Gene editing in plants – it’s been heralded as the next step-function change in the advancement of agriculture. One Indiana company is advancing the technology fresh off a $144 million venture capital raise. Claudia Nari, Chief Product Officer of Inari, joins today to talk through this historic time for gene editing and biotechnology at large. They get into:
A self-adhesive, lab-grade and food-grade film called SoyShield earned the $20,000 grand prize in the 31st annual Student Soybean Innovation Competition during the awards ceremony on Wednesday evening at the Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, Ind. This year’s event added a new soy-based food innovation track, which was won by a high-protein snack called Soy Straws.
The Student Soybean Innovation Competition is a partnership between the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Purdue University. ISA awarded more than $35,000 to four teams that created new products in the industry track. In the soy-based food track, five teams earned a total of $11,000. To win these competitions, Purdue University students must develop innovative applications for soybeans. More than 100 students completed the competition through the two tracks comprised of 31 teams.
“The goal of the competition is to highlight the versatility of soybeans while addressing a need in agriculture or the general public,” said ISA Board Chair Denise Scarborough, a farmer from LaCrosse, Ind. “ISA looks forward to working with Purdue students each year and seeing what unique products they create. The products made by these students can expand opportunities and markets for all Indiana soybean growers. We are excited about SoyShield and Soy Straws.”
Nineteen teams of 62 students with 21 faculty advisors competed in this year’s industrial soy products track.
SoyShield is a 100 percent biodegradable, highly elastic, self-adhesive lab-grade and food-grade film designed to be used in commercial laboratory settings for sealing chemical containers, while also being suitable for home use as an alternative to plastic wrap. SoyShield was created by Purdue University students Claire Eckhardt, Nicholas Emge and Leah Hartzell. Both Eckhardt and Emge are sophomores majoring in environmental and natural resources engineering. Eckhardt is from Albuquerque, N.M., and Emge is from O’Fallon, Mo. Hartzell is a sophomore from Miami, Fla., majoring in agricultural engineering.
Originally intended for a laboratory market, SoyShield is an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum-based films. The SoyShield team said there is a growing need for biodegradable solutions for one-use-only materials as many university-based laboratories are adopting new environmental standards. Due to its soybean ingredients, SoyShield has the added benefit of being able to replace plastic wrap in kitchens for preserving food. Because SoyShield is permeable, there may be additional uses for this product.
“In the home consumer market, there is a great need for elastic films to seal food,” Eckhardt said. “Additionally, the permeable and compostable nature of SoyShield makes it much less of a choking hazard for children in the home compared to non-permeable plastic counterparts currently on the market.”
Each student said they were pleased with the experience of participating in the Student Soybean Innovation Competition. “Participating in this competition has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” Hartzell said. “Co-creating SoyShield has helped me gain a deeper understanding of the business and marketing aspects of a project rather than solely focusing on technical skills. Being able to see our vision come to life in the lab and then working with my teammates to continually improve our prototype was such a gratifying process.”
The soy-based food innovation track was a new addition to the competition this year. The competition required students to develop novel high-protein snack items using soy. In total, 12 teams all of whom are College of Agriculture students who worked with Purdue Food Science Department to create products made with the food grade facilities on campus competed for top prize.
Soy Straws, a lightweight, shelf-stable snack that resembles an egg roll cookie from Spain called a barquilleros, earned the $5,000 top prize in the first-ever Student Soy Food Competition. The creators of Soy Straws said they offer the ability to deliver a variety of flavors and a simple manufacturing process. The product’s marketing plan said Soy Straws are a crispy, high protein snack with 15 grams of protein and 0 trans fats. The winning team called themselves The Edemamas and featured Purdue students Anna Hicks, Rong Yang and Sara Thomason.
“Getting crispy products can be a little bit tricky, especially a protein snack,” Hicks said. “It can be a little bit tricky to get the textures you want. There is a lot of trial and error with different formulations to get the texture you want. We were really excited when we were brainstorming because those crispy round snacks aren’t currently on the market.”
