Dr. Feed (Q&A): Sustainable Impact on Livestock Feeding 

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Q: What does your startup do? 

A: Dr. Feed is dedicated to producing high-quality livestock feed. Our innovative approach focuses not only on superior nutrition but also on sustainable practices by incorporating food waste, including agricultural and food processing waste, as part of our feed raw materials. 

Dr. Feed was born after witnessing the financial and social challenges faced by Lebanese farmers from October 2022 to May 2023 during the economic crisis. Farmers were forced to reduce their livestock numbers and sometimes cease their operations, seeking other employment opportunities because they could no longer afford to feed their animals. Additionally, we saw the mishandling of biowaste, which was either landfilled or openly dumped, having a detrimental effect on the environment. Our solution primarily benefits livestock farmers, creating a positive impact on their lives and the environment. 

Q: What is one of your biggest achievements in your entrepreneurial journey, and what lesson did you learn from it? 

A: Our highlighted achievement would be taking the first step forward and getting started. The lesson learned is the power of initiative and embracing the unknown. This emphasizes the importance of proactive decision-making and forward momentum in entrepreneurship, as progress often begins with the first step, despite uncertainty or challenges. 

Q: What are the main challenges you faced throughout your journey? 

A: The main challenges we faced included financial difficulties, scaling up operations, and handling biowaste. 

Q: How did you overcome these challenges? 

A: To overcome financial challenges, we secured funds through the IdeaLab 2023 and the Agrytech accelerator program 2023-2024, which provided us with the necessary financial support and resources. For scaling up operations, we focused on building strategic partnerships and collaborations to share resources and reduce operational costs. This included securing a production facility equipped with advanced machinery. To handle high-moisture (wet) biowaste, we temporarily switched to low-moisture (dry) biowaste to produce safe animal feed while working on a long-term innovation for handling wet biowaste. 

Q: Why did you apply to the Agrytech program and what were you able to achieve through it? 

A: We applied to the Agrytech program to turn our innovative idea into a market-ready product, accelerate our business growth, join a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurs, and access funding and resources. 

Q: What are your long-term goals as a startup? 

A: Our long-term goals include diversifying the types of waste streams we utilize in our products, increasing the percentage of waste used in our products, expanding our production capacity to fit market demand, ongoing research and development to improve our products, and improving our sustainability practices, including contamination-free treatment of wet biowaste. We also aim to expand to new market regions, targeting different areas in Lebanon after our first target market, Nabatieh Governate. 

Q: What’s something you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur? 

A: Creating a positive impact in our community and contributing to a more sustainable future is what we enjoy most about being entrepreneurs. 

Q: What advice would you give to someone joining the next batch of the Agrytech Accelerator Program? 

A: Get ready for change—your startup will come out of the program smarter, stronger, and better prepared to take on new challenges. 

About Agrytech 

Berytech designed and developed the Agrytech Accelerator Program to make sure Lebanon has the most competitive companies that are sourcing, solving, growing and transforming food, as well as feeding the world from Lebanon. The Agrytech Accelerator Program launched by Berytech and funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Lebanon to enable the Lebanese entrepreneurial ecosystem and stimulate innovation and startup creation in the agriculture, food, and clean technology sectors. 

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Rudy Daniel

Rudy Daniel joined the Berytech Communication team with his experience as a marketer, content writer, and trainer having led numerous successful campaigns and supported local entrepreneurs and change-makers. Rudy is a huge video game enthusiast who enjoys mind-boggling puzzles, hiking, deep-sea diving and paragliding.

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