Sam Schatz, Managing Director + Global Head of Farm Development for AeroFarms, joined as the first employee after the company founders in 2012. The company has since grown to over 150 employees and operates the world’s largest vertical farm in Newark, NJ. Sam leads strategy and execution of the company’s expansion to new markets in addition to other strategic initiatives. Sam is an Advisor to the St. Louis based AgTech accelerator The Yield Lab and Founder and Managing Partner of Painter Hill Venture Partners, a New York-based Venture Capital firm. Previous experience includes Berlin based Wermuth Asset Management where he advised on investments into privately-held clean technology companies and London-based Active Earth Investments where he led investment into listed mining and mid-cap industrial companies with a focus on environmental stewardship and socially responsible business practices. Sam is a recipient of the Alfa Fellowship and received his Masters from the London School of Economics where he was the President and Founder of the Graduate Management Society and his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University where he served on the Student Advisory Board to the Columbia University Earth Institute