In addition to the other prizes, the more than 400 attendees of the Student Soybean Innovation Competition Awards Ceremony could each vote for their favorite product for the $500 People’s Choice award. This prize was officially renamed in honor Dr. Rodolfo Pinal, Associate Professor of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics who died in December 2024. Pinal was a frequent faculty advisor for students in this competition, many of whom were prize winners, including the past two winning teams.
This year’s award went to SoyCare, soybean-based diapers that provide a cost-effective, highly biodegradable and renewable solution to meet a growing demand. The integration of soy-based absorbent technology and soy-derived fabric ensures high absorbency, comfort and complete biodegradability – which is important with diapers significantly filling U.S. landfills. The SoyCare team members include Soumil Gupta, who plans to major in chemical engineering; Mary Busayo Oluyemi, a doctoral student in the Department of Food Science; and Himanjali Tavva, a freshman food science major.
The contest introduces Purdue students to the multi-faceted uses and vast potential of soybeans while drawing on students’ creativity to develop products that utilize soy.
“Indiana soybean checkoff funds are used, in part, to find new uses and new markets for our soybeans – creating more demand and higher value uses to help our farms to be more profitable and sustainable,” said ISA Board Director Jenna Scott, a farmer from Muncie, Ind., at chair of ISA’s Sustainability and Value Creation Committee. “The Student Soybean Innovation Competition allows ISA to create relationships with bright and creative students and their advisors at Purdue. Products from this contest have the potential to help us increase the value of the soybeans we grow.”
The students involved in the competition represented a variety of majors including agronomy, biological engineering, animal science, pharmacy and environmental and natural resource engineering. Each team works with two faculty advisors who provide technical and market research support. Many advisors worked with more than one team of students.
This year’s industrial track judges included four ISA board members: Allen Buchanan of Fowler, Ind.; David Hardin of Avon, Ind.; Roger Wenning of Greensburg, Ind.; and Brian Warpup of Warren, Ind. Also three industry experts served as judges including Dan Dawes with AgriNovus, Dr. Clayton Westerman of BioBond Adhesives and Brit Walker with ADM.
The food track judges were ISA Board Directors, Jenna Scott and Andrew McDaniel, a farmer from Waldron, Ind., Soy Nutrition Institute Global CEO Julie Ohmen, Purdue Food Science professor Dr. Owen Jones and Egglife Foods Research and Development scientist Audra Craft.
Earning second place this year, and a $10,000 prize, were the creators of SoySleek, a soy-based shampoo bar. SoySleek is made with natural, chemical-free ingredients. Each ingredient was chosen to produce healthy, shiny hair that maintains the hair’s natural oils and color. The bar is concentrated with cleansing, longevity, and eco-friendly properties.
The SoySleek team members include three Purdue sophomores including Riya Miglani, a biological engineering major; Shreya Prakash, a mechanical engineering major; and Angelus Vanhappilly, an industrial engineering major.
Finishing third, and earning a $5,000 prize, were the creators of PuraSoy, a multi-purpose pad. PuraSoy is a 100 percent soy-based, dry multi-purpose pad product made with two pure soy-based ingredients. It is gentle on a variety of surfaces including skin, face, glassware and dishes. PuraSoy has a silky feeling and has soybeans incorporated in every aspect of the production process, including the base pad and the wax used. The PuraSoy team consists of Jocelyn Erickson, a freshman majoring in industrial engineering, and Jessica Parks, a freshman majoring in supply chain and operations management.
Earning the $3,000 second prize was Team Senbabes, which created a snack called Senbae that is based on a traditional Japanese rice cracker. The developers of Senbae said these soy-based snacks include vital micronutrient and antioxidant properties that are beneficial for consumers. The crackers come in flavors such as miso paste, curry powder and soy sauce. The Purdue students who make up Team Senbabes are Natcha Ngaosuphanvongs and Karn Phureesitr.
