Recurring Ulupreneur Jorge Heraud has always wanted to know more about the earth beneath his feet. As a child in Peru, he spent summers on his grandparents’ farm, fascinated by farming but aware of its challenges. His entrepreneurial father ran a small automation company, and Jorge began to imagine how technology could transform agriculture.
After studying at Stanford and building his career at the navigation firm Trimble, Jorge returned to that vision. He co-founded Blue River Technology, which pioneered “intelligent” machinery to help farmers. The company was acquired by John Deere in 2017, where Jorge stayed for seven years. He later advised other agtech companies but felt pulled back to building something innovative. He joined former colleague Matt Colgan, as a co-founder at SoilCode—now TerraBlaster, to deliver precise, plant-level soil insights that maximize yields, reduce waste, and improve farm profitability.
We spoke to Jorge as the company prepares to test its second-generation prototype about how farmers could use more high tech tools to increase yields, save money and farm sustainably.
How can TerraBlaster help farmers and the environment?
Food production and agriculture areindustries that won’t be replaced by AI, but can benefit immensely from it. Fertilizer is one of farmers’ biggest costs and most common sources of waste. Thirty to fifty percent of it ends up polluting waterways and producing massive CO₂ emissions. Our mission is to build a new type of machine that can measure soils accurately, in real time and at high resolution, so farmers can apply fertilizer when it will be increasing yields And not when it will be wasted. TerraBlaster uses technology pioneered by NASA, enhanced with AI, to measure nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other nutrients in the soil. Right now, farmers are making fertilizer decisions blind—we’re helping them move to information rich decisions.
What advice do you have for other founders fundraising?
You need to be trully passionate and convinced about what you’re building. Investors can sense whether you truly believe in your vision. Passion is transmitted verbally and non verbally. VCs know it when you really believe in it. The first thing they’re consciously or unconsciously checking is whether this founder truly believes that he or she can do it.
Also find investors whose passion aligns with yours—who understand the problem you’re solving and believe in the space.
You’ve had Ulu Ventures as an investor twice. What stands out?
Ulu takes a very analytical approach. With Blue River, Clint Korver helped us map out possibilities in a way I hadn’t seen before, asking the right questions to surface insights. And when we were growing, the team gave us space—saying, ‘Come…. if you need help, otherwise keep going.’ That was incredibly valuable.
What are your dreams for TerraBlaster?
I have three dreams. First, to make a real impact—reducing wasted fertilizer while increasing farm yields. Second, to see an agtech IPO; the agriculture sector needs those successes to attract more investment. And I hope TerraBlaster will be one of them. And third, to make the firm a place people love to work. I want our employees to look back at their time at TerraBlaster and say ”it was the best professional experience of my career”.
