2019 AgLaunch KEC Bootcamp Cohort

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (July 9, 2019) — Four innovative startups have been selected to participate in the AgLaunch and Knoxville Entrepreneur Center agtech bootcamp this week being held on the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture campus in Knoxville. This is the first of two bootcamps AgLaunch will host as part of its Small Business Administration’s Regional Innovation Cluster Award. These teams represent innovations in the food and agriculture sector demonstrating next-generation approaches to creating sustainable farming systems of the future.

“We are proud to partner with AgLaunch and KEC on this event expanding UTIA’s role in providing interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial approaches to solving agriculture’s biggest problems through supporting the creation of new Tennessee companies,” said Dr. Tim Cross, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.

Participating teams will have access to world-class mentors, entrepreneurial support, and most importantly, farmers and industry leaders. This year’s cohort of teams include:

• Better Nature
  The philosophy of Better Nature is to increase sustainability of urban and agricultural habitats through utilization of integrated pest management, basic ecological phenomena, and a suite of microbes that love and live with plants.

• Foresight Chemistry
  Foresight Chemistry is currently developing a scalable approach to produce lectins and glycans from natural feedstocks to unlock the potential of targeting proteins toward creating biological-based agricultural inputs.

• Sustainable Fermentation Systems
  A patent-pending device and process involving the recycling of fermentation off-gas for greenhouse CO2 enrichment, resulting in increased crop yields and productivity.

• Plow & Barrow
  Plow & Barrow is a plant-based agrarian life and wellness company that provides ready-to-go plant-based meals, experiences and services to offer a holistic approach to human health.

This is the second year that KEC, UTIA, and AgLaunch have partnered to host this intensive bootcamp. Building off of the recent Small Business Administration’s Regional Innovation Cluster Award announcement, AgLaunch sees this continued work with KEC and UTIA as vital to support early-stage companies in the Mid-South region. This year’s itinerary includes one-on-one counseling with entrepreneur experts, alumni teams, and companies involved in emerging markets and crops.

“This cohort is unified around the concept of creating a full life-cycle in agriculture from soil health to human health, capturing emissions, and growing healthier plants,” said Pete Nelson, Executive Director of AgLaunch.

“The partnership with AgLaunch allows KEC to offer a world-class program to serve a crucial industry to the development of rural and urban Tennessee,” said Jim Biggs, Executive Director, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center.

The general public is invited to participate in the bootcamp by meeting the teams, learning more about AgLaunch, KEC, and UTIA, and networking with other agtech experts at the following event:

Bootcamp Keynote Luncheon
Friday, July 12, 2019 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
UT Institute of Agriculture, 2506 River Dr., 136 Brehm Animal Science Building
RSVP HERE

After seven days of hard work, the AgLaunch Bootcamp startups will have the opportunity to demo their progress to a public audience. The luncheon will feature a keynote address by Karen LeVert, co-founder & CEO of Ag TechInventures (AgTI).

For more information, contact Schuyler Dalton at sdalton@aglaunch.com.

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About AgLaunch
AgLaunch is revolutionizing the way that innovations in agriculture and food are brought to market by bridging the present and future to grow a more diverse and sustainable farm economy and provide healthy food for all. AgLaunch leverages its distributed network of farm incubators, entrepreneurial farmers, aligned capital partners, research consortia, technical consulting, and best-in-class accelerator programming to effectively challenge the status quo and thoughtfully create value for farmers and the communities they serve. The AgLaunch vision is a transformed regional agriculture and food economy centered around farmers, innovation, and prosperity.

About Knoxville Entrepreneurship Center

Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is a business accelerator located in Market Square that serves as the front door for entrepreneurs in our region, and a resource for anyone looking to start or grow a business here. By nurturing and supporting a culture of entrepreneurship, we are fostering innovation, creativity and job growth within our community. KEC is a place for networking, education and teaching others what we’ve learned. We are a mentor-driven business accelerator, a shared workspace and a source of mediocre coffee. As a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, KEC is funded through sponsorships, partnerships, grants and membership fees. In addition to support from the City of Knoxville and the State of Tennessee, KEC relies on the generous contributions of leading East Tennessee corporations, successful entrepreneurs and those who have a vested interest in the success of new businesses in our region.

