Regenerating Land & Revenue: Building Valora Earth's AI-Powered Agricultural Platform
founder
Tobin Fulton (learn more)
Sector
Agricultural Technology
Duration
4 months (Dec 2024 - Ongoing)
Services Provided
Branding, UI Kit, MVP UI/UX Design, Marketing Materials, Prototypes, Pitch Deck Design
Platform
Mobile-First Responsive Web
About Valora Earth
Valora Earth is an AI-powered platform that helps medium-sized landowners transform degraded agricultural land into profitable, regenerative ecosystems.
Early Traction & Milestones
Valora’s MVP launch is planned in two phases: a simple MVP (V1) launching to a test group in May 2025, followed by a full MVP (V2) in June/July 2025. The early focus is on validating user understanding, perceived value, and readiness to upgrade to paid tiers—setting the foundation for scalable user growth and paid marketing experiments by mid-2025.
Core user flows for onboarding, property setup, project management fully designed and dev-ready
Delivered a scalable design system to support future feature expansion and ongoing design phases
Designed marketing collateral and the investor pitch deck to support Valora’s go-to-market strategy
Completed a full UI audit of the developer build to ensure accurate deployment of the design vision.
The Opportunity
Valora Earth saw a gap for medium-sized landowners (5–500 hectares) in regions like Latin America, Africa, and Asia who struggle to improve degraded land. These landowners lacked tools to estimate revenue from regenerative practices or connect with funding and markets. Tobin set out to build an AI-powered platform that makes regenerative agriculture more accessible, with smart tools available in multiple languages.
The Goal
The MVP focused on building an AI tool that estimates potential revenue from regenerative practices and acts like a virtual expert. It tested whether AI could turn complex ecological ideas into simple, actionable steps, while also gauging user acquisition costs and setting the foundation for a model that improves with user feedback.
Unlike typical agricultural solutions that launch with complex feature sets, Valora Insights started with a focused revenue estimation tool. This approach allowed us to test fundamental hypotheses about user engagement and willingness to adopt digital tools before investing in more advanced features.
Building on large language models customized with regenerative agriculture expertise, we created a system that could deliver personalized recommendations without requiring extensive input from users. This balanced the need for accuracy with a streamlined user experience accessible to non-technical users.
By designing a modular product with clear upgrade paths, we established a foundation that could evolve from the initial free revenue estimation tool to a comprehensive paid SaaS offering. Each component was designed to stand alone while integrating seamlessly into the broader ecosystem.
The platform was designed from the ground up to support multiple languages, with an initial focus on English and Portuguese. The interface architecture separated content from presentation, enabling easy localization while maintaining consistent user experience across different markets.
About the Founder
Name: Tobin Fulton
Background: Founder and CEO of Valora Earth; 2x founding Product Manager; previous Fulbright Scholar
Why He Built Valora Earth: While at a Climate and Carbon Conference in São Paulo, Tobin identified a critical gap: most agricultural solutions targeted large landowners despite most land being held by small and medium-sized owners in emerging markets. He is building Valora Earth to democratize regenerative agriculture tools for these underserved landowners.
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Led all product aspects, creating comprehensive PRDs and documentation that clearly defined goals and expectations.
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Managed an international, remote development team of 3, and collaborated with growth, and product design specialists (me!).
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Conducted user research and tests with early adopters and field collaborators to validate product direction
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End-to-end product design for mobile + desktop web MVP including prototypes for testing.
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Branding development from initial concepts and creation of a scalable design system.
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Design of additional collateral including email templates, Zendesk and Stripe templates, pitch deck, LinkedIn banner, and flyers.
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Leveraging AI to generate a unique, brand-consistent illustration library for use throughout the product
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Ongoing collaboration for future product phases and roadmap.
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Weekly video check-ins to review progress and define next steps.
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Async feedback and alignment over Slack.
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Organized task management through Trello boards.
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Maintained the PRD as the central documentation hub for all product decisions.
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“Sim has been instrumental in helping me bring Valora's company and product vision to life. She is really skilled in helping to put “pen to paper” and has improved on so many of my ideas. Sim is also very collaborative and easy to work with. I would recommend her to any founder looking to build their MVP!”
- Tobin Fulton, Founder and CEO
Process Overview
Each startup I work with has a unique pace and set of needs. Here’s how the process unfolded with Valora Earth:
📍Month 1
Discovery & Foundation
We reviewed the PRD in detail, defined user personas, and developed a comprehensive brand system with logo variations, typography, and color guidelines.
📍Month 2
Core Experience Design
Created mobile-first designs for key features like land use comparison tools, cash flow visualizations, and the AI chatbot. Built interactive prototypes for user testing.
📍Month 3
Ecosystem Expansion
After finalizing mobile designs, I developed desktop versions and designed integrations for support, payment, and email systems while helping prioritize features to meet development timelines.
📍Month 4
Handoff & Launch Prep
Conducted thorough build audits to ensure accurate implementation, prepared marketing assets for launch, and began planning for future product phases.
User Personas
Profile
Child of landowners, 25 hectare family farm in Brazil.
Current Situation
Recently returned to manage degraded family land.
Primary Goal
Modernize practices while increasing profitability.
Key Challenge
Balancing traditional methods with new approaches.
Motivation
Prove sustainable farming can be more profitable.
Success Metrics
Double farm revenue within 5 years.
"My parents worked this land for decades. I want to honor their legacy while bringing in modern, regenerative methods."
UI Kit
The design system combines earthy colors with flexible components that work well on any device. The text is easy to read even in bright outdoor conditions, and we used AI to create friendly illustrations that help explain farming concepts visually. This friendly, consistent look makes the app feel approachable while helping users understand complex land management options.
Final Designs Showcase
The final UI balances simplicity with functionality through a nature-inspired color palette and intuitive navigation.
