Hear from Purdue Foundry Ag-Celerator finalists in the early stages of plant technology commercialization!

About this event

Join the Purdue Foundry at the Spring 2022 Ag-Celerator Demo Day on April 22, 2022 at 9:00 AM ET. Finalists will present their plant technologies and showcase their innovative talents!

Finalists:

  • AgroKnow
  • FiberX
  • KeyByte LLC
  • LeafSpec LLC
  • Molecular Signatures
  • NanoBio Designs LLC
  • Plantennas
  • ReproHealth Technologies

Purdue Foundry’s Ag-Celerator™, created in 2015, is a $2 million plant sciences innovation fund designed to provide critical startup support for Purdue innovators who wish to commercialize patented intellectual property or Purdue “know-how” technologies. Funding is considered for innovations that impact the life sciences, such as advancing crop traits, generating higher yields, using big data to improve farm management, finding new uses of plants, using precision agriculture, and discovering advanced breeding techniques. Purdue students, faculty, and alumni can receive up to $100,000 in funding through the program. Investments are made per semester on a competitive basis.

Register here.

BiomEdit intends to discover and develop animal health products that leverage microbiome science to improve animal health, animal protein production, and livestock disease monitoring

 

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN), a leading global animal health company, and Ginkgo Bioworks, the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, today announced the launch of BiomEdit, a microbiome innovation company that is expected to discover, develop and introduce novel probiotics, bioactive molecules, engineered microbial medicines and microbial monitoring services for animal health.

Microbiome science is a rapidly growing field creating breakthroughs in animal health based on the microbial communities in animals and the surrounding environment. BiomEdit intends to discover, develop and introduce differentiated products that address some of the greatest needs for innovation in animal health, including medicated feed ingredients, nutritional health and therapeutics for livestock and pet species, as well as biosecurity technology for animal disease monitoring.

In October 2021, Elanco announced its intention to carve out its microbiome platform and pipeline under the leadership of Aaron Schacht, BiomEdit CEO and former Elanco executive vice president of Innovation, Regulatory and Business Development, to concentrate and focus more resources on its high value late-stage Pet Health pipeline. BiomEdit is the result of this separation, and was developed with Ferment Co., the company creation studio that helps ideate and launch new companies across a variety of end-markets that use cell programming to support human and environmental health and well-being.

Elanco will contribute intellectual property and a pipeline of ongoing programs to BiomEdit, which will be staffed with members of the former Elanco microbiome R&D team. The team brings the expertise and experience needed to build on the foundation of microbiome work started at Elanco. By leveraging foundational programs from Elanco, intellectual property from both Elanco and Ginkgo, and an experienced team, BiomEdit should be well positioned as a stand-alone company to develop and launch innovative products to address unmet needs in animal health.

“Livestock producers and veterinarians are calling for new products that address antibiotic resistance and improve livestock sustainability,” said Mr. Schacht. “Coupling the platform, pipeline and deep expertise of the former Elanco microbiome team with Ginkgo’s unique screening and strain engineering capabilities will accelerate and amplify our ability to advance novel animal microbiome inspired products for animal health.”

“Elanco is excited to continue its participation in the microbiome by partnering with Ginkgo, Viking Global Investors and Anterra Capital to create the next-generation animal health innovation player,” said Jeff Simmons, president and CEO of Elanco Animal Health. “We wish Aaron and his team the best as they build out this novel innovation platform to address unmet needs in animal health, such as alternatives to antibiotics.”

Ginkgo has significant expertise in the discovery, design and monitoring of microbes at scale for a wide array of functions. BiomEdit plans to leverage Ginkgo’s state-of-the-art cell programming platform to improve the design and development of probiotics, bioactives, engineered microbial medicines, and microbial monitoring services. BiomEdit joins other Ginkgo Bioworks platform ventures such as Joyn Bio, Motif FoodWorks, Allonnia, Arcaea, Verb Biotics and Ayana Bio.

“We are always on the lookout for opportunities to accelerate our partners’ abilities to address massive challenges, such as antibiotic resistance in livestock,” said Jason Kelly, CEO of Ginkgo. “Together, we see Ginkgo and BiomEdit addressing significant opportunities in the animal health industry with new breakthroughs based on microbiome science. We deeply depend on the health of animals in our ecosystem and supply chains; the potential applications for our cell programming platform in this area are far reaching.”

In addition to the assets and intellectual property contributed by Elanco and Ginkgo, BiomEdit is launching with a targeted Series A funding raise of $40 million, with participation by Viking Global Investors and Anterra Capital. In exchange for their respective asset and intellectual property contributions, Elanco and Ginkgo are expected to retain approximately 40% combined proportional ownership of BiomEdit, on a fully-diluted basis, upon the completion of the Series A financing. Elanco’s ownership will be in non-voting shares.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted on behalf of Elanco as sole placement agent on the financing.

Byproduct feed for chickens. Solar panels to power facilities. MPS Egg Farms recently announced a partnership with Kroger’s Simple Truth Brand to bring the world’s first carbon-neutral eggs to the United States. On this week’s episode, Mitch Frazier talks with Sam Krouse, VP of Business Development for MPS Egg Farms. 