Taking the $2,000 third prize was a plant-based jerky called Tempehrados. This jerky combines a nutritious Indonesian food known as tempeh with bold Mexican flavors such as Chile Ancho, Chile Colorado and Chili Flakes. Tempeh is rich in vitamins and minerals, including riboflavin and manganese. All of the Mexican flavors are balanced with the sweetness of natural honey. The Tempehrados team is made up of three Purdue students: Shams Adigozalzade, Claudia Guillen and Nicolas Rosy.
Indiana soybean farmers’ investment in finding new soybean innovations is not limited to the competition. The state soybean checkoff also funds the Soybean Utilization Endowed Chair at Purdue’s College of Agriculture, Dr. Nathan Mosier, to lead research into new uses for soybeans. Also attending the awards ceremony was United Soybean Board CEO Lucas Lentsch. The United Soybean Board is the national soybean checkoff program, and Lentsch said developing new products is a focus for the future.
Click here for more details on ISA’s investment in soybean innovation. To watch the awards ceremony, go online to Purdue’s YouTube page here.
A 400-sow study conducted in 2024 has validated that sow insemination protocols using Verility Inc.’s fertility analysis technology called Fertile-EyeTM delivered comparable pregnancy and embryo rates to traditional breeding protocols while requiring fewer semen doses, heat tests and boar exposure days, which led to a reduction in overall breeding system labor.
Verility CEO Liane Hart said the bottom line of using the patented Fertile-Eyez technology was a 1.6 return on investment for swine breeders and producers. She earned her bachelor’s degree in animal sciences and her master’s degree in breeding and genetics from Purdue University’s College of Agriculture.
“Both protocols delivered comparable performance, but the Verility protocol ultimately required only an average of 1.15 inseminations per sow compared to two per the standard breeding protocol,” she said. “So a single insemination using Fertile-Eyez as part of the protocol had a comparable rate to traditional double insemination.”
Hart said the study revealed the following benefits of using Fertile-Eyez in sow insemination protocols compared to traditional methods:
“These results provide an opportunity to use high-indexing boar semen to accelerate genetic improvement in each herd,” Hart said. “Because we used fewer semen doses, we can now use the higher-indexing boars, which delivers a more productive and highly improved genetic-quality animal.”
AcuFast partnered with Verility by providing animals and study oversight.
“We have never seen results this positive with other ovulation interventions,” said Amanda Minton, AcuFast’s manager of swine reproductive solutions. “An additional benefit is that Fertile-Eyez is a diagnostic that works with the biology of the animal and not a hormone that is used to force ovulation.”
As a result of the study, Verility has received its final tranche of a $4 million total funding round from Nashville, Tennessee-based venture capital firm Mountain Group Partners.
“We are very excited about the progress and potential of Verility to transform production animal fertility through its Fertile-Eyez diagnostic and analytics platform,” said Rob Readnour, managing director at Mountain Group Partners. “We believe that Fertile-Eyez will play an important role in reducing labor and increasing production efficiency while accelerating genetic progress going forward.”
Hart will share results of the study with breeders and producers to continue to grow Verility.
“From this point onward, we are looking to conduct customer trials throughout 2025 and into 2026, picking up potential letters of intent and purchase orders,” she said. “And we’re also looking to close out a Series A-2 round of funding in July for initial commercialization efforts.”
Verility holds exclusive licensing rights to a suite of intellectual property developed by leading investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, where it was originally created and validated in humans.
“Now the technology has been validated across multiple species and applications,” Hart said. “These AI-driven technologies enable ovulation detection and semen analysis, leveraging smartphone-enabled solutions to deliver unprecedented accuracy and accessibility. Our portfolio includes issued patents across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia.
“With applications in both human and animal health, our technology stands at the forefront of reproductive diagnostics, empowering users with next-generation solutions that drive scientific advancement and global accessibility.”
Verility is a Purdue Strategic Ventures portfolio company.