Applications Due June 28

Mid-South Delta Region Designated as Regional Innovation Cluster Focused on AgTech and Value-Chain Businesses

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (April 16, 2019) — AgLaunch Initiative (AgLaunch) has been named one of seven new Small Business Administration’s Regional Innovation Clusters, a program built to strengthen opportunities for small businesses within a region focused on a specific industry vertical. AgLaunch will be leading the Mid-South Delta Agriculture Innovation Cluster (“Delta Ag Cluster”), the first SBA cluster to be focused on agtech and value-chain companies that is centered around a major farming region.

“Tennessee has a proud agricultural tradition, and as a fellow farmer, I am pleased to support partnerships like AgLaunch that ensure future generations have a place in ag,” said Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. “Thanks to AgLaunch, we’re able to further support two critical missions in our state: agriculture and small business.”

AgLaunch, based in Memphis, Tenn., will be expanding its Farm-Centric Innovation Model, an original approach to growing, supporting, and creating agriculture businesses, attracting investment capital, and enabling farmers to participate in the innovation process. The cluster’s strategy is focused on creating and scaling rural small businesses that will support the next generation of farming capabilities needed to connect urban food processing opportunities and emerging consumer trends.

“This is a great opportunity for our region to further elevate the vision of making the Mid-South the best place in the United States to create the farms of the future and supply the products that consumers are demanding,” said Pete Nelson, Executive Director of AgLaunch. “The partnership with SBA and USDA will allow us to further expand the Farm-Centric Innovation Model to more farmers, incubate more businesses, and ensure that there is adequate capital and technical support to grow the amazing food and agriculture opportunities.”

The Delta Ag Cluster is a 98-county, five-state region comprised of primarily rural counties in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. AgLaunch will be leading regional activities with key partners and stakeholders including cohort-based programming, business acceleration, commercialization assistance, mentorship, access to capital, market development, and other business services.

“We are so proud to see AgLaunch recognized for providing ag tech businesses the opportunity to thrive,” Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, D.V.M said. “Agricultural economic development is one of the primary goals of the Department of Agriculture and of Governor Lee. This award and expansion amplifies Tennessee and the Mid-South as the epicenter for advancements in the ag industry.”

The geographically large cluster provides ample production acreage and resources such as university experiment stations, processing and storage infrastructure, and transportation capabilities needed to incubate, commercialize, and support agtech innovations and companies. Funding for the cluster will consist of a base year and $500,000, with four additional option years, and requires partnerships with and between business and industry groups, academic institutions, economic development organizations, entrepreneurial education programs, and training initiatives.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have the support of Governor Lee, Commissioner Hatcher at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, and Jim Tracy at USDA Rural Development. Without partners like these, the work we do would not be possible,” said Nelson.

AgLaunch has already begun assembling and convening a regional steering committee and planning cluster events. For more information, contact Rebecca Kaufman at rkaufman@aglaunch.com.

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About AgLaunch
AgLaunch is revolutionizing the way that innovations in agriculture and food are brought to market by bridging the present and future to grow a more diverse and sustainable farm economy and provide healthy food for all. AgLaunch leverages its distributed network of farm incubators, entrepreneurial farmers, aligned capital partners, research consortia, technical consulting, and best-in-class accelerator programming to effectively challenge the status quo and thoughtfully create value for farmers and the communities they serve. The AgLaunch vision is a transformed regional agriculture and food economy centered around farmers, innovation, and prosperity.

AgLaunch Executive Director Highlights Farm-Centric Innovation Model at Ag Ventures Alliance Annual Meeting

MASON CITY, IA. (March 21, 2019) — Pete Nelson, Executive Director of AgLaunch Initiative (AgLaunch) is presenting the keynote address to the Ag Ventures Alliance (AgVA) Annual Membership Meeting today. The presentation will highlight AgLaunch’s Farm-Centric Innovation Model, a unique approach to building agtech companies in which farmers incubate new agtech and value-added companies in exchange for equity in the new enterprises. AgVA and AgLaunch have recently signed an MOU to co-invest in new early-stage companies, as well as to create new opportunities for farmers to participate in the innovation value-chain.

“AgLaunch is honored to address AgVA’s farmers about how to pool their resources into jumpstarting the agtech industry and next generation of value-added processing. AgVA’s history of farmer-led innovation and investment in new technologies is a natural extension of AgLaunch’s Farm-Centric Innovation Model,” said Nelson. “Expanding our farmer network beyond the Mid-South Delta region allows AgLaunch to build on its current work and gives startup companies additional opportunities to test and develop their products.”

