Winners to be announced at awards gala in April 

TechPoint, the industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s digital innovation economy, announced the finalists for the 2026 Mira Awards, known as the “Oscars of Indiana Tech.”

The 106 finalists from across Indiana emerged from 231 submissions. Finalists were evaluated by a team of independent judges following live presentations earlier in the month. A total of 17 awards will be presented at the Mira gala at the Palladium in Carmel on April 24, 2026.

“Each year, the Mira Awards reveal just how powerful and dynamic Indiana’s tech ecosystem has become,” said Ting Gootee, president and CEO, TechPoint. “These finalists embody the ingenuity, resilience, and collaborative spirit that continue to position our state as a national leader in digital innovation. We’re proud to celebrate their achievements and excited to showcase their impact at the 2026 gala.”

Since 1999, the Mira Awards have celebrated Indiana’s top technology innovators, disruptors, business leaders, and game-changers. The awards showcase the state’s most advanced achievements across multiple industries and highlight the spirit of innovation that defines Indiana’s digital economy. Only 369 Mira Awards have been presented, selected from thousands of nominations.

“Through the work of the Mira Awards finalists, we can clearly see how digital innovation is at work across every part of Indiana’s economy,” said Melina Kennedy, CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. “Their solutions are boosting productivity, supporting entrepreneurs, and driving growth in both new and established industries, while contributing to our local communities.”

Mira finalists are highlighted below by award categories. Additional awards that do not identify finalists are Deal of the Year, Innovation of the Year, and TechPoint Trailblazer.

AgriNovus Indiana AgBioscience Innovation Award  

AnalytixIN AI Transformation Award

Ascend Indiana Talent Innovation Award  

BioCrossroads Life Sciences Innovation Award  

Community Impact Award

Conexus Indiana Manufacturing Innovation Award  

Emerging Tech Leader Award 

Innovation Service Partner of the Year 

Nextech Computer Science Teacher of the Year

Resilience Award

Rising Entrepreneur of the Year  

Startup of the Year  

Tech Company of the Year  

TechPoint Tech Innovation of the Year  

Tickets for Mira Awards are now on sale and can be purchased here. To learn more about the Mira Awards and sponsorship opportunities, visit TechPoint’s website.

$57 Million in cash being returned to membership

Keystone Cooperative, Inc., an Indiana-based leader in agriculture and energy, announces 100% of member net profits are being returned directly to members through patronage. Keystone Cooperative will distribute $57 million in patronage to eligible farmer-members who did business with the cooperative in 2025. 80% or 90% of each member’s payout will be delivered in cash, based on their legacy membership status, with the remainder applied to their equity in Keystone. This cash patronage return equals more than $46 million.

In addition to the patronage payout, Keystone will redeem $4.2 million in equity, bringing the total cash return to more than $51 million. This exceptional return underscores Keystone’s strong financial performance and unwavering commitment to delivering value to its members. Keystone pays the highest patronage rates of any cooperative in the Midwest, with the highest cash-to-equity ratio. Over the past decade, Keystone has returned more than half a billion dollars to its members, which is proof that the cooperative model delivers real, measurable value.

“Returning 100% of farmer-member net profits is what sets Keystone apart,” said Kevin Still, Keystone’s President and CEO. “This $57 million distribution reflects our commitment to the cooperative model and exemplifies the cooperative advantage. When Keystone succeeds, our members succeed.”

Looking ahead, Keystone has committed more than $60 million in capital investments to strengthen infrastructure and meet the evolving needs of its membership. These strategic investments ensure Keystone remains well-positioned to serve today’s members and future generations of farm families.

Each member’s patronage payout is calculated based on the volume of business conducted with the cooperative during the fiscal year, equating to approximately 5% of members’ transactions in 2025.

Bill Peters, Chairman of Keystone’s Board of Directors, added: “Every dollar of profit derived from membership business goes back to the people who make our organization strong: our members. This isn’t just a benefit, it’s a promise of shared success and a cornerstone of the cooperative model.”

In 2025, Keystone also demonstrated its commitment to community investment by donating $1.4 million to support local initiatives, with a focus on agriculture education and leadership, food security, and farm and energy safety training.

Keystone Cooperative’s Annual Meeting will be held on January 13, 2026, at 10:30 AM EST at our corporate headquarters, located at 770 N. High School Road, Indianapolis, IN.

 Sustainea Bioglycols, an innovative company focused on renewable chemicals with a low-carbon footprint, is proud to announce the launch of a regenerative agriculture project in partnership with Primient, a leading U.S. producer of plant-based ingredients. This strategic partnership represents a significant step forward in Sustainea’s commitment to driving positive impact across the entire value chain.

The project will support approximately 1,000 acres of farmland in the region of Lafayette, Indiana – a state located in the heart of the U.S. Corn Belt, with high corn productivity and ranking among the top five producers in the country – focused on advancing regenerative agricultural practices that improve soil health, increase carbon sequestration, avoid greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce environmental impact.

“Regenerative agriculture is a real opportunity to tackle climate change while strengthening rural American communities in the U.S. Midwest. By working directly with local farmers and trusted partners, we´re supporting practices that enable long-term, generational success of the industry,” said Gustavo Sergi, CEO at Sustainea. “We’re proud to collaborate with Primient and work alongside Indiana farmers, building a low-carbon future,” he continues.

