Annual Awards Program Recognizes Innovation in Ag & Food Technologies Around the Globe
Intelinair, an automated crop intelligence company that uses AI and machine learning to help growers and agronomic advisors turn field data into decisions, today announced it has been selected as winner of the “AI-based AgTech Innovation of the Year” award in the 7th annual AgTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AgTech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies, and products in the global agricultural and food technology markets today.
Every season, a single farm can generate terabytes of data from imagery, soil sensors, yield monitors, weather feeds, and planting records, yet most growers and advisors struggle to turn it into timely decisions. Intelinair built its AGMRI platform to close that gap. AGMRI integrates imagery, soil sampling, real-time weather, planting, and harvest records and field boundaries into a single, continuously updated view of enrolled corn and soybean fields, storing data across many zones per field to capture the within-field variability field-level averages miss.
“Growers and their advisors have never had more data, and yet the hardest part of their job is still turning that data into the right decision at the right time,” said Tim Hassinger, President and CEO of Intelinair. “AGMRI was built to do that synthesis, and the AGMRI AI Agent now lets an advisor simply ask a question and get an answer in seconds that used to take hours of analysis. Being recognized by AgTech Breakthrough is a tremendous honor for the team that made it possible.”
At the core of AGMRI, proprietary machine-learning models analyze multispectral imagery to detect crop stress, disease, nutrient deficiency, drainage issues, and stand problems, often before they are visible to the human eye, then enrich those findings with soil, application, and seed-placement data. The platform’s AGMRI AI Agent, live for the 2026 crop season, opens those capabilities to plain-language questions: it queries the live data directly, accounts for differences in soil and field conditions to keep comparisons fair, and returns formatted reports, dashboards and prescription maps. Analysis that once took two to four hours per grower now takes under a minute, supporting decisions on hybrid placement, seeding rates, fungicide timing, harvest sequencing and field-level profitability.
The AgTech sector is rapidly redefining how food is produced, managed and distributed, transforming one of the world’s most essential industries. From AI-driven crop analytics and precision farming platforms to sustainable agriculture solutions and autonomous equipment, AgTech is delivering greater efficiency, transparency and environmental responsibility.
The mission of the annual AgTech Breakthrough Awards program is to recognize the innovators transforming the global agricultural and food production landscape through technology. The program conducts a comprehensive analysis of the companies, technologies, and solutions redefining how crops are grown, livestock is managed, and food is produced and distributed. From precision agriculture platforms and farm management software to AI-driven yield forecasting, IoT-based soil and water sensing, and synthetic biology innovations, these breakthrough innovations are enabling agricultural companies to operate more sustainably, feed a growing global population, and shape the future of how the world grows and produces food.
“The strongest AI entries this year were the ones that put advanced analysis directly in the hands of the people making daily operating decisions, rather than leaving it with data scientists,” said Bryan Vaughn, Managing Director, AgTech Breakthrough. “Intelinair stood out for pairing deep agronomic modeling with an AI agent that turns a grower’s question into a field-level recommendation on the spot. It is a deserving winner of our 2026 AI-based AgTech Innovation of the Year award.”
As its models strengthen with every season of accumulated data, Intelinair is continuing to invest in AGMRI, the AGMRI AI Agent and the grower and ag-retail partnerships behind it.
The future of H-2A farm management is already in Croft employers’ pockets. Croft now connects the AI assistants they and their partners already use directly to their own H-2A data.
Croft, the most-used H-2A platform in the country, today announced the Croft MCP(Model Context Protocol) connector, becoming the first all-in-one H-2A platform to bring AI assistants directly into a customer’s account. Employers, agents, and recruiters can use ChatGPT, Claude, and any MCP-compatible assistant to easily get answers about their H-2A operations, in their own words.
Croft already cuts H-2A admin time by more than 50% while increasing compliance, and the connector takes that further. A customercan ask their assistant a question, like which workers still need a consulate appointment, and get an answer in seconds, pulled straightfrom their own Croft account, no report to build. Common questions include:
“What should I know right now about the job orders starting in the next 60 days?”
“Which of my job orders are short on workers right now?”
“Give me the wage, housing, meal, and transportation terms I need to remember for this job order.”
“Who is set up to sign ETA-790A documents for this farm?”
