Maryna Kuzmenko

About

LinkedIn says that in this part I can write about myself. Finally, I can tell you the brutal truth about being a female founder of my own agritech business :) So, let’s start… - After I revealed that I wouldn’t return to my previous profession: “You’re measuring what? Leaves? But why would anyone need to measure plant leaves?” My friends from law school were clearly puzzled by my choice - After 9 months of headaches, the UK Global Talent Visa was finally secured. “It’s quite a long way for one day — from a Pryluky (middle of nowhere in Ukraine) to Heathrow Airport in London. How did you do it?” “Oh, don’t worry. I just woke up early, before sunrise. If you have a goal, time doesn’t work against you — it helps you” - After launching the first version of the Petiole Pro app: “Do you see that people from other countries are downloading our app? Wow, I thought it was only a problem in Ukraine. Wait, did you say someone from Stanford University is using our app??? (Dear Christopher Anderson, if you’re reading this — thank you for believing in Petiole back in 2016 🙂)” - After the 1st Innovate UK grant was awarded: “How can we detect something inside a fruit?” I asked my co-founder Andrii. “You can’t” he replied. “But computer vision + deep learning can!” Said — done. After this project, if I see chilli peppers, I always say in Kenyan way to them: “Jambo!” - “I’ve decided to write a newsletter. I’ll call it ‘AI in Agriculture” My friend said: “That’s too broad — you need something more niche...” Me in July 2026 — celebrating 15K readers 😘 - “I saw this Women in Innovation program & thought of you,” my mentor wrote. Yes, I applied. But I failed. It was probably the millionth failure in my life. So, as always, I kept going... - After the 2nd Innovate UK grant came through: “What’s better than data collection in an apple orchard in Wales, on a cold grey day in December?” Only one thing: a new dataset collected & made public — focused on apple scab & apple canker. - “I want to launch a free online course. There is an obvious gap. A big one. People deserve a place to start their journey into AI in agriculture" “But why free? You can earn some money” “Yes, maybe... As of now, let's call it global volunteering :). It's for karma” - "We’ve been cited in Nature: Scientific Reports — plus two research papers from Japanese researchers. So current count as of July 2026: 120 citations" "But did you finished the public portal with all citations, Maryna?" Shame on me - not yet! But this means - at least one more good news is on the way :) Just scroll down!