Doon Insights

We're delighted to announce that we will host our 12th annual #AgTech and #FoodTech Workshops on May 14 and 15, respectively, in Santa Cruz, California. Please mark your calendars and Save the Date!    Workshops are our flagship events, and this year they will be a little bigger as we (carefully) grow our community. Together, we'll explore a broad range of issues through discussion panels, Something on My Mind (SOMM) Sessions and startup presentations, lead by top investors, corporates, entrepreneurs and technologists. Several things will be different this year. First, in addition to early stage start ups, we hope to bring into the conversation more growth-stage companies and their investors. We want to showcase many of the success stories in the sector and include the investors who are supporting them.  To accomodate our growing community, we will bemoving our day program to a meeting facility in Santa Cruz, but with a maximum of 100 persons. However, we will not be leaving Bonny Doon! On the first night we will be inviting attendees to a reception and hearty feast there.     More info will be forthcoming, so stay tuned! We are working hard on the program, but if you have suggestions about themes we should cover or startups (both early and late stage) we should consider, please feel free to contact us. Hope to see you in Santa Cruz and Bonny Doon!

We're thrilled to announce that we will be hosting our first-ever Energy Workshop on April 30th, 2025, in Santa Cruz, California. Please mark your calendars and save the date for this exciting new retreat! Our Power Surge Workshop will convene an exclusive gathering of industry leaders, investors, technologists, and innovators to explore one of the most pressing challenges of our time: meeting the rapidly surging demand for energy in a sustainable and scalable way. As data centers, electrification (vehicles, buildings, and industry), crypto mining, and other emerging energy-intensive applications create an unprecedented surge in demand, the energy sector is facing a pivotal moment. This perfect storm of demand must be addressed with both more conventional power generation and revolutionary new technologies to pave the way for a low-carbon energy future. The Workshop will examine the full spectrum of challenges and opportunities—from the technologies driving demand growth to the breakthrough solutions needed to ensure reliable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable energy delivery. What we will talk about: Demand Drivers: Insights into surging energy needs fueled by data centers, AI applications, electrification, and crypto mining. What is the projected growth curve of each of these use cases? What are the challenges of building, financing and operating these new facilities? Supply-Side Solutions: Discussion of cutting-edge energy generation technologies, including small modular reactors, fusion breakthroughs, near-term off-grid generation, and energy storage innovations. Grid Modernization: Exploration of grid-enhancing technologies and the critical investments needed to upgrade the grid. Financing the Future: Fireside chats and panel discussions with leading investors, lenders, and public sector representatives. Startup and Growth Company Showcases: Presentations by 8-10 groundbreaking companies with technologies designed to tackle these challenges head-on. More info will be forthcoming, so stay tuned! If you have suggestions about other themes or speakers we should consider, please feel free to contact us directly. We hope to see you in April! 

Dear Friends and Colleagues, 2025 will be our 8th year of LegalTech programs beginning with our March 18 Salon! We are very fortunate in this industry that despite the downturn in venture generally, legaltech appears to be one of the exceptions. This is because the world is now revolving around AI, and GenAI is firstly about words. So funding is flowing into legaltech. And of course this includes PE money too. As more legaltech companies mature, they are attracting PE investors in larger funding rounds and for M&A rollups. Strategics are also very active. So one of the themes we are focusing on this year is the Maturing of LegalTech, and we expect to be showcasing more legaltech success stories. Our last two legaltech events have been heavy on AI content and this time will be no exception. One of our panels will dig into the rapid rise of Agentic AI and how it represents the next wave of AI disruption. Our Salons are very interactive and substantive events, with everyone seated around a single table, everyone with microphones. More info to follow! Happy holidays, the Doon Insights team

Another day of thought-provoking discussions in Bonny Doon! at FoodTech 11 - Conversations at Bonny Doon. Thank you to our sponsors: The Mixing Bowl and Sidley Austin LLP Thank you to all of our discussion leaders, including: Rob Trice, Ken Barbic, Mary Thatcher, George Powlick, Steve Sutton, Stephen Haggerty, Kim Fisher, Rob Dongoski, Kyle Carlyle, Nigel Hughes, Renee Flesch, Adam Bergman, Lisa Gilford, and Carter Williams.