“Which workers may need attention on three-quarters guarantee progress?”
“Which workers crossed into the U.S. but have not arrived at the worksite?”
“Croft’s job is to make H-2A easier, more affordable, and more compliant for growers and the partners they work with,” said Scott Prince, CEO of Croft. “Our timekeeping and payroll sync have been among our most popular releases, and this connector continues that strategic focus. We are proud to keep building the functionality our customers need to save time and money, increase compliance, and strengthen the economics of their operation.”
“The goal was never just better reporting. It is helping H-2A employers know what to do next,” said Stuart Hinson, COO of Croft. “Nowa customer can ask the way they would ask their best office manager and get calm command of what needs attention, from the details already inside their own account.”
Getting started is free. Each account comes preloaded with the employer’s job orders and a free trial of timekeeping and payroll sync,with the MCP connector included. H-2A employers can request their ready-to-go Croft account at [email protected]
Today, Alloy Partners announced a new partnership with Keystone Cooperative in their One Health Studio, a venture studio creating and scaling companies at the convergence of animal, plant and human health. The partnership strengthens the studio’s growing network of corporate and institutional partners backing the next generation of one health innovation.
Keystone Cooperative, a 100-year-old farmer-owned agriculture and energy business headquartered in Indianapolis, brings direct operational knowledge across agronomy, energy, grain, animal nutrition and swine production, along with deep relationships with over 20,000 farmer-owners across Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. The partnership will help fuel the studio’s pipeline of new ventures targeting shared challenges across human wellness, animal health and food systems.
“Keystone represents exactly the type of partner we built the One Health Studio to attract: an organization with a century of agricultural expertise and direct relationships with the farmers and producers who stand to benefit most from the startups we’re building. Their investment adds real-world operational depth that will make every venture we launch stronger,” says Elliott Parker, CEO of Alloy Partners.
“The challenges facing agriculture, animal health and food systems are increasingly interconnected, and the solutions need to be, also. The One Health Studio gives us a seat at the table where those solutions are being built from the ground up, and we’re bringing the perspective of the farmers and producers who will put them to work,” says Scott Logue, incoming CEO of Keystone Cooperative.
Launched in November 2025 with founding partners Elanco Animal Health and the State of Indiana, the One Health Studio, located in the One Health Innovation District, has already moved eight concepts into incubation. The studio, led by serial founder Ben Lewis, unites research institutions, investors, corporate partners and entrepreneurs to launch new startups based in Indiana.
“The future of these industries is being built right now, and it’s being built by the companies willing to sit at the table with startups and researchers instead of waiting to see what is created without them. That’s why having partners like Keystone and Elanco involved is so important for One Health Studio. They’re not just investors or spectators. They’re shaping what comes next in animal, plant and human health, and they’re doing it alongside the startups and founders building it. The corporations that engage with startups like this will own that future. The ones that wait will be buying it from someone else,” says Ben Lewis, Managing Director of the One Health Studio.
Keystone joins Elanco as a corporate investor and partner in the studio, with Alloy Partners expecting to welcome additional partners in the coming months.
Huntington University’sDr. Robert Pepper on the future of ag education + developing a talent pipeline foragbioscience
On this episode of Agbioscience Dr. Robert Pepper, President of Huntington University, joins us to explore how their team is building talent for the future of agriculture. Just months into his presidency, Rob shares what drew him to Huntington, how the university is positioning itself inside Indiana’s agbioscience innovation economy and why hands-on, industry-connected learning matters more than ever.
The conversation also examines Huntington’s growing agriculture programs, from its six bachelor’s degrees and farm lab to its animal science education center and looks ahead to the next chapter of talent development. Along the way, Rob discusses what employers are asking for, how cross-disciplinary learning is shaping student readiness and what success could look like for Huntington over the next decade.
