On this episode of Invested, Michael Eisenberg sits down with Saar Safra, CEO & Co-Founder of Beewise, for a fascinating and urgent conversation about the collapse of bee colonies, the future of food security, and why AI and robotics may be essential to keeping the world fed. Saar explains why bees are a critical input into global agriculture, how the 175-year-old wooden hive became a bottleneck for modern farming, and why Beewise built the BeeHome: a solar-powered robotic hive using computer vision, sensors, AI models, and real-time treatment to protect colonies in the field.
Drawing on Saar's background across P2P payments, ad tech, PropTech, Microsoft, and multiple exits, Michael and Saar unpack how a software entrepreneur ended up trying to save bees - and why pollination may be one of the most overlooked infrastructure problems in the global economy.
They discuss:
· Why bee colony collapse threatens the global food supply
· How pesticides, monoculture, disease, varroa mites, and climate stress are killing colonies
· How Beewise's AI beekeeper monitors bees and applies treatment automatically
· Why beekeepers see BeeHome as help, not replacement
· The hidden world of honey laundering and fake honey
· Why pollination is becoming a matter of national security
· How mission-driven technology can lower food costs and improve resilience
Saar is CEO & Co-Founder at Beewise and a seasoned entrepreneur. He started his career as a software developer; in 2001 he became CTO of Ad4Ever, which was acquired by aQuantive, where he served as GM & VP of Rich Media. In 2007, aQuantive was acquired by Microsoft, where Saar served as Director of Rich Media Solutions until 2008, when he left to found ActiveBuilding, a pioneer in PropTech. ActiveBuilding was acquired by RealPage in 2013. Across the five companies he founded or joined before Beewise, Saar has had three successful exits. He received his MBA from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.
If you want to understand how AI, robotics, agriculture, food security, biodiversity, and entrepreneurship intersect - and why saving bees could mean lowering the cost of fruits, vegetables, and coffee - this episode is essential listening.
Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts!
KEY TOPICS
00:00 - 45% of Bee Colonies Die
03:06 - From Microsoft to Bees
06:51 - How Humans Broke Pollination
17:31 - The 175-Year-Old Hive Problem
20:10 - Trucking 200 Million Bees
25:04 - Bee Collapse Threatens Food Supply
29:35 - Pesticides, Disease, and Monoculture
32:47 - The AI Beehive Revolution
33:50 - Large Biological Models for Bees
35:14 - AI Stops Pesticide Poisoning
43:14 - Bees Are National Security
49:04 - Is AI Replacing Beekeepers?
51:17 - No Organic Honey in America
53:49 - The Honey Laundering Scandal
59:12 - Building Through Two Wars
RESOURCES
Follow Saar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saars
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CREDITS
Executive Producer: Erica Marom
Producer: Sofi Levak, Myron Shneider, Dalit Merenfeld
Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic
Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar
Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg
Design: Nimrod Sapir
