AgriNovus Indiana released a study today identifying the need for technology and new business models to improve the $100+ billion annual federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Authored by national food policy expert and Snee Family Endowed Chair at Baylor University, Dr. Craig Gundersen, the study, Leveraging Technology to Improve Food Insecurity, identifies challenges hindering SNAP recipients and recommends adoption of technologies and process improvements to help food-insecure Americans.
“SNAP is a critical safety net for millions of Americans,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. “This new research provides data and key recommendations to inspire innovators to bring new approaches to better connect food supply to those who are food insecure.”
Key recommendations identified in the study include:
Identifying ways to eliminate delivery costs for SNAP recipients – food retailers need to recoup the costs of delivering food and there are various ways to do so, including minimum expenditure levels or delivery fees. While the latter would be burdensome, setting a minimum expenditure for free delivery would likely be of benefit to a large percentage of SNAP benefit recipients.
Lowering barriers for stores to enter the program – small retail stores are a critical source of food for SNAP recipients, especially in rural communities. Some of these stores, however, may not meet the requirements to be online grocers or do not have the resources to apply for the program. Easing regulations for stores to enter the program would open up the opportunity for more participation.
Ensuring the same shopping experience for SNAP and non-SNAP recipients – the program’s success can be largely attributed to dignity and autonomy granted to recipients as they make their food choices. Those same principles should be maintained in any online system, allowing for the same food choices for non-SNAP recipients and SNAP recipients.
“Applying innovation to SNAP creates massive potential impact for benefit recipients,” said Craig Gundersen, economist at Baylor University. “Indiana’s strength in tech and agriculture creates an enviable ecosystem to eliminate the barriers faced by SNAP participants and to connect them to better nutrition regardless of location.”
The study was conducted in tandem with the AgriNovus HungerTech Challenge where innovators are competing for a $25,000 grand prize by developing new technologies to enable SNAP recipients to purchase groceries online and receive products regardless of location. A winning team will be announced in a virtual showcase on July 19. Register to attend the showcase here.
The full study, Leveraging Technology to Improve Food Insecurity, is available at www.AgrinovusIndiana.com.
The launch of the study follows the publication of AgriNovus-commissioned research conducted by EY-Parthenon and Purdue University entitled “Resilience through disruption: The impact of the pandemic on Indiana and the future of food and agriculture.” That research found food insecurity impacts 11% of the United States population and 13% of Hoosiers. Moreover, 22% of Indiana residents live in food deserts with low access to healthy nutrition.
Ivy Tech Community College recently received $4,736,976 in grant funding through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Building America program for its Expanding Registered Apprenticeship Programs (ERAP) project.
The ERAP project establishes a statewide apprenticeship hub to promote apprenticeship as a viable, postsecondary education-to-career option and expand employer use of apprenticeship as a recruitment, training, and retention strategy. The project will support registered apprenticeship program development and expansion in industries and occupations in the critical supply chain for electric vehicle manufacturing and adoption, including public/home charging stations and line improvements. It will also support transportation infrastructure improvements, such as vertical and horizontal construction, planned within the state.
The ERAP project will serve men and women in Indiana with varying skill levels, including those with high school diplomas, those enrolled in GED programs with little to no industry experience, those wanting to increase their skills or lack certification, and those who are unemployed or are considered underrepresented populations.
“The Expanding Registered Apprenticeship Programs project offers Hoosiers across our state with a clear pathway to a high-wage, high demand job,” said Dr. Sue Ellspermann, President of Ivy Tech. “As Indiana’s workforce engine, we look forward to leveraging the proven apprentice model across a wide range of occupations supporting more Indiana employers and improving Hoosier prosperity.”
The Apprenticeship Building America grant program is designed to expand and modernize Registered Apprenticeship by increasing the number of programs and apprentices, diversifying the industries that use Registered Apprenticeship and improving the access to and performance of Registered Apprenticeship Programs for underrepresented and underserved communities.
For more information on Ivy Tech’s apprenticeship program, click here.
