Atarraya Inc., creator of Shrimpbox, the first sustainable ‘plug-and-play’ shrimp farming technology, announced plans today to establish its first U.S. sustainable shrimp production operation in central Indiana, creating up to 65 new jobs by the end of 2025.
“We’re inspired by the cutting-edge technology Atarraya has created to advance shrimp cultivation, and I am ecstatic to see these entrepreneurs and innovators choose Indiana to locate and scale their business,” said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers. “Indiana is the ideal location for agtech companies like Atarraya to continue developing innovative solutions while providing consumers with a sustainable food source.”
Headquartered in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, Atarraya plans to invest up to $4.8 million to locate the company’s first U.S. container-based shrimp farming operation at 2075 S. Belmont Ave. in Indianapolis. The first farm will include approximately 20 Shrimpboxes and will advance the company’s goal of making shrimp the most sustainable and accessible source of animal protein globally. The central Indiana operation will enable Atarraya to expand into the U.S. market and advance the company’s goal of making shrimp the most sustainable, accessible and nutritious source of animal protein in the world.
“We’ve spent the past decade developing the technology that will empower the future of aquaculture and realized that in order to unleash its true potential to feed the world, aquaculture must be local,” said Daniel Russek, CEO and founder of Attaraya. “We are excited to start in the U.S. agriculture capital of Indiana, which we believe will rapidly become the nation’s agtech capital.”
The company, which currently employs 87 team members across Oaxaca, Campeche, Mexico City and Indiana, is currently hiring in Indianapolis for engineers, operators and biologists. Interested applicants may apply via email.
Housed in traditional cargo containers, Atarraya’s AI-powered Shrimpbox shrimp farming technology provides a sustainable, globally scalable protein source that creates new opportunities for farmers – even in landlocked, urban locations. Shrimp is expected to be a nearly $23 billion global market by 2026. Atarraya’s Shrimpbox uses biotechnology, artificial intelligence and automation, and allows shrimp to be farmed locally, anywhere in the world.
The Shrimpbox automatic feeding system reduces labor hours and improves the growth scheme by dispensing the precise amount of feed needed at optimal times to avoid waste. Unlike traditional shrimp farming, Shrimpbox operates with zero water pollution, eliminates the need for antibiotics or chemicals and produces fresh, healthy shrimp anywhere.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) partners with industry organizations like AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative dedicated to promoting and accelerating the growth of the agbiosciences economy, to target business recruitment in high-skilled, high-growth sectors. AgriNovus works to cultivate business within the agbioscience industry, helping recruit organizations like Atarraya to expand or locate in Indiana.
“Atarraya’s Shrimpbox unites the power of technology, science and sustainable food production to bring new choices to the U.S. market,” said Mitch Frazier, CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. “Indiana’s $52 billion agbioscience economy, coupled with our strength in technology, make Indiana a destination of choice for global innovators like Atarraya as we build the economy of the future.”
Atarraya presented Shrimpbox at the 2022 Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America in Boston earlier this year – the only company of 800 to exhibit an actual production facility inside the exhibition.
Based on the company’s job creation plans, the IEDC committed an investment of up to $1 million in Atarraya through incentive-based tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants. The tax credits are performance-based, meaning Atarraya is eligible to claim incentives once Indiana residents are hired and trained. The city of Indianapolis supports the project.
“Indianapolis is the perfect location for a global firm looking to set up their headquarters at the crossroads of advanced tech and agriculture,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett. “In addition, Atarraya’s emphasis on a more sustainable approach to farming—reducing water and potentially harmful chemicals—aligns with our vision for a greener, cleaner future.”
Elevate Ventures today announced that five Indiana startups have been awarded a total of $320,000 in pre-seed and seed funding in the third annual Elevate Nexus Statewide Pitch Competition.
Applications were open to companies that had won a Nexus competition at the regional level, with the top 16 pitching during the statewide competition on Aug. 5.
“It was an honor to judge this year’s competition. I am impressed with the range and depth of innovative companies we have throughout the state,” said Christopher Day, CEO of Elevate Ventures. “It is exciting to see so many great entrepreneurs across Indiana building our next generation of companies that will have an impact both nationally and globally.”
Three of the five winning companies received pre-seed funding and the other two, seed funding:
Pre-Seed ($40,000 investment)
Adapta Education, South Bend: Provides an advanced testing platform, powered by artificial intelligence, to help teachers personalize education.
NanoBio Designs, Indianapolis: Provides a novel detection platform to verify the presence of targeted genetic markers in samples.
Paradise Spreads, Schererville: A plant-based food company that makes sweet spreads and snacks made from plant proteins like peas, sweet potato and brown rice.