They talk about what it takes to make eggs carbon-neutral, the partnership with Dutch-based company Kipster and when you will find these available in a Kroger store near you. 

Listen here:

Thanks to $798K in funding from the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN) Regional Cultivation Fund (RCF), the ten-county WHIN region is getting a big assist in its efforts to boost entrepreneurship and support local businesses in rural communities.

“From the pandemic to a rapidly changing technological and economic environment, small and medium sized businesses in our rural areas have felt a lot of stress over the past few years,” says Johnny Park, CEO of WHIN. “But the forces that are challenging local businesses also present new opportunities to refresh business plans, find new markets, and better serve existing customers with online platforms.  As well, the time is right for new business startups. WHIN’s Rural Entrepreneurship (RE) initiative will help.”

According to Vice President for Engagement Pat Corey, WHIN has several goals for the RE initiative. 

“The purpose of WHIN’s RE program is to help start-ups in rural communities through those difficult early stages as well as to give small and “Main Street” businesses a disciplined process for exploring new possibilities,” says Corey. “Consistent with WHIN’s overall focus on technology, the program will also help small and rural manufacturers create business plans around retooling, and assist businesses as they make the pivot to conducting more business online.”

There are specific skills that entrepreneurs and business owners need, according to Corey.

“Entrepreneurial thinking at any stage of a business, online and digital proficiency, and networking connections can all provide traction for ideas to take off,” she says.

But consistent with WHIN’s own core value of leveraging existing resources and assets, the RE program had to be delivered in a way that would help rural communities find and develop their own capacity to nurture startups and existing businesses.

WHIN sought a community partner who could implement RE as it was envisioned, and found in Lafayette’s MatchBOX the right mix of well-tested programming, a platform for delivering that programming across the region, and, most importantly, a commitment to developing an infrastructure of expertise throughout the region.

“We already have relationships with other coworking studios and entrepreneurship partners in the region, including Iron Block, Fusion 54, RuralUrban Center, Benton 4 Business, OCRA, and WEGA,” says Amanda Findlay, Managing Director and Acceleration Lead for MatchBOX. “What we will be able to provide is a mentor-supported curriculum that addresses topics that we know from experience to be game-changing for both startups and existing businesses.”

According to Juliana Casavan, Director of Operations for MatchBOX, the program will invest in local communities by funding local mentors when possible and paying for memberships to local coworking studios. 

“Our goal is to distribute our expertise in a way that embeds it throughout the region and to increase participation in local programs,” says Casavan.

Corey says that what impressed the WHIN team besides MatchBOX’s commitment to regionalism was its record of success for both startups and existing businesses, in all types of businesses.

“That diversity was crucial to WHIN,” says Corey. “A coffee shop or general market might mean the difference between viability and decline in a small town.  Yes, we’d love to see that town produce the next Steve Jobs, but in the meantime, keeping the economic fabric of the community strong is just as important.”

Another plus for MatchBOX is that it has been awarded funding from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) that it will also use for the program.

“Our region is very fortunate to have homegrown and highly successful programs like MatchBOX,” says Corey. “We are grateful that they were willing to step up and share what they have learned and accomplished with the entire region.”

The Elevate Nexus Conference is Indiana’s largest annual gathering of educators, students, and entrepreneurial support organizations coming together to innovate, share, and test ideas that will drive the future of venture creation. With over 30 higher-education institutions represented, attendees will have unprecedented access to educators, growth-minded students, and investors freely sharing best practices while workshopping new approaches.

Conference Details

Thursday, June 9, 2022
Innovation 1 at 16Tech | 1210 Whitewater Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Click to learn more!

Time-saving features provide confidence in in-season recommendations

Intelinair, the maker of AGMRI®, announced the launch of AGMRI Enterprise today, a new service that has been designed specifically with ag retail customers in mind. AGMRI Enterprise provides a current, aggregated view of what is happening in customer fields with regularly scheduled flights throughout the season. In addition, the platform provides retailers the potential to see what is happening in a retailer’s overall geographic area.

“Through AGMRI Enterprise, we are honing in on real-time alerts to save retailers time, but also provide them the confidence they need in making recommendations to their customers,” says Kevin Krieg, Director of Product Marketing for Intelinair. “Our retail customers will be able to elevate their management recommendations with a clear understanding of what is happening in individual fields, earlier than ever before, and gain aggregate insights for their region throughout the growing season.”

Available via Webapp and iPhone app, new features included with the AGMRI Enterprise services are a Dashboard and a Virtual Scout.

“We provide the ability for retailers to know big-picture what is happening in a field and then narrow down specific locations within that field to scout if an area raises an alert through a flight,” says Krieg. “It’s the ‘trust but verify’ situation. Retailers are the agronomy experts; we are giving them a tool to increase their ability to detect issues and provide direct communication to their customers about what they are seeing or not seeing within a field.”

The AGMRI and AGMRI Enterprise platforms work with either in-season satellite imagery or aerial imagery. Satellite imagery is offered in the U.S. and Canada, while aerial imagery is offered in select counties in Illinois and Indiana, with expansion planned for future growing seasons. To learn more about AGMRI and how it helps retailers and farmers elevate their management decisions, visit www.AGMRI.com.