AgLaunch and AgVA are committed to establishing a network of farmers to incubate new technologies that includes pilot trials, farmer feedback and guidance, as well as providing startup capital.

“We are pleased to have AgLaunch at our annual meeting to further advance the collaboration between the two organizations,” said Jude Conway, Executive Director of Ag Ventures Alliance. “Investing in the future of agriculture with AgLaunch is adding tremendous value to our farmer-members and provides a new collaborative opportunity for startups we are investing in.”

Currently, the two organizations are jointly supporting startup companies like Agrisync, SwineTech, Shepherd, Soil Nerd, and Rantizo through direct investments, farm-scale trials, and business support. Additionally, AgLaunch and AgVA also support value-added enterprises related to new crops, new market opportunities, and processing.

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About AgLaunch
AgLaunch is revolutionizing the way that innovations in agriculture and food are brought to market by bridging the present and future to grow a more diverse and sustainable farm economy and provide healthy food for all. AgLaunch leverages its distributed network of farm incubators, entrepreneurial farmers, aligned capital partners, research consortia, technical consulting, and best-in-class accelerator programming to effectively challenge the status quo and thoughtfully create value for farmers and the communities they serve. The AgLaunch vision is a transformed regional agriculture and food economy centered around farmers, innovation, and prosperity.

About Ag Ventures Alliance
Ag Ventures Alliance is a business development organization for value-added agricultural ventures. It was formed by a group of farmers and agriculture related individuals in northern Iowa to increase the incomes of farmers and other rural residents by participating in agriculture related businesses beyond the farm gate.As farmers and agriculture related individuals, the members of Ag Ventures Alliance are taking control of their economic future by participating in value-added agriculture businesses.They will accomplish this by creating new value-added agriculture businesses and helping existing value-added businesses expand.

Mark Johnson, founder and CEO of Newton RFID, giving his final pitch presentation at the 2018 bootcamp held in Knoxville, Tenn.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (March 4, 2019) — AgLaunch and the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center are again partnering for a week-long agri-tech bootcamp to support Tennessee agriculture startup teams. The bootcamp will be held on the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture campus in Knoxville from July 8-12, 2019. Teams accepted into the program will experience best-in-class agricultural entrepreneurship programming and have access to investors, mentors, and farmers.

• Small startup companies operating in the agricultural sector;
• Existing companies that are creating new innovations or product lines; and
• Student or faculty teams that are developing new innovations in agriculture.

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The World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit partnered with acceleration fund Radicle Growth on the second annual Radicle Challenge taking place at the upcoming World Agri-Tech Pitch Day on March 18 in San Francisco. Today, eight startups from around the world have been announced as the finalists to compete in the Pitch Day competition: US-basedAgrospheres, Aromyx, Napigen, Traive, Brazil-based AgTrace, Australia-based EscaVox, Turkey-based Tarfin and Kenya-based Tulaa. All eight finalists will benefit from pre-pitch coaching ahead of the summit from Radicle Growth, who will invest $250k in the Pitch Day winner.

Hundreds of seed-stage startups representing diverse technology offerings for the agtech and foodtech sectors applied to participate in the Pitch Day. A panel of judges, including Radicle’s Kirk Haney, Arama Kukutai (Finistere Ventures), Geoff Kneen (Bayer, Crop Science), Mai Komatsu (Corteva AgriScience) and Adrian Percy (Independent Advisor), evaluated the submissions and selected the finalists. The Pitch Day winner will be announced on the first day of the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit (March 19) and will present within the start-up Technology Showcase on March 20 to over 1,200 global agribusinesses and investors, unlocking powerful opportunities for growth.

Commenting on the entries, Kirk Haney, Managing Partner of Radicle Growth, said: “Once again, we saw a fantastic response for participation in the Pitch Day competition, with hundreds of entries from innovators around the world. Now is an exciting time for agtech innovators and investors, and we’re delighted to support their route to market with this platform to showcase their solutions and to benefit from our $250k investment and mentoring. We look forward to the presentations and to working with the selected winner.”

The eight finalists:

Agrospheres (US) has developed a platform technology for encapsulation of biomolecules and synthetic chemicals. It is developing biological-based crop protection products for the control of thrips and fungi, also working with partners to improve the delivery and efficacy of pesticides and the delivery of double-stranded RNA.