The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership has unveiled a three-year strategic plan it says outlines how the 11-county region will “continue to build an economically resilient region by increasing the region’s competitiveness to attract new investment.” The partnership says the development of the plan found that the region must pivot to compete for higher value-added economic activities instead of solely focusing on cost or incentives.
Partnership President and CEO Stephane Frijia tells Inside INdiana Business while the region will welcome businesses of all types, they are focusing on more high-value targets.
“When you look at those high-technology, high-wage paying type of operators, typically it’s a higher-level function; they require a higher level of skill. Obviously, there’s automation. There’s higher cap-ex,” said Frijia. “So, how we position ourselves to go after those types of operations that typically pay better wages, offer better benefits…that really becomes the driving force.”
Investment provided by Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital aims to promote efficient and sustainable farming through Solinftec’s innovative technology.
The transaction will allow the Company to accelerate expansion of its digital farm operations platform, ALICE AI, and its robotics solution, Solix Ag Robotics, in North America and South America.
Funding will contribute to the achievement of several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, most importantly SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital has invested alongside the Lightsmith Group and Unbox Capital in an investment round in Solinftec (“Company”), a leading precision agriculture company with operations in Brazil, the United States and across Latin America. Founded in 2007, the Company develops innovative technological solutions that allow its clients to optimize agricultural processes, increasing productivity and sustainability in the field. The Company monitors more than 85%+ of the sugarcane operations in Brazil, in addition to the grain, fiber, and perennial crops markets, such as citrus, coffee, and forestry.
The investment is part of the recent investment round that raised $60 million in convertible debentures, aiming the scale development and expansion of the company’s new robotic platform, Solix AG Robotics, which was announced and commercially launched in Brazil in April 2022. The technology is also in tests in the United States, in partnership with GROWMARK, Inc. and Purdue University, and in Canada, with Stone Farms and the University of Saskatchewan.
Global agricultural production needs to increase by 60% to meet estimated demand by 2050, according to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The challenge is intensified by agriculture’s extreme vulnerability to climate change, with climate variability accounting for one-third of the fluctuation in agricultural productivity worldwide. Disruptive technological solutions offered by Solinftec contribute to agriculture overcoming its biggest challenge. The Company’s artificial intelligence platform, ALICE AI, is powered by proprietary in-field data collected from the 27+ million acres of monitored area―over half a billion pieces of data on crops, equipment, inputs, and weather conditions from the field each day―providing farmers with real-time actionable insights related to planting, spraying, fertilizing, and harvesting to increase yields, which generates cost savings through reductions in fuel and agricultural inputs and reduces yield volatility. Solinftec’s solutions can help clients to achieve an increase of 30%+ in productivity and efficiency.
Agriculture is among the largest contributors to climate change, being the world’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with precision agriculture management practices regarded by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as key for improving energy efficiency in the agricultural production chain. Through the efficient use of resources, including fossil fuels and agrochemicals, the Company’s solutions allow producers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental impact of the agricultural process.
“Sustainable agriculture is critical for climate change and food security a priority within our investment mandate. It is very exciting to partner with the founders and investors of Solinftec. We are impressed by its trajectory and growth potential, a Company that thrives on innovation by understanding the needs and challenges in the field”, mentioned Cristina Penteado, Managing Director and Head of Brazil of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital.
By exploring new technological frontiers, Solinftec helps changing the way food is produced in the field. The Company works closely with clients and other partners to tackle challenges of farm production. Its most recently launched cutting-edge technology is a robot, built to autonomously scan and monitor fields, providing farmers with 24/7 monitoring and learning about the ecosystem, which contributes to crop yields and inputs usage efficiency, lowering the environmental impact.
“We believe we have been experiencing a new historic milestone in agriculture through the introduction of robotics in the fields”, said Britaldo Hernandez, Solinftec’s CEO. “Blue like an Orange is part of this revolutionary moment by endorsing our purpose of increase food production and mitigate environmental and social impact by transforming today’s agriculture handling into a sustainable practice”, he added.
