A High-tech Composting Startup in Buffalo finds Traction

By Dan Miner – Reporter, Buffalo Business First

WeRadiate spent years clarifying the value of its technology and business model.

During that time – spent as a participant in the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps program – the company did deep research into who its customers were and what they want.

It worked.

“We have increased revenue and sales during the pandemic, which is unusual in our industry,” said Sashti Balasundaram, WeRadiate founder and CEO. “Clients are coming to us.”

Balasundaram’s career previously included stints in education, public health and urban farming.

He moved back to hometown Buffalo in 2017 to work as the City of Buffalo’s recycling coordinator, starting the composting initiatives that are now in place.

He dedicated himself fulltime to WeRadiate in 2019. The company sells digital sensors used to monitor compost, along with software that supports that process.

Customers range from startup composters to large corporate recycling companies. All of them have a stake in having deep knowledge about their compost – particularly given the compliance standards and regulations that govern the market.

“They can use our data science to create high-quality compost blends that they can sell back to the public or to farmers,” Balasundaram said.

WeRadiate is a Launch NY client and a member of its Emerging Cleantech Opportunity incubator program. The company is also supported through NYSERDA’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program.

The company recently won $250,000 in Grow-NY, a state-funded competition that seeks to foster food innovation and ag-tech startups. Grow-NY is similar in structure to 43North.

Balasundaram said he’ll use the cash to expand WeRadiate’s team, including hardware, software and data analytics personnel. He hopes the company can create a pipeline for nontraditional workers to grow at a tech startup.

In the meantime, he said, his company is positioned at an emerging nexus that extends well beyond the composting industry. Cannabis farms, vineyards and highway departments are among the potential customers.

“We overlap with a lot of secondary verticals that can use our hardware and software,” Balasundaram said. “Connecting soil to tech is niche and nuanced, but it’s only going to grow. I’m excited to be a company at the focal point of driving this data science sector.”

Source article: https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2021/12/06/weradiate-high-tech-composting-startup-buffalo.html