitrogen based fertilizers and livestock manure (urine and dung) are the key sources of nitrous oxide emissions on farms. Greater efficiency in the capture of nitrogen in products has the greatest impact on reducing nitrous oxide losses, as well as reducing ammonia volatilization to the atmosphere and nitrate leaching and runoff to groundwater and waterways. Improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has both productivity and profitability benefits. Nitrous oxide is most likely released from warm, waterlogged soils where there is excess nitrogen in the form of nitrate. Volatilization of nitrogen as ammonia can also lead to indirect nitrous oxide emissions through redeposition contributing to excess nitrate elsewhere in the landscape. Farmers can save money, boost pasture and crop production and reduce nitrous oxide losses by carefully planning and implementing best management practices with regards to the 4 Rs — the ‘right’ rate, source, timing and placement of nitrogen fertilisers to match plant needs.

Pivot Bio was born out of an ambition to replace synthetic nitrogen fertilizer with a more sustainable and safer tool for farmers. Co-founders Karsten Temme and Alvin Tamsir began their work as lab partners during graduate school and focused on creating a dependable and safer way to fertilize cereal crops. Driven by a relentless commitment to help make farming more productive and sustainable, Karsten and Alvin built a scalable proprietary tech platform that enables microbes to reliably produce nitrogen for cereal crops - a discovery that has been chased by scientists for decades, and never available commercially until now. Pivot Bio microbes take nitrogen from the air and make it available for plants, replacing the need for synthetic nitrogen.

After years of laboratory, greenhouse, and on-farm trials, Pivot Bio released its first commercial product for corn, Pivot Bio PROVEN^®, to U.S. farmers in 2019. The product sold out within six weeks, demonstrating a strong demand from farmers for a new technology to improve their operations while minimizing their environmental footprint. Demand continues to grow, and the company expanded its product portfolio in 2020 with Pivot Bio RETURN^® for wheat and introduced sorghum in 2021.

Pivot Bio PROVEN^® 40

Pivot Bio microbes are produced using fermentation. They are fed sugars and then allowed to grow until they've reached a high enough concentration to sell to farmers. Fermentation replaces the Haber-Bosch Process, the energy-intense production process for creating synthetic nitrogen, and reduces potential GHG emissions by 98%. Pivot Bio PROVEN^® 40 is a more predictable, more productive form of nitrogen. The microbes form a symbiotic relationship with the corn plant. These microbes take nitrogen from the air and create the ammonia that plants need to grow and thrive, supplying it to the plant throughout the most critical growth stages. Pivot Bio PROVEN^® 40 On-Seed and In-Furrow products adhere directly to the root of the corn plant and do not run off during weather events, providing farmers with a more predictable, reliable and consistent method for delivering plant nutrition.

Pivot Bio RETURN^®

Both Pivot Bio RETURN^® On-Seed and In-Furrow microbes adhere directly to the roots of the plants, continually feeding nitrogen during the crops’ most critical growth stages, resulting in bigger plants and increased plant dry weight. It’s also weatherproof, so there is no loss to leaching, denitrification or volatilization. It is available for barley, millet, oats, sorghum, sunflower and spring wheat. In 2021 trials, Pivot Bio RETURN^® resulted in increased grain yield and plant dry weight, both in reduced nitrogen practice and 100% nitrogen checks. In grower side-by-side analysis, Pivot Bio RETURN^® also resulted in increased plant biomass. Pivot Bio’s experienced agronomists conduct multiple trials across different geographies and weather conditions as part of a robust field testing platform. Partnering with growers and university agriculture programs, Pivot Bio analyzes millions of data points to develop products that work for farmers. They work closely with their customers to ensure their success.

Meet the Visionary Leader Upfront

Karsten Temme, Ph.D., is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Pivot Bio. For years, Karsten has been fascinated with the limitless potential of the unseen microbes that inhabit the world. While earning his Ph.D. at University of California, San Francisco, his graduate research focused on enhancing the nitrogen-fixing potential of soil-borne microbes. Seeking to produce “more than scientific journal articles” and driven by the desire to create meaningful change in the world, Karsten partnered with his friend and colleague, Alvin Tamsir, to create Pivot Bio.

"We are dedicated to creating exciting innovations and opportunities for Pivot Bio and the farmers who trust our products. And, for everyone who believes that powerful ideas can change the world."