David Friedberg
InvestorCEO at TPB · Board director at Uplifting Results Labs, Inc. · Board director at TripleBar Bio, Inc.
San Francisco, California, United States
About
David Friedberg founded The Climate Corporation and sold it to Monsanto for roughly $1.1 billion in 2013, the first billion-dollar outcome in agricultural technology. He founded The Production Board in 2016 as a holding company that creates and invests in businesses across food, agriculture, biomanufacturing and life sciences, raising $300 million for it in 2021. Since November 2023 he has been full-time CEO of Ohalo Genetics, the plant-genetics company he co-founded in 2019, whose 'Boosted Breeding' technology reported early yield gains of 50% to over 100%. He co-hosts the All-In podcast.
Invests in
AgTech
Beyond investing
- Education
- Studied at University of California, Berkeley (BS, Astrophysics)
- More
- Worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as an undergraduate. Monsanto: Acquired The Climate Corporation for roughly $1.1 billion — the first billion-dollar outcome in agricultural technology. All-In Podcast: Co-host.
Mentioned above: the University of California, Berkeley mafia →
From David's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Board director at Uplifting Results Labs, Inc.
Intro paths
In turn, David can intro founders to Uplifting Results Labs, Inc.'s investors below.
Uplifting Results Labs, Inc.'s investors · 2
Co-founders at Uplifting Results Labs, Inc.
Board director at TripleBar Bio, Inc.
Intro paths
In turn, David can intro founders to TripleBar Bio, Inc.'s investors below.
TripleBar Bio, Inc.'s investors · 4
Co-founders at TripleBar Bio, Inc.
Experience
- Ohalo GeneticsChief Executive Officercurrent2023 — present
- The Production BoardFounder & CEOcurrent2016 — presentSan Francisco, California
- MetromileFounder & Chairman2011 — 2021
- The Climate CorporationFounder & CEO2006 — 2015San Francisco, CA
- GoogleCorporate Development & Business Product Manager2004 — 2006
- Concert Capital PartnersInvestor2003 — 2004
- Broadview InternationalInvestment Banking2001 — 2003
Investments
Board seats
LavoroPattern Ag
Investor
8090Earth OpticsLavoroOhalo GeneticsPattern AgTriplebar
Sources: the firm's website · curated public sources.
Public positions
He starts from planetary systems — how food, materials and medicine are actually produced — and asks where a biological or informational intervention changes the economics by an order of magnitude. The consistent move across his career is to measure a physical process first, earn the right to change it, then change it upstream at the genetics rather than downstream at the logistics.
2024 · Plant genetics
Unveiling Ohalo's Boosted Breeding, he described the yield gains from polyploid offspring that retain both parents' genomes as far beyond what conventional breeding cycles achieve.
The clearest statement of what he believes the leverage point in agriculture is.
2024 · Crop breeding
He has argued the technique makes true seed viable in crops like potato that have always relied on vegetative propagation, changing how those crops can be bred and shipped.
A specific, falsifiable technical claim rather than a general vision.
2021 · Firm strategy
Announcing a $300 million raise, TPB framed its purpose as reimagining the systems that produce what the planet consumes rather than investing within them.
Sets the scope of what he considers investable.
2016 · Company creation
TPB's stated approach is to build businesses from emerging scientific discoveries and give them the capital, infrastructure and market insight needed to deliver at least a tenfold improvement.
The published bar every pitch is measured against.
2013 · Agricultural technology
The Climate Corporation's sale to Monsanto established that agricultural software could produce venture-scale outcomes, a point he has made repeatedly since.
The exit that made the category credible.
2023 · His own role
He moved from investor to full-time Ohalo CEO, signalling that he believes the company requires operating leadership rather than governance.
Changes how founders should read his availability and his lens.
Prediction record
Pricing weather risk as a data product was right and produced a $1.1 billion exit. Per-mile insurance was directionally right but the standalone company did not survive as one. The Boosted Breeding yield claims are the open call — company-reported early trials look strong, and independent multi-season validation is the test that settles them.
Weather and climate risk could be priced and sold as a data product to farmers
Correct2006 · Years
WeatherBill became The Climate Corporation and sold to Monsanto for roughly $1.1 billion in 2013.
