Founder

After spending years knee-deep in a compost pile while studying at the University of Maine at Farmington, I decided to move to Portland, Maine to spread the composting-gospel. From there, I moved to Cambridge, MA to work for Agri-Cycle Energy, an anaerobic digestion company based off of a fifth generation dairy farm.

Throughout my (almost) decade-long career in the food waste world, I have worked with countless breweries to compost and anaerobically digest their spent grains, and every time I would think to myself “There has to be a better way”. I was right, there is a better way (and it’s here).

COMPLETELY UNRELATED LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS

♻ Rode a bicycle from Baltimore, MD to San Francisco, CA in 2014

♻ Once drove a 1996 Honda Civic to over 350,000 miles

♻ Helped represent Mexico City, Mexico at WUGC 2018

CONTACT

holden@againstthegrainne.com

Co-Founder

I moved to the US from Turkey in 2017 to continue my studies in Business Administration at SUNY New Paltz, and to take advantage of the many opportunities ahead of me. After graduating, I found myself in a data analyst position in one of the top consulting companies, but I knew there was more to life than staring at spreadsheets all day, trying to figure out which company would be most profitable in a few years.

Having been an environmentally friendly person my whole life, finding data-driven solutions to complex environmental problems is why I co-founded Against the Grain NE with Holden. I believe with Holden's expertise in the industry and my background of analytics we can provide you with diligent service at competitive price-points.

COMPLETELY UNRELATED LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS

♻ Ranked “Grand Champion” in Rocket League. (top 2% in the world)

♻ Knows three languages (Turkish, English, and French)

♻ 1000+ people voted for Yigit as the “Most Prospective Frisbee Player” in Turkey

CONTACT

yigit@againstthegrainne.com

Business Development

After graduating from Bard College with a major in mathematics I joined a small software startup in the Hudson Valley of New York. The subsequent 12 years saw immense growth of the company, many different customer-facing roles, and eventually a corporate buyout.

I’m excited to bring the lessons learned from the scaling tech-business world to ATG. Having spent more than a decade of working on intangible products there is something truly energizing about a company that has a clear material impact on the world!

COMPLETELY UNRELATED LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS

♻ I run a annual Maple Syrup project for my community garden in Somerville.

♻ I spent 5 years as CFO and board member of DiscNY, an ultimate frisbee non-profit in New York City.

♻ During Covid I got into cycling. In 2022 I rode from Buffalo to Brooklyn then across the entire state of Iowa in 2023.

CONTACT

travis@againstthegrainne.com