With this investment round, the Company aims to increase its product offerings and further expand its digital farm operations platform in North America and South America.
The expected development outcome supports several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including but not limited to: SDG 9 (Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation), SDG 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns) and SDG 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts).
An Evansville-based startup is making waves for its zero-carb pizza crust and has plans for growth. ZeroCarb LYFE produces a high-protein crust that includes chicken among its ingredients and is available for purchase in more than 150 restaurants and select supermarkets. The company recently closed on an oversubscribed $1.5 million seed round of funding, and already has plans for a seed-plus round later this year.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Chief Executive Officer Omar Atia says he was surprised by the amount of money the company was able to raise.
“You know, it was founder money that kept [the company] going for the first year and few months and, of course, the revenue we were making because it took off so well,” Atia said. “Our goal was $1 million and we oversubscribed it and actually had to turn some investors away.”
When her career started as a basketball coach, one could argue it was foreshadowing a future in Indiana. President of Huntington University, Sherilyn Emberton, joins the podcast this week. She talks about the evolution of the university’s offerings, how they’ve evolved since COVID-19 and the importance of connecting their students to diverse and vast opportunities in agbioscience.
Elevate Ventures today announced that Christopher Day, after an extensive national search, has been hired as CEO to succeed Chris LaMothe to lead Elevate’s next stage of growth. Day assumes the role on July 18.
Day’s background in building and exiting companies, investing his own dollars in growing companies, co-founding an investment banking firm, and engaging in public policy has positioned him to take on the multi-faceted role, said Barbie Wentworth, CEO of Miller Brooks, and a member of the Board of Directors search committee.
During the past 25 years Day has co-founded or launched eight businesses in industries including artificial intelligence, billing software, utility hardware, broadband, entertainment, investment banking and real estate. He has participated in $600 million in transactions and delivered four-fold cash-on-cash returns to his investors upon exiting the companies. He most recently served as co-founder and CEO of DemandJump, a leading artificial-intelligence-powered marketing strategy platform.
Day also has served on boards of private and nonprofit organizations—currently the Indiana Technology & Innovation Association (founding member), Indiana Chamber of Commerce and TechPoint. Day is frequently requested to speak about policy formation in SaaS sales tax, Next Level Funding and Venture Capital Investment Tax Credits.
“I’m honored to join the Elevate team and build upon the incredible foundation they have created of fostering ecosystems across Indiana that support entrepreneurs in building, growing, and scaling high-growth companies,” Day said. “I want Elevate to be seen as an investor of choice and a growth catalyst that, over time, builds a billion-dollar fund and grows billion-dollar brands.”
DemandJump investor and board member Bill Godfrey said Day built an idea into a growth company with an excellent team.
“We are excited for him to lead Elevate as Indiana continues to build a robust ecosystem of accelerating new business starts and fueling the growth of our next generation of great companies,” Godfrey said.
Accelerating Venture Momentum Across Indiana
Since its inception in 2011, Elevate Ventures, the venture development partner of the state of Indiana, has invested nearly $136 million in 468 companies, leveraging an additional $1.7 billion from private sources. Companies funded by Elevate employ upward of 3,000 people earning an annual average wage of $85,000.
Pitchbook has ranked Elevate the most active venture capital firm in the Great Lakes Region since 2017.
A recent report by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) and Startup Genome, a policy advisory and research organization, ranked Indiana in the Global Top 40 Emerging Ecosystems. The report analyzed more than 280 entrepreneurial ecosystems, which included 3 million startups.
“Entrepreneurship is one of the IEDC’s 5E focus areas, and the work necessary to bolster Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has never been more critical,” said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers. “Elevate Ventures is in an important position to influence the health of our future economy, and the state stands ready to support a vision and leadership required to create positive and meaningful momentum in this space.”