Episode highlights:
Stepping into Huntington University’s presidency in 2025 at a moment of rapid change across the industry
What makes Huntington’s mission and momentum compelling
The university’s case for playing a meaningful role in Indiana’s innovation ecosystem
How Rob sees Huntington contribution to industry and workforce needs
The foundation laid by Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, former president, including the launch and development of the ag program – and how he sees it evolving under his leadership
How the program has grown – six bachelor’s degrees in ag, a farm lab and an animal science education center
What Pepper hears from industry leaders, where employers may be seeking a different kind of graduate and Huntington is positioned to deliver
Building critical bridge to cross-collaborative and allied domains like biology, data, engineering and health
The value of internships, mentorship, corporate partnerships and other real-world applications that help students gain confidence to enter the industry
How strategic partners are shaping Huntington’s program outcomes and how they choose partners that work well for them
Rob defines success in talent development and what excites him most about the future
Innovation Fellows join the first venture studio under Fund II, using Purdue research to identify and solve agriculture’s highest-value market opportunities.
Purdue DIAL Ventures today announced the four entrepreneurs selected as its 2026 Innovation Fellows, launching the first venture studio under DIAL Ventures Fund II. Beginning August 10, the Fellows will work alongside producers, agribusiness leaders, food companies, researchers and investors to identify the industry’s most pressing challenges and build venture-backed software companies designed to solve them.
Selected through a competitive national search, the 2026 Innovation Fellows are Adam Lazar, Gurkern Sufi, Joe Entelisano, and Venkat Maroju.
Unlike traditional startup programs that begin with an entrepreneur’s idea, DIAL Ventures begins with validated market problems.
“We hand these four Fellows a map, not an assignment,” said Allan Gray, Executive Director of Purdue DIAL Ventures. “The research tells us where the industry’s greatest opportunities exist. The studio determines what to build. By separating discovery from venture creation—and grounding both in evidence—we’ve created a repeatable system for building companies that solve problems industry actually wants solved.”
A Different Way to Build Companies
Before Fellows enter the field, Purdue researchers identify where the agrifood industry’s greatest opportunities exist. Combining scientific rigor with deep industry engagement, DIAL Ventures synthesized evidence from 275 peer-reviewed studies, insights from 504 agrifood professionals, economic analyses, and market trends to identify 66 research-backed Strategic Opportunity Areas across the agrifood value chain. Rather than asking entrepreneurs to invent ideas or chase the latest technology, DIAL Ventures directs them toward validated problems with measurable economic significance—helping industry partners invest in innovations that address their most important strategic challenges.
These research-backed opportunities become the starting point for customer discovery. Fellows don’t spend their time searching for ideas; they spend their time validating customer needs, understanding market dynamics, and building companies around problems that matter most to agriculture and food.
The 2026 Innovation Fellows were selected not because they come from agriculture—but because they have repeatedly built and commercialized technology companies in other industries.
“We intentionally recruit entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds and proven records of building technology companies,” Gray said. “Whether their experience comes from agriculture, food, or other industries, they bring fresh thinking, intellectual curiosity, and the discipline to validate problems before building solutions.”
The 2026 Fellows bring expertise spanning artificial intelligence, enterprise software, venture creation, consumer products, and deep technology.
• Adam Lazar founded Asarasi and Nekter Pop, creating an entirely new beverage category from renewable tree water.
• Gurkern Sufi built an AI and deep-tech company focused on bioinformatics, genetics, and precision agriculture.
• Joe Entelisano developed software at Amazon, Wonder, and TaskRabbit before co-founding FieldSim, an agriculture simulation platform built on technology licensed from Idaho National Laboratory.
• Venkat Maroju has led enterprise technology and digital agriculture initiatives for more than three decades, including as CIO of Bose Automotive Division and CEO of SourceTrace, where he grew a digital agriculture platform serving more than two million farmers across 30 countries.
The Model Is Already Delivering Results
Through Fund I, Purdue DIAL Ventures completed six venture studio cycles and built one of the nation’s leading early-stage agrifood software portfolios.
Today, that portfolio includes companies such as Croft, Gripp, Oaken, Fieldist, Nuel, and Aerton, with a combined valuation exceeding $30 million, according to PitchBook.
What Happens Next
Over the next four months, the Innovation Fellows will conduct customer discovery across the agrifood value chain, engaging producers, agribusinesses, processors, food manufacturers, researchers, and technology providers to validate high-value market opportunities.
Fund II remains open through a rolling close for strategic partners interested in shaping the next generation of agrifood technology companies. Participating organizations gain direct access to customer discovery, venture creation, and investment opportunities alongside Purdue University and Grit Road Partners.
