Publications
Publications
- September 2023 (Revised November 2023)
- HBS Case Collection
Seeds of Innovation: GALY's Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab
By: George Serafeim and Michael Norris
Abstract
In 2023, Luciano Bueno, CEO and founder of plant cell culture agriculture company GALY, was considering the best path forward for his company as he planned to pitch Series B investors. GALY, founded in 2019, aimed to produce cotton and other crops from cells grown in the lab. The company hoped to create 500,000 tons of products by 2030, and by 2023, had produced proof of concepts of cotton, coffee, and cacao. Bueno had a number of decisions to make. How should the company scale? Where should it locate production? Should it build its own production facilities, or license its intellectual property to partner firms? Should the company continue operating an office in Brazil, or centralize operations in Boston? The answers to these questions would point the way forward, but which path was best?
Keywords
Business Model; Green Technology; Goods and Commodities; Growth and Development Strategy; Science-Based Business; Entrepreneurship; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Startups; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Production; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; Boston; Sao Paulo
Citation
Serafeim, George, and Michael Norris. "Seeds of Innovation: GALY's Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab." Harvard Business School Case 124-017, September 2023. (Revised November 2023.)