Day is ‘ideal leader’
The Elevate Ventures Board of Directors search committee enlisted Medallion Partners to conduct a national search for its next CEO. Medallion vetted over 350 applicants through lenses of 11 core functions including assessing entrepreneurial and fundraising experience, background in leading teams, executional requirements and leadership.
“Christopher’s experience and his tremendous passion for building Indiana’s entrepreneurship ecosystem made him stand out as the ideal leader for Elevate’s continued growth,” Wentworth said. “The Elevate board is eager to work alongside him as we continue to invest in Indiana and maintain our status as the top VC in the Great Lakes region.”
With 11% of the United States population using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, how can innovation create a better way to connect proper nutrition to more people? This week we are joined by Craig Gundersen, Snee Family Endowed Chair at the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University.
He talks about the role of innovation in food insecurity, the challenges facing the current SNAP system and his recommendations for durable, sustainable solutions long-term.
Microbiome science is a fast-growing field and Indiana is home to a new company focused on innovation in animal health based on the microbial communities in animals and the surrounding environment. This week, we are joined by Aaron Schacht, CEO of BiomEdit, a company launched by Elanco and Ginkgo Bioworks in 2021.
He talks about the criticality of microbiome science in creating healthier animals, the value of revisiting innovative ideas that were once passed over and BiomEdit’s need to continue growing their team.
Critical headquarters location selection made after company successfully launches largest Series A funding round in history of Indiana life science sector and animal health industry
BiomEdit, the recently established privately-held venture focused on microbiome innovation in animal health, today announced it will locate its global headquarters operation in the innovative and growing northeast Indianapolis suburb of Fishers, Indiana.
The company chose Indiana and the City of Fishers after a site selection search to find a location that could best support BiomEdit’s innovative and agile approach to R&D. Fishers has experienced exponential growth over the last decade with a tech-focused infrastructure, highly educated workforce and entrepreneurial spirit.
In addition, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) offered a competitive investment package to the company to encourage the growth of high-wage life science jobs as well as R&D collaborations with other Indiana-based organizations. Pending approval by the IEDC board of directors, the IEDC will commit an investment in BiomEdit LLC of up to $3 million in the form of conditional tax credits and an additional $200,000 in innovation vouchers. These incentives are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired and the company makes eligible investments in innovation activities.
“We were impressed with the clear focus on life science innovation in the City of Fishers and the state of Indiana’s strong forward-looking, business friendly climate,” said Aaron Schacht, CEO of BiomEdit. “BiomEdit is ready to join with Indiana and Fishers to help bring even more innovation-focused businesses and work force here. We continue to be impressed with their support and partnership.”
“Indiana is leaning in to make the Hoosier state the epicenter of animal health and life sciences broadly,” said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers. “BiomEdit is a fantastic example of the innovation that occurs when industry expertise is consolidated in one central hub.”
“Aaron and his team at BiomEdit are at the leading edge of the microbiome sector,” said Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness. “When you combine that level of talent and R&D with the support and innovation-driven mindset of the Fishers community, I see a long line of continued success ahead for the company.”
BiomEdit spun out of Elanco Animal Health (NYSE: ELAN), a leading global animal health company on April 11, 2022, to focus on the discovery and development of animal health products that leverage microbiome science to improve animal health, animal protein production and livestock disease monitoring.
Former Elanco executive vice president of Innovation, Regulatory and Business Development, Aaron Schacht serves as BiomEdit CEO and was joined by 18 other former Elanco R&D employees with deep expertise in the microbiome and animal health industry to launch the company and its novel innovation platform to address unmet needs in animal health. BiomEdit also secured a strategic partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks providing access to the industry leading and state-of-the-art cell programming platform to progress its research and development program.
The new venture was announced with a $40M Series A financing round – among both the largest ever Series A financings for either an animal health company or an Indiana-based life sciences company. Participating in the Series A were Viking Global Investors and Anterra Capital.
BiomEdit’s headquarters office building will be located at 10100 Lantern Road. The company’s lab and manufacturing facilities will be located near Elanco in Greenfield, Indiana.
