Rob Trice, a champion for modern food, agriculture and technology systems, passed away Feb. 19 after a brief illness while traveling in Antwerp, Belgium, Agri-Pulse has learned. He was 58.

“Rob’s legacy will continue through all the start-ups he backed, the community networks he nurtured, and the ideas he fostered. But most importantly, it lives on in all of us who had the gift of knowing him for far too brief a time,” a group of his colleagues posted on LinkedIn.

Trice was a frequently sought-after speaker and moderator on the topics he was passionate about, including the Agri-Pulse Food & Ag Summit in Sacramento last year, the Western Growers Association annual meeting, and events like World AgriTech in San Francisco or Fruit Logistica in Berlin.

“To know Rob was to know there was not a microphone he didn’t love. He always had an insightful perspective to voice, and questions to ask that pushed others to think deeper. He had serious intentions, but didn’t take himself too seriously,” his colleagues said.

One of his favorite quotes was from Teddy Roosevelt’s 1910 speech “Citizenship in a Republic.”

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“It is not the critic who counts…the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again…who spends himself in a worthy cause…”

“Rob was always in the arena,” his friends said.

Trice founded Better Food Ventures in 2013 to invest in companies applying IT to improve food and agriculture. He also founded The Mixing Bowl as a forum for thought exchange on how IT can be applied to food and agriculture. He ultimately backed more than 25 founders applying digital technology across the food and agriculture value chain.

His investments ranged from Bountiful, which used machine learning and AI for yield and sustainability prediction in specialty crops like almonds, to Gastrograph, a company using AI to predict flavor and mouthfeel preferences for creating food and beverages tailored to specific demographics. More recently, he invested in Afresh, Breedr, and Farm-ng.

Prior to that, his interest in venture capital involved work with Swisscom Ventures, SK Telecom Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners (now NGP Capital) and Nokia Venture Partners (now BlueRun Ventures). He also worked at DIRECTV and the DC-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Trice also founded the non-profit Corporate Innovators Huddle, chaired the board of San Francisco-based non-profit Full Circle Fund, and was an adviser to Cal Poly’s College of Ag, Food and Environmental Sciences, the UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health, US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, and Mista Foods. He was a member of the Farm Foundation’s Program Committee and the Roundtable.

When not traveling, he split his time between Menlo Park, California, and a ranch in Pescadero, California. He is survived by his wife Wendy and other family members.

Rob’s colleagues Michael Rose, Chris Taylor, Katie Grimble and Wendy Millet invite friends to share remembrances for his wife and family. You can e-mail RememberingRob@mixingbowlhub.com with memories and photos.

Plans for a celebration of Rob’s life have not yet been announced.

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