Seed ($100,000 investment)
Leaftech Ag, Wilkinson: Offers a handheld digital lab that geolocates and analyzes a plant’s leaf for nutrient composition.
Quantum Research Sciences, Lafayette: Solves complex industrial problems that require quantum computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning expertise.
“Elevate Ventures played an important role in NanoBio Designs’ relocation to Indiana and our ability to connect with the entrepreneurial community here,” said COO Ryan Skaar. “We are excited to use the funds to accelerate the validation of our rapid, on-site genetic detection technology for the harvested grain industry.”
Elevate Nexus is funded by a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund (21 Fund). Several grant and investment programs managed by Elevate Ventures, including Elevate Nexus, are supported by the 21 Fund under the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
Traction Ag Inc., the first cloud-based farm management software that delivers financial solutions to growers across the midwest, today announced it has raised $3 million in Seed funding. The company will use this investment to bring added functionality and value to its integrated farm accounting and operations application.
The funding round includes participation from Hageman Group, Allos Ventures and Elevate Ventures. In addition, Don Aquilano, co-founder and managing director of Allos Ventures, and Shane Hageman, president of Hageman Investments, will join the Traction Ag Board of Directors. The investment and expansion of the board further enhances Traction Ag’s team, with the company solidifying a renewed commitment to independence and focus on customers/stakeholders.
“The agriculture industry is in the midst of a significant shift in demographics,” said Ian Harley, co-founder and CEO of Traction Ag Inc. “The new generation of farm management wants to be on the cutting-edge of production, and that requires access to real-time farm financial analysis. As the only farm accounting and management solution uniquely built for the cloud, we look forward to providing continued support to growers navigating the new digital ecosystem.”
Traction Ag delivers the most extensive suite of farm-specific accounting capabilities in a cloud application, including accounting, operations and a fully digital payroll that automatically files and pays the grower’s Federal and State payroll taxes.
“Farmers need an easy-to-use system that connects field operations to farm accounting to see accurate field, crop, and total farm profitability. 60% of farmers are using accounting systems that aren’t agriculture specific or disconnected from field operations, therefore missing these valuable farm management insights,” said Shane Hageman, president of Hageman Group. “Traction Ag automates data collection to save time, improve accuracy, and equip farmers with financial tools to improve their decision making and peace of mind.”
“We view Traction Ag’s farm accounting solution as a long-term investment for a generational change in agriculture,” said Don Aquilano, co-founder and managing partner at Allos Ventures. “As an employee- and farmer-owned company, Traction Ag is the only fully integrated, farm-specific solution serving the needs of today’s generation of progressive growers.”
Traction Ag will use this round of funding to rapidly expand its platform’s capabilities. Its customer success team will also expand to continue to provide excellent service, which remains an important pillar of the company’s overall solution.
To learn more about Traction Ag, please visit tractionag.com.
Purdue University students competed earlier this year with one objective: who can create the best innovation using soybeans? The answer: Team Smulch. This week, we are joined by Zuhal Cakir, Libby Plassard and Ethan Miller, the founders of Smulch, to talk about their innovation, sizing up the competition and what’s next for these young entrepreneurs.
Taranis recently announced a $40M Series D fundraise to fuel growth, focus on global expansion and invest in new technologies. This week, we are joined by Mike DiPaola and Opher Flohr, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Financial and Operations Officer, for a bonus episode to talk about the news, agtech’s evolution and what’s next for Taranis.
Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance serve producers across the state, including value creation and innovation for their operations. This week we are joined by Ben Forsythe, Sustainability and Value Creation Director for the organization, to talk about AgriNovus’ newly announced Producer-Led Innovation Challenge.
The Producer-Led Innovation Challenge tasks innovators with optimizing existing on-farm data to create a farmer-focused platform that will increase data accuracy and reliability to impact speed and cost of capital from lenders..
The winning team receives $25K to help commercialize their solution. Are you ready to take on this year’s Challenge? Register your team for our accelerator program and the opportunity to pitch your solution in November! Learn more at agrinovusindiana.com/producer.
New funding will further fuel Taranis’ growth, global expansion, and investment in technologies to make the agri-carbon market a reality for growers
Taranis, the leading AI-powered crop intelligence provider, announced today that it has raised $40 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Inven Capital, a European climate tech fund, with participation from new investors Seraphim Space Investment Trust (‘SSIT’) and Farglory Group, and strong backing from existing investors: Vertex Growth, Viola Ventures, Vertex Ventures Israel, La Maison Partners, Hitachi Ventures, K3 Ventures, UMC Capital, OurCrowd, Micron Ventures, iAngels Ventures, Presidio Ventures (Sumitomo), Cavallo Ventures (Wilbur Ellis), Finistere Ventures, and Eyal Gura. This latest round brings Taranis’ total funding to $100 million.