AgTrace (Brazil) is a traceability solution that ensures transparency and information reliability, reducing response time to issues within the food value chain. Based on deep knowledge of farming processes and advanced IoT and blockchain technologies, AgTrace guarantees information security about agriculture processes, using sensors and equipment to register information from inside and outside the farm.

Aromyx (US) enables the creation of quantitative digital representations of taste and smell, by isolating natural human olfactory receptors and converting them to a standardized diagnostic format.  Its olfactory database provides a basis for machine learning to analyze flavors and fragrances, offering revolutionary precise quality control diagnostics to compare crops from different locations or production times, and to resolve issues of off-flavors or contaminant.

EscaVox (Australia) has the ambition to help transform the food supply chains to allow better decisions to be made, allowing waste to be reduced and food safety increased. It uses cleverly designed software to import and connect various data sets, then analyses and identifies problem areas. It combines this with tracking data to give the full end to end impact on the product – the ‘voice’ of the product.

Napigen (US) offers mitochondrial CRISPR genome editing, with the goal to create a new platform for hybrid wheat seed production by providing elite male sterile and restoration lines that are uniquely produced by our genome editing tools, introducing robust, non-GMO, male sterile and restoration lines.  The hybrid wheat platform will stack valuable traits such as herbicide tolerance and biotic/abiotic stress tolerance without losing their value by undesirable self-propagation.

Tarfin (Turkey) provides farmers with instant, competitive point-of-sale credit terms for their farm inputs purchases. Using proprietary algorithms and an expansive retail network, Tarfin’s machine-learning-based credit algorithms instantly assess a farmer’s likelihood of repayment. Transactional as well as farm level data are taken into account, helping the company convert more leads into sales.

Traive (US) is an ag-fintech solution that unlocks credit to farmers by connecting them to lenders and providing ML-based credit risk assessment and monitoring. Traive brings farmers state-of-the-art technology to offer a novel and fair credit risk assessment, opening the door for affordable funding for their businesses. For lenders, Traive provides a differentiated analysis applied over alternative farming and individual data, while allowing access to a much larger and diversified portfolio of borrowers.

Tulaa (Kenya) is a marketplace for smallholder farmers in Africa to access inputs, credit, training and buyers. Using mobile technology and artificial intelligence, Tulaa enables farmers to buy inputs like fertilizer on credit, receive training on good agricultural practices, and to find buyers at harvest time.

For more information on the challenge, finalists and the summit please visit: https://worldagritechusa.com/radicle-challenge/

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World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit:
www.worldagritechusa.com

The World Agri-Tech Innovation Series gathers the industry twice a year in London and San Francisco. Taking place March 19-20, 2019 at the Hilton Union Square in the heart of San Francisco’s business district, the 5th US edition of the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit welcomes 1200+ agribusinesses, entrepreneurs and investors to a two-day conference, networking events, workshops, tours and cocktail receptions. The event is complemented by the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit (March 18) and Future Food-Tech Summit (March 21-22) at the same venue, together making Rethink Agri-Food Innovation Week (RAFI Week).

Radicle Growth:
www.radicle.vc

The Radicle Growth acceleration fund focuses on the areas of Digital Agriculture, Biologicals, New Farm Systems and Seed Technology. Its goal is to transform the speed of innovation in agriculture by ensuring seed stage companies have the right amount of capital and resources, supporting their growth through expert advisory services and introductions to partners, VCs and investors.

Rethink Events
www.rethinkevents.com

UK-based Rethink Events organizes international, world-renowned business summits for entrepreneurs, businesses and global investors in sustainable food, agriculture, energy and water.

Further contact:
Tate Slyfield, Marketing & PR Executive, Rethink Events  tate.slyfield@rethinkevents.com
Rebecca Lincoln, Business Analyst, Radicle Growth              rlincoln@radicle.vc

• Our partner Ag Ventures Alliance has invited me to speak on March 21 at their Annual Meeting in Mason City, IA on farm-centric innovation and ways we can expand our collaboration between Tennessee and Iowa.
• We will participate as a panelist and speaker at the New Uses Forum 2019: Accelerating Ag Innovation and Investment in St. Louis Park, Minnesota on March 27-28 coordinated by Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, Georgetown’s Rural Opportunity Initiative, and Compeer.