 

Strategic Partnerships for Regenerative Agriculture

This project is the result of Sustainea’s ongoing collaboration with Primient, who is also the over-the-fence partner in the development of the first U.S. Bio-MEG facility. This partnership is the first step toward promoting large-scale regenerative agriculture practices in the Lafayette region. It also ensures that corn—the plant-based raw material used in Sustainea’s Bio-MEG production—is responsibly sourced.

“Primient has been working since 2018 to increase adoption of regenerative agriculture practices in the U.S. Midwest. Our program helps to decarbonize our main raw material – corn – and drive resilience through our agricultural supply chain. We are excited to partner with Sustainea to make an even bigger impact together,” said Laura Kowalski, Head of Sustainability and Marketing at Primient.

Primient’s program provides farmers with the tools, insights, and economic support needed to scale regenerative practices locally, including no till farming, crop rotation, reduced fertilizer use, and cover crops. Using advanced technology, the program empowers farmers to monitor and measure the environmental outcomes of their operations.

 

Scaling Sustainable Innovation.

Sustainea’s Bio-MEG—produced from renewable, plant-based feedstocks—is a drop-in solution that helps customers significantly reduce their carbon footprint without compromising quality or performance. As the company prepares to scale operations in the U.S., local regenerative sourcing is central to its long-term business and sustainability strategy.

Sustainea’s Bio-MEG facility is expected to begin operations in 2028, processing the equivalent of 42,000 bushels of corn per day, with the capacity to avoid up to 400,000 tons of CO₂e emissions per year by replacing petroleum-based MEG with Sustainea’s low-carbon, plant-based alternative. Once the facility reaches full operation, the company plans to scale its regenerative agriculture program with three main components in mind: local support to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture practices, data collection to gain insights on our supply shed, and investment in on-farm regenerative agriculture practices.

“This initiative strengthens our commitment to designing a system that creates value at every level – from the way feedstock is sourced to the final products delivered.” said Gustavo Sergi, CEO at Sustainea. “By implementing this initiative, we give our partners and customers greater visibility into their supply chain and the ability to take measurable steps toward reducing their environmental footprint,” he added.

News reinforces support for sustainability initiatives and Athian’s model for facilitating verifiable change across food supply chains

Indianapolis — November 19, 2025 — Athian announced today that it has facilitated $18 million in payments to farmers since 2024, financially rewarding them for implementing emissions-reducing practices, including innovative feed ingredients and alternative manure management. Athian, which was founded in 2022 to connect food companies with farmers in their supply chains to achieve Scope 3 goals, also announced it successfully completed a $4 million Series A funding round. These milestones not only signal the food industry’s continued commitment to sustainability goals but also demonstrate the credibility of Athian’s unique, technology-driven model.

New investors include Ajinomoto Group Ventures; Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) Cultivate Next Fund; and Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ), through its impact investing platform, Sustainable Futures. Along with Athian’s seed investors – the Australian Agriculture Company; California Dairies, Inc.; Elanco Animal Health Incorporated; dsm-firmenich Ventures; Newtrient, LLC; and Tyson Ventures – these funding partners span the breadth of the food supply chain, from global leaders in protein production to ingredient manufacturing, consumer-packaged goods companies and food service. These investors will help inform Athian’s continued growth as it expands its capabilities and reach to accommodate new species and international markets.

“Athian’s original vision was to bring together companies from every step in the food supply chain to deliver a more resilient and sustainable product to consumers,” said Paul Myer, Athian founder and CEO. “Our new funding partners are helping us achieve that vision by supporting our industry-wide effort to give credit to farmers, processors and food companies for their sustainability efforts.”

Athian helps farmers adopt science-based practices, called protocols, by selling the verified outcomes to downstream partners, such as CPGs, grocery stores and restaurants. These food brands then claim and report project outcomes as Scope 3 insets that help make credible progress toward their corporate goals, reward producers for on-farm reductions and meet increasing consumer demand for sustainable products. Learn more about how Athian’s process works.

“At Mondelēz, we are interested in sparking and scaling change,” said Susanne Mathis-Alig at Mondelēz, which established its Sustainable Futures platform in 2021 to support impact investments in circularity, community and climate. “The Athian model has the potential to help us achieve our business goals by measurably addressing key challenges, such as expanding adoption of emissions-reducing practices and delivering ROI to farmers so they can be successful for generations to come.”

Athian announced the first sale of verified insets to Dairy Farmers of America, the largest U.S. milk marketing cooperative, in January 2024. Since then, major accomplishments have included:

Athian’s technology helps food companies achieve their Scope 3 emissions goals by making the process more predictable, efficient and trustworthy for credible progress reporting. Reductions achieved through the supply chain partnerships Athian facilitates are improving the footprint of dairy products such as milk, cheese and dairy ingredients.

“Chipotle’s Cultivate Next investment in Athian furthers our mission to Cultivate a Better World by addressing emissions from areas like animal agriculture and developing innovative solutions that will make lasting change,” stated Curt Garner, President, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Chipotle. “By 2030, we aim to report a 50% reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions from a 2019 base year and with tools that incentivize on-farm GHG reductions, it will help companies like ours that are sourcing the materials to achieve these ambitious goals.”

This funding round will help Athain continue to grow and integrate additional capabilities, such as:

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