Ten ag-tech start-ups advance to final round of Silicon Valley-backed business competition.

When company execs come to Salinas to demo their products next week, they might not look like typical CEOs. Dan Morash, founder of California Safe Soil, will ditch his usual tie.

That was on advice from a mentor, Mann Packing Chair/CEO Lorri Koster. “She said, ‘Lose the tie,’” Morash says.

Sacramento-based California Safe Soil was one of 60 companies to apply to Thrive Accelerator, a business incubator and contest. It’s now one of 10 finalists peddling agricultural technology and services including drones, robots and urban aquaponics systems.

The finalists will demo their products March 4 at the National Steinbeck Center. The winner will be announced July 8 at Forbes and SVG’s ag-tech summit.

All 10 finalists are assigned mentors. Morash was paired with Koster, who’s offering practical advice on breaking into the Salinas Valley marketplace.

“We’re historically a very tough market to crack, particularly at the grower level,” Koster says. She plans to pilot California Safe Soil’s fertilizer, called H2H, in hopes of reducing nitrate runoff from fields.

H2H is made from ground-up, pasteurized waste from grocery store produce aisles and deli counters. SaveMart pays the company to haul away its trash, which is then converted into liquid fertilizer and applied to fields through irrigation systems.

For Morash, Thrive is a chance for exposure. For Koster, it’s a chance to woo companies to Salinas. “I get so tired of talking about this at Rotary year after year, and nothing comes of it,” she says. “Let’s start somewhere.”