About Us
Our Model
AgLaunch is a national platform of innovative farmers from diverse farming operations that crowdsources due diligence, shares data, coordinates field trials, and provides investment capital to support agtech startup companies from idea-to-scale. AgLaunch-affiliated farmers own a portion of the agtech companies we work with. This model promotes equitable ownership within the value chain and ensures the technologies we help develop directly benefit the farmers who use them.
AgLaunch’s platform bridges the gap between how we farm now and the way we will farm in the future. AgLaunch believes that the future of farming includes nutrient dense crops, carbon neutral farms, and more equitable ownership in the value chain.
Our Leadership
Pete Nelson
President
Rajah Brown
Vice President of Operations
Rebecca Kaufman
Vice President of Regional Innovation Clusters
Margaret Oldham
Vice President of Innovation
Our Team
Madison Austin
Director of Grants and Contracts
Fallon Bonk
Farm Innovation Specialist
Katie Ellis
Appalachian AgriFood Innovation Cluster Lead
Thomas Greenlee
Director of Farm Innovation
Paul Kennedy
Senior Farm Innovation Specialist
Sarah Kate Lee
Agriculture Innovation SBA Connector
Joy Leverette
Data Research Analyst
Alex Paraskevas
Northwest AgriFood Innovation Cluster Lead
Daija Patton
Innovation Programs Specialist
Brandi Rinks
Executive Coordinator
Sarah Varble, PhD
Director of Entrepreneurship
Tom Womack
Senior Advisor
Special Project Contributors
Tony Brannon, EdD
WAVE Ag Initiative
Jane Chadwell
Data Commons/OMC
Our Board
Marcus Coleman, Ph.D.
Professor of Practice, School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University
Fayre Crossley
Chief Grants and Compliance Officer, Epicenter Memphis
Corinne Gould
Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, Tennessee Department of Agriculture
Karen LeVert
CEO, Ag TechInventures (AgTI)
Arielle Moinester
Senior Program Director, Women’s Earth Alliance
Rhedona Rose
Executive Vice President, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation (retired)
