John Diener is a driven entrepreneur with a passion for food sustainability. In 2020 he co-founded Vertical Oceans, a vertical aquaculture system revolutionizing seafood production using cutting-edge technologies. Vertical Oceans recently closed an over-subscribed $3.5m Seed Round led by Khosla Ventures. Before founding Vertical Oceans, John held senior positions in the AgriFood Tech industry, including COO of an insect protein startup and CEO of an aquaculture nutrition and genetics company. He is an AgFunder mentor, advising AgriFood Tech startups on technology development and scaling. John is on the Investment Committee of the Trendlines VC fund and a direct investor in several AgriFood Tech startups.

John completed his BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Chicago in just three years. He later obtained an MSc in Sustainable Aquaculture from the University of St.Andrews while working full time as CEO of Gold Coin / SyAqua. With an insatiable curiosity,John constantly explores new technologies applied to food sustainability. He lives in Singapore with his wife and two young girls equally passionate about the ocean and its conservation.