Applications for Elevate Nexus Regional Pitch Competitions are open through April 18, 2022. Elevate Ventures will invest a total of $660,000 in 15 early-stage startups throughout Indiana.

Competitions are open to innovative, Indiana-based startups, in two stages: pre-seed and seed. A total of nine $20,000 pre-seed and six $80,000 seed investments will be made across three competitions. In addition to receiving funding, each company joins Elevate Ventures’ portfolio and will have access to Elevate’s network of resources.

Pitch Competition dates and locations include:

“We are excited to continue our support of early-stage businesses in Indiana with the Elevate Nexus Regional Pitch Competitions,” said Landon Young, executive director of entrepreneurial programming and entrepreneur-in-residence. “These competitions provide early-stage startups with a unique opportunity to showcase their businesses in their regions and compete for investments from Elevate Ventures.”

Additional details and eligibility requirements can be found here. Applications for the Elevate Nexus Regional Pitch Competition will close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 18, 2022. To request an application, please click here.

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.

A new tech platform is giving artisan food entrepreneurs the opportunity to manage their business in one place – from website creation all the way to order fulfillment. This week, Mitch Frazier talks with Mark Josephson, founder and CEO of Castiron. 

They dive into Mark’s idea for the platform during a High Alpha Innovation Sprint Week, creating opportunity for entrepreneurs and how established systems of success will grow the artisan food industry. 

Listen here:

Intelinair announced today an expansion to its collaboration with Jacobs for AgTech markets beginning in 2022 and extending through the end of 2024.

Through this three-year agreement, Jacobs will provide scalable, high-grade multispectral sensor systems and aerial imagery services, while Intelinair provides its artificial intelligence (AI) powered crop analytics AGMRI® platform to deliver a complete view of every acre, every field from planting to harvest.

“Our goal is to deliver agronomic insights that achieve yield and productivity improvements, and we do this through our automated digital platform, AGMRI,” said Tim Hassinger, CEO & President of Intelinair. “In one scalable, digital platform, we are able to provide actionable field intelligence so farmers can take action before issues become problems all the way from planting to harvest.”

Pairing the hi-res image capabilities captured by Jacobs and the analytics of Intelinair provides farmers, crop consultants and agricultural retailers a bird’s-eye view of their fields. With these tools, they can see issues developing in fields from their smartphone, tablet or computer, which can save them significant time during busy seasons.

For example, after planting farmers actively monitor emergence in fields, scouting for subpar results or even failure, flagging the opportunity for replant. This process can be time-consuming; however, AGMRI automates and simplifies the replant process. AGMRI also generates a Smart Alert for each field or part of a field affected by poor emergence and in need of replant and also generates a replant prescription which can be synced wirelessly to the farmers’ precision agriculture equipment in the field.

“We welcome the opportunity to continue our work with Intelinair to provide digital solutions to the agricultural market,” said Jacobs Executive Vice President and President of Critical Mission Solutions Steve Arnette. “Our cutting-edge GeoPod™ sensors are flown over farm fields 13 times during the growing season to conduct high-resolution digital mapping. The multispectral imagery our sensors produce is then used by Intelinair to create timely agronomic insights that aid farmers in making real-time management decisions.”

Intelinair chose Jacobs as a supplier of imagery services due to its demonstrated technical and operational advantages. Its sensors offer market-leading real-world resolution, radiometric sensitivity, and accuracy. Its unique processing approach enables rapid turnaround and extreme scalability, while its operational excellence ensures high delivery reliability that is required by agriculture customers. The pair also plans to explore emerging opportunities to use technology for verification of sustainable farming practices. “We are exploring opportunities where the technology can be used in the area of sustainability,” added Hassinger.

 

Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced that the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $1.7 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to Northwest Central Indiana Community Partnerships, Inc., West Lafayette, Indiana, to expand broadband access in Central Indiana in support of the region’s manufacturing, agricultural and technology industries.

This project will help create and retain jobs by providing the cutting-edge technology necessary for these industries to remain competitive, while making the rural 7-county region more resilient to future economic disruptions. The EDA investment will be matched with $426,000 in local funds and is expected to create 75 jobs, retain 150 jobs and generate $10 million in private investment.

“President Biden is committed to leveraging the full power of the federal government to ensure our nation not only recovers from this pandemic but that all communities have the tools they need to succeed in our increasingly digital economy,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “This EDA investment will serve as a down-payment for the further broadband investments coming from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law by providing cost-effective and reliable broadband service in Central Indiana that will build resiliency in the region’s manufacturing, agricultural and technology sectors for decades to come.

“The Economic Development Administration supports community-led strategies to accelerate economic recovery from the pandemic,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo. “This EDA investment will help to ensure a bright future for this rural Indiana region by providing the broadband services local industries need to grow, thrive and create jobs.”

This project is funded under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136 PDF), which provided EDA with $1.5 billion for economic assistance programs to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance, which is being administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) (PDF) program, provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Connect With Us