Tall Grass Ventures

Wilson Acton co-founded Tall Grass Ventures with Chris Edwards and helps guide the firm's strategic direction while working with founders and management teams. He previously practiced as a partner at a Canadian national law firm with a focus on mergers & acquisitions and capital markets, and earlier co-founded, built, and exited several businesses in agtech and fintech. A fifth-generation member of a Saskatchewan grain and livestock family, he focuses on pre-Series A technology investment in Canada.

Chris Paterson works at the intersection of strategy and technology, helping early-stage and high-growth ventures clarify their strategy and messaging. He has spent 25 years in the North American agribusiness sector, holding roles as a farmer, independent ag retailer, entrepreneur, technical agronomist, executive, journalist, and investor. Over the past decade he has focused on the digitization of farming, agribusiness, and agrifood.

David Sullivan serves as Executive Vice President of Global Ag Risk Solutions, where he has contributed to sales growth and the modernization of business processes, HR practices, and IT systems. He co-founded Parametrics.Ag, a parametric weather insurance offering that is now a subsidiary of Global Ag Risk Solutions. He holds a degree in Agronomy and an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan and has over 20 years of experience in agriculture spanning finance consulting, retail, manufacturing and distribution, insurance, and lending.

Brett McMickell is Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer of Kubota North America, with leadership experience across Fortune 500 companies, small-cap public companies, and startups. He previously served as President and CEO of AgJunction from 2019 until its 2021 acquisition by Kubota, joining the company in 2017 as SVP of Global Product Development, and earlier spent over a decade at Honeywell Aerospace in roles including Senior Director of Engineering for Actuation Systems. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah.

Connie Wiltshire coordinates operations at Tall Grass Ventures, focusing on organization, communication, and partner engagement. She has worked as an administrative professional for over 25 years across the government, oil and gas, and technology sectors, moving from support roles into positions overseeing systems, platforms, and initiatives. She has spent the last three years in technology and has an interest in AgTech, informed by family roots in agriculture.

David Zoric is a member of Tall Grass Ventures' investment team, where he helps identify and evaluate potential investment opportunities and conducts market research on the agrifood tech sector. He joined the firm during his final year at the University of British Columbia, where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Marketing and captained the tennis team. He previously interned at Amazon and Westbank, and focuses on cellular agriculture and food technology.

Jon Ladd has over 40 years of experience in development and senior management, with expertise in precision GPS, GNSS, sensor fusion, and wireless technology. He began his career in 1982 working on an early commercial geodetic GPS surveying system with Chuck Counselman's MIT team, and later contributed precision guidance and auto-steering technology to agricultural companies including AGCO, CLAAS, and CNH. He has served as president and CEO of private and public companies in the US and Canada, including NovAtel Inc., and graduated in Surveying Engineering from the University of Maine in 1980.

Lori Ell is an advisor at Tall Grass Ventures who works with growth-oriented organizations as a business strategist and coach. She has over 25 years of executive experience across multi-billion dollar, startup, and mid-market companies in a range of industries, with expertise in turnarounds, financial strategy, and organizational transformation. She has served as a board member and mentor for agriculture organizations and startups spanning agri-food processing, manufacturing, retail, and technology, and supports Indigenous economic self-sufficiency as an Alberta Metis.

Trish Henderson grew up on a family farm in central Alberta and studied Agriculture Business Management at the University of Alberta, followed by a ten-year career at Farm Credit Canada. She runs a cow-calf farming operation with her husband and has consulted for primary producers, crown corporations, producer groups, and livestock software companies. She serves as an independent advisor focused on bringing new technologies to agriculture that support sustainable food production.