Edoardo De Martin, former General Manager of Microsoft’s Vancouver HQ, is joining CubicFarms, a B.C. ag-tech company, as Chief Technology Officer. CubicFarms offers a selection of automated growing machines for fresh produce, nutritious livestock feed, and efficient high-volume plant propagation.

After nearly a decade with Microsoft, De Martin announced on Friday (Feb 29) that he was leaving the company. “The decision to leave a company you respect and work you truly enjoy is a tough one, but here I am,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “After close to ten years with Microsoft, today is my last. There’s the logistics of it, handing off projects, closing out emails, letting go of the threads that shape each day. But then you hit those last few hours, and everything gets quiet. There’s finally a moment to stop and think about where you’ve been.”

While at Microsoft, De Martin held multiple roles including Studio Manager, Head of Central Next Gen Experiences, and development lead for the groundbreaking Hololens. Before Microsoft, he worked at Next Level Games (recently acquired by Nintendo) for nearly 12 years. Previous to that, he was at EA and Black Box Games.

At CubicFarms, he’ll leverage two decades of experience in the technology industry spanning artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and software development to support CubicFarms’ growing technologies. CubicFarms’ fully automated technology empowers farmers to provide independent local food access, maximize crop yields, and reduce environmental costs.

Last December, CubicFarms raised $15 million in equity financing to fuel its global expansion. $5 million of the funding came from Harry DeWit, the CEO and president of Blue Sky Farms, and the remaining $10 million from an unnamed group.