Michael Ott, founder of Rantizo, won the Ag Tech Innovation Showcase at the Iowa Power Farming Show coordinated by Farm Credit Services of America in Des Moines, IA. Working with our partners in the midwest is improving access of Tennessee farmers to the latest technologies such as Rantizo which is addressing spray drift and herbicide resistant weeds, while mobilizing more investment capital for farmer-centric innovation.

Spencer Stensrude with Ag Ventures Alliance addresses the Farmer Network at the Winter Meeting.

Dr. Bruce Kirksey from Agricenter International works with AgLaunch365 Phase II teams on designing effective field trials.

AgLaunch Executive Director Pete Nelson and newly-appointed Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Dr. Charlie Hatcher at the Tennessee Cattleman’s Association Annual Meeting in Murfreesboro, TN.

Mark Keenum, Ph.D., President of Mississippi State University and current Chair of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research Board welcomes attendees to the evening session on ecosystem markets at the Foster the Future event in Washington, D.C.

• New and stronger partnerships in St. Louis, North Carolina, and Iowa that share best practices and create mutually-beneficial deal flow;
• A growing portfolio that includes an additional 14 agtech startup companies and other value-added producer projects, including grain sorghum and malt barley;
• Successful deployment of pilot projects with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture through its cost-share programs that allows farmers to incubate startup companies’ technologies, allows farmers to become early investors, and creates model farmsthat demonstrate best practices and new technologies;
• Continued expansion of the AgLaunch Farmer Network that represents more than 100,000 acres of a diverse group of crops and livestock; and
• Grew our partnership with Farm Journal Media, the country’s leading agricultural media company, to increase our national media presence and participation at the AgTech Expo for AgLaunch startups, as well as build new regional innovation partners.

• Expanding our regional farm-centric innovation model with new cross-state partnerships that put farmers at the foundation of growing new agtech companies and exploring value-added opportunities;
• Recruiting more capital through increased alignment with the RBIC and Farm Credit system to help companies grow from idea to the farmer’s field;
• Focusing on programs to help small farmers participate in value-added enterprises and embrace technology in new ways;
• Partnering with schools and youth organizations to develop the next generation of farmers and ag entrepreneurs; and
• Sharing data and testing protocols across the Farmer Network row-crop acres, livestock, and specialty crop operations to support startups and investors at a higher level.

Friends,

In the News
Read what others are saying about us, our teams, and our partners!

PORTFOLIO COMPANY: It’s the Little Things in Life that Count, July 12, 2018

PORTFOLIO COMPANY: GroGuru Conducts First Row Crop Field Trials on Its Precision Irrigation Monitoring Technology with AgLaunch Farm Network, August 16, 2018

AGLAUNCH: Future of Agriculture, Episode 117: Bridging the Gap Between AgTech Entrepreneurs and Farmers with Pete Nelson, September 5, 2018

PARTNER: The Seam Eyes Growth With New Personnel, Technologies, September 8, 2018

PARTNER: Growers Overcomes Challenge of Big Data in Agriculture, Raises $5M to Expand, September 12, 2018

PORTFOLIO COMPANY: Future of Agriculture, Episode 118: Autonomous, Swarm-Enabled Tractors with Zack James of Rabbit Tractors, September 12, 2018

PARTNER: Local fund invests $4M in farming startups, has $27M left in seed money, September 17, 2018

PARTNER: Organic crops boosted by Memphis tech star, September 18, 2018

PARTNER: Tractor Zoom, a Farm Equipment Auction Marketplace, Completes $1 Million Seed Round, September 21, 2018

PORTFOLIO COMPANY: Drone Targets Weeds With Precision, September 24, 2018

PORTFOLIO COMPANY: CRANBERRY COUNTRY: The eye on cranberry bogs, October 3, 2018

PARTNER: Agricenter approaching 40th anniversary, planning for future, October 8, 2018

PORTFOLIO COMPANY: New entity providing X-ray vision for growers, October 9, 2018

Upcoming Events

October 10, 2018
Tennessee Agriculture Leadership Forum
Murfreesboro, TN

October 16, 2018
World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit
London, England

November 13-14, 2018
Agri Investor Chicago Forum 2018
Chicago, IL

November 15, 2018
Life Science Tennessee Conference
Nashville, TN

December 3-5, 2018
Farm Journal AgTech Expo
Indianapolis, IN