“We see a tremendous need for crop intelligence at scale as growers deal with soaring costs and a constant need to increase productivity and yield,” said Ofir Schlam, Taranis’ President & Co-Founder. “Over 100 agricultural retailers and advisors are sharing our journey as innovation partners. They rely on Taranis as the critical source of insights into crop health and threats across millions of acres, to drive better outcomes for their growers.”
Taranis’ crop intelligence platform uniquely leverages leaf-level imagery and is powered by cutting-edge machine learning, trained by the industry’s largest crop dataset containing over 200 million AI-data points. In the most recent growing season, Taranis delivered millions of actionable insights to ag advisors and growers, empowering decision making, simplifying crop management, and improving their bottom line.
Petra Sokolová, Investment Manager at Inven Capital, said: “Inven Capital is delighted to lead this important investment round. Agritech innovations are critical in advancing sustainable agriculture, making the most efficient use of our Earth’s resources, and securing the future of farming. Technologies that facilitate crop intelligence and agricultural carbon credits such as Taranis’ solutions have large-scale potential to improve sustainability and enduring prosperity. We are excited about the impact they will have in the local communities they serve, and to support them in their mission.”
“Responsibly increasing global food supply is a critical challenge we face today. We have been following the Agritech market for quite some time as we see the value of using Earth observation data to optimize crop yields,” said Andre Ronsoehr, Investment Principal at Seraphim Space Manager. “When we discovered Taranis, they immediately stood out to us, given their sub-millimeter imaging capabilities. These images unlock early detection of nutrient deficiencies and diseases which is the key to improving crop yields.”
“I’m excited about our growth trajectory,” said Bar Veinstein, Taranis’ CEO. ”The new funding will allow us to accelerate our 3-year plan, rapidly expand our operations, and deliver transformative technology to the market faster. We are delighted to welcome our new investors and continue to be grateful to our existing investors for their support.”
The Indiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) recognized five small businesses from across the state for completing the Export Indiana Accelerator Program (EIAP). The EIAP is a free, 12-week, annual program offering Hoosier small businesses professional export guidance and leading research resources to create an executable, proactive export business plan.
“I’m always excited to see what the participants of the EIAP have planned for the next stage of their business,” said David Watkins, Indiana SBDC state director and Indiana Economic Development Corporation vice president of small business. “The five businesses that completed the 2022 program have bright futures ahead. Our goal is to support them as they forge new international connections with their products.”
The program, which is available to new and existing exporters, connects companies with Indiana SBDC export-certified advisers who offer services such as business management training, foreign market research, tax, tariff and regulatory compliance in addition to application assistance for the Indiana State Trade and Export Promotion (IN-STEP) program. For more information on the Export Indiana Accelerator Program, visit isbdc.org/eiap.
This year’s awardees include:
ChefsFridge Co., a startup with locations in Anderson and Fishers, which combines aerospace and defense industry expertise with health technology and social impact pioneers to create a cooler capable of -108°F for 21+ days (7-10x longer than competitors).
El Popular, located in East Chicago, which produces chorizo, molé paste and powder, and Mexican chocolate through a fourth-generation family operation.
Hewitt Molding Company, based in Kokomo, which is a customer injection molder and manufacturer of thermoplastic components using the latest in plastic injection molding technologies.
Huber Winery/Starlight Distillery launched in Borden, which is a family-owned-and-operated farm that produces sustainably crafted wines, brandies and whiskies from the 700+ acre Huber estate dating back to 1843. At Starlight Distillery, spirits are produced, aged, blended and bottled on the family estate.
Scout & Zoe’s, located in Anderson, which makes premium pet treats utilizing human-grade raw ingredients that are sourced in the U.S. The treats are produced in the U.S. for multiple species.
Columbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) and Canada-based Buhler Industries Inc., a tractor manufacturer that operates under the Versatile brand, are planning to integrate the Cummins 15-liter hydrogen engines in Versatile’s equipment. Cummins says the collaboration, and the new powertrain technologies, are leading decarbonization efforts within the agriculture market.
Cummins engines have been exclusively used in Versatile’s four-wheel drive tractors since 1967.
“Versatile is a longstanding manufacturer in the agriculture space with a reputation for excellence in tractors,” said Ann Schmelzer, general manager of Cummins global agriculture business. “Our companies share a commitment to technology, quality and dependability for our customers. Cummins is excited to be working with Versatile as we leverage our respective strengths to create new opportunities for both companies.”