The business shifted substantially from insurance to agronomy along the way.
Per-mile pricing would restructure car insurance
Correct2011 · Decade
Metromile went public in 2021 but the standalone business struggled and was later absorbed; usage-based pricing did become mainstream inside incumbent insurers.
The idea travelled further than the company did.
Boosted Breeding delivers yield gains far beyond conventional breeding, including true seed for crops that have always been propagated vegetatively
Open2024 · Years
Early trials reported yield gains in the range of 50% to over 100%; commercial-scale validation is still in progress.
Trial results are company-reported; independent multi-season field validation is the test.
Holding-company structures suit deep-science businesses better than fund cycles
Open2016 · Decade
TPB has operated on this model for a decade; the thesis has not yet produced a definitive public outcome.
Unresolved.
Controversies & responses
Where David has drawn public criticism — with what happened, their response, and the criticism itself, side by side.
▶Company-reported yield claims2024
- What happened
- Ohalo's Boosted Breeding announcements reported yield gains of roughly 50% to over 100% in early trials, framed by trade press as a step change in crop breeding.
- The response
- Friedberg has presented the results publicly and in technical detail, and the company continues field trials at scale.
- The criticism
- The headline figures originate with the company; agricultural technology has a long history of early trial results that do not survive multi-season, multi-geography validation. Independent replication is the standard the claims will be judged against.
- Where it stands
- Open — commercial validation in progress.
▶Metromile's public-market decline2021
- What happened
- Metromile, which he founded and chaired until 2021, went public and subsequently fell sharply before being absorbed.
- The response
- He had stepped back from the chairmanship before the worst of the decline.
- The criticism
- Cited as an example of an insurance-technology company whose unit economics did not survive public-market scrutiny.
- Where it stands
- Historic.
▶Gene editing in the food supply2020
- What happened
- Ohalo's technology relies on CRISPR gene editing and proprietary proteins to alter plant reproduction.
- The response
- He argues the approach is a breeding accelerant that produces plants conventional breeding could in principle reach, only far faster.
- The criticism
- Gene-edited crops face regulatory and consumer-acceptance barriers that vary sharply by jurisdiction, and critics of agricultural biotechnology contest the framing that editing is equivalent to accelerated breeding.
- Where it stands
- Ongoing; regulatory treatment differs by market.
Podcasts & interviews
featuring David FriedbergColleagues at TPB
Frequently asked questions
- Who is David Friedberg?
- David Friedberg founded The Climate Corporation and sold it to Monsanto for roughly $1.1 billion in 2013, the first billion-dollar outcome in agricultural technology. He founded The Production Board in 2016 as a holding company that creates and invests in businesses across food, agriculture, biomanufacturing and life sciences, raising $300 million for it in 2021. Since November 2023 he has been full-time CEO of Ohalo Genetics, the plant-genetics company he co-founded in 2019, whose 'Boosted Breeding' technology reported early yield gains of 50% to over 100%. He co-hosts the All-In podcast.
- Where does David Friedberg work?
- David Friedberg is CEO at TPB and Board director at Uplifting Results Labs, Inc. and Board director at TripleBar Bio, Inc..
- What does David Friedberg invest in?
- David Friedberg invests in AgTech.
- What boards does David Friedberg sit on?
- David Friedberg holds tracked board seats at Lavoro, Pattern Ag.
- What companies has David Friedberg invested in?
- Investments tracked here include 8090, Earth Optics, Lavoro, Ohalo Genetics, Pattern Ag, Triplebar.
- Where did David Friedberg go to school?
- David Friedberg studied at University of California, Berkeley (BA, Astrophysics).
- What podcasts and interviews feature David Friedberg?
- Tracked appearances include "'The yield gains are insane' — Friedberg unwraps Ohalo's Boosted Breeding".
Founder mafias
University of California, Berkeley mafia538
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 531 more
Climate mafia5
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Metromile mafia2
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Ohalo Genetics mafia2
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
TPB mafia2
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Also attended University of California, Berkeley1,453
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Shared employers
Also worked at Ohalo Genetics7
+ 1 more
Also worked at Metromile10
+ 4 more
Also worked at The Climate Corporation16
+ 10 more
Also worked at Google1,715
+ 1,709 more