Hart said Verility had begun marketing Fertile-Eyez focusing on analyzing semen quality, conducting a study that led to positive results and a peer-reviewed publication, but the company has pivoted to focus on ovulation.
“The sow ovulation market — ovulation for all species — is the Holy Grail of animal breeding,” she said. “It’s a difficult subject to tackle because it’s a complex biological process that can have much variability. Not only can it be influenced by external factors, but it can also have detection challenges since not all ways to track ovulation are accessible, affordable or accurate, and some can be downright invasive.
“The traditional way to determine which animals to inseminate and when has been done the same way for decades, whereas our work has validated the use of pioneering technology and data to make the process simpler, faster, and more efficient and profitable for breeders and producers.”
The Economic Policy Institute estimates there are 2.4 million employees in U.S. agriculture and Purdue finds that 40% of new ag jobs go unfilled. One entrepreneur is turning to computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics – maybe a little autonomy – to try to address these challenges facing farmers. Mike Jacob, founder and CEO of TerraForce, joins to talk farmer-led innovation, solving for the labor gap and jobs to be done. We get into:
Identifying customer needs – jobs to be done – it’s the core of innovation. But what are the jobs that need to be done? What are those things left undone as we head into the 2025 growing season? And what does the current economy, trade environment and overall farm sentiment mean for innovators and the farmers they serve? Brad Fruth, Director of Innovation at Beck’s Hybrids, joins this week to make sense of it all. We get into:
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) today announced billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist and investor Mark Cuban as the keynote speaker for the 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC 2025), which will be held in Indianapolis June 2-5, 2025. A graduate of Indiana University, Cuban has achieved significant success as an entrepreneur and investor. In addition to founding disruptive companies like Cost Plus Drugs, which is transforming the prescription drug market, Cuban has invested in hundreds of companies and has served as a lead investor featured on the Emmy-Award-winning show “Shark Tank” since 2011.
“Many of my business and entrepreneurship activities first took shape during my college days in Indiana,” said Cuban. “I look forward to returning to Indiana to share my story and engage with entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers from around the world.”
Hosted by GEN in a different rising entrepreneurial city each year, the GEC gathers thousands of delegates from 200 countries to share and strengthen innovative approaches to empowering entrepreneurs everywhere. Indianapolis will be the second U.S. location to host the annual convention since its inaugural event in 2009, underscoring the state’s focus on entrepreneurship.
“As an entrepreneur and business owner for 37 years, I understand the importance of supporting entrepreneurs in all stages as they drive our economy forward,” said Indiana Governor Mike Braun. “With an intentional approach to growth, long-term fiscal stability and lower costs, Indiana is one of the top-rated states to start a business. We are thrilled to host GEC 2025, welcoming thousands of guests from around the world to remove entrepreneurial barriers and build relationships.”
In addition to a compelling keynote from Mark Cuban and insightful talks from other global leaders, the GEC 2025 program includes informative summits, workshops and masterclasses, investor matchmaking, a government ministerial and networking events.
Over the course of four days, thought leaders will inspire and challenge new thinking, trends and opportunities. GEC 2025 is targeted toward company founders, investors, policymakers and entrepreneurial ecosystem builders, providing a specific track with curated content for each audience.
“The Global Entrepreneurship Congress unites bold changemakers committed to tackling the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Jonathan Ortmans, founder and president of GEN. “Visionary founders, forward-thinking policymakers, investors and support organizations from economies of all sizes will come together in the same room — turning ideas into action to fuel economic growth and drive meaningful change to expand human welfare.”
Indiana hosting GEC 2025 is another example of the state’s focus on cultivating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. Indiana was ranked as the No. 11 emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem in the U.S. per the latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report from Startup Genome and GEN. Last year, Forbes named Indiana the second-best state in America to start a business.
Sponsors for GEC 2025 include Indiana University, Eli Lilly & Company, University of Notre Dame and Google. A few sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information, reach out here.
To learn more about the GEC 2025 event in Indiana, visit www.gec.co.
