Origins of Kulisha

The six members of Kulisha bring disparate backgrounds and disciplines together to imagine a more sustainable feed industry. The idea was born with Viraj Sikand and Eric Katz, who met while working at a salmon hatchery in Washington state.

Eric is a business student at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and has worked for two start-ups in tech education and digital marketing. Viraj studies environmental science at Brown University and has extensive experience working with coastal fishing communities, which first prompted him to pursue this idea.

Maya Faulstich-Hon was born and raised in Costa Rica and is also studying environmental science at Brown University. Growing up in her family’s restaurant, she is interested in food waste streams and food security.

Lunalo Cletus graduated from the University of Nairobi with a degree in Natural Resource Management and has been the boots on the ground, building and developing relationships with farmers throughout the country.

Arjun Paunrana, also from Nairobi, is studying mechanical engineering at UCLA and has spearheaded the facility design process.

Catherine Hebson, from Maine, US, studies engineering at Brown University and will be leading a series of rapid prototypes of harvesting mechanisms later this year.

The team members say they have found incredible support in their respective universities.

‘In addition, our idea has resonated with a number of student centred social innovation competitions,’ said Maya FaulstichHon.

‘We are thrilled to have been awarded the grand prize at the Thought for Food Challenge, an international call for students to submit novel solutions to feeding nine billion people, as well as the Michigan Business Challenge, the UCLA Knapp Venture Competition, and the Brown University Social Innovation Fellowship.

‘These, along with a number of other smaller grants and awards, have funded our current prototype facility and will propel us into the next phase of testing.’