It might be cold and soggy outside, but today's discussions in Bonny Doon are already heating up! - at AgTech 11, Conversations at Bonny Doon. Thank you to The Mixing Bowl and Sidley Austin LLP for making this event possible. Thank you to all of our speakers, including: Michael Bommarito, Elliott Grant, 📊 Dan Maycock, Ilias Tagkopoulos, Mathias Müller, Joshua Hofheimer, John Huber, Walt Duflock, Alfonso Bustamante, Eric Morgan, Paola de Almeida, Winnie Leung, Paimun (PJ) Amini, Alfred Zimmerman, Melanie Yelton, Michael Schwieterman, Ph.D., Mark S. Brooks, and Keith Driver.

Tomorrow, Alfred Zimmerman of Axitan will lead us through a discussion session on: Next Steps in Antibiotic Free Production & Food Borne Illness.   🌿 Join Us for the 11th Annual AgTech Salon in Bonny Doon! 🌿 Engage in meaningful conversations shaping the future of AgTech at our unique square table setup where everyone is a speaker and a listener.    🔗 Applied to Attend: https://lnkd.in/gTrXva6B   This year we’re introducing new “Something On My Mind” (SOMM) mini-sessions—15-minute power talks on the future of AgTech, covering everything from digitalization to insect protein for animal feed.   This salon is sponsored by The Mixing Bowl and Sidley Austin LLP   #AgTech #FoodTech #Innovation #Sustainability #AI #AgtechSalon #FutureOfFood 

This week, Carter Williams of iSelect Fund will update us on Food As Medicine: What's Real and What's Not?   🌿 Join Us for the 11th Annual FoodTech Salon in Bonny Doon! 🌿 Engage in meaningful conversations shaping the future of FoodTech at our unique square table setup where everyone is a speaker and a listener.    🔗 Applied to Attend: https://lnkd.in/gbA8PTQv   This year we’re introducing new “Something On My Mind” (SOMM) mini-sessions—15-minute power talks on the future of AgTech, covering everything from digitalization to insect protein for animal feed.   This salon is sponsored by The Mixing Bowl and Sidley Austin LLP   #FoodTech #Innovation #Sustainability #AI #FutureOfFood 

This week, Melanie Yelton of GrowBig Consulting will lead us through a discussion session on Controlled Environment Agriculture: Why and When?   🌿 Join Us for the 11th Annual AgTech Salon in Bonny Doon! 🌿 Engage in meaningful conversations shaping the future of AgTech at our unique square table setup where everyone is a speaker and a listener.    🔗 Applied to Attend: https://lnkd.in/gTrXva6B   This year we’re introducing new “Something On My Mind” (SOMM) mini-sessions—15-minute power talks on the future of AgTech, covering everything from digitalization to insect protein for animal feed.   This salon is sponsored by The Mixing Bowl and Sidley Austin LLP   #AgTech #FoodTech #Innovation #Sustainability #AI #AgtechSalon #FutureOfFood 

Next week, Winnie Leung of Ajinomoto Co., Inc. will lead us through a discussion session on: Business Models for Livestock GHG Reduction.   🌿 Join Us for the 11th Annual AgTech Salon in Bonny Doon! 🌿 Engage in meaningful conversations shaping the future of AgTech at our unique square table setup where everyone is a speaker and a listener.    🔗 Applied to Attend: https://lnkd.in/gTrXva6B   This year we’re introducing new “Something On My Mind” (SOMM) mini-sessions—15-minute power talks on the future of AgTech, covering everything from digitalization to insect protein for animal feed.   This salon is sponsored by The Mixing Bowl and Sidley Austin LLP   #AgTech #FoodTech #Innovation #Sustainability #AI #AgtechSalon #FutureOfFood 

Next week, Rob Trice of The Mixing Bowl and Better Food Ventures will lead us through a discussion session on: Effective Models for Innovation Adoption in Food & Farming.   🌿 Join Us for the 11th Annual AgTech Salon in Bonny Doon! 🌿 Engage in meaningful conversations shaping the future of AgTech at our unique square table setup where everyone is a speaker and a listener.    🔗 Applied to Attend: https://lnkd.in/gTrXva6B   This year we’re introducing new “Something On My Mind” (SOMM) mini-sessions—15-minute power talks on the future of AgTech, covering everything from digitalization to insect protein for animal feed.   This salon is sponsored by The Mixing Bowl and Sidley Austin LLP.   #AgTech #FoodTech #Innovation #Sustainability #AI #AgtechSalon #FutureOfFood