Thousands of H-2A Grower/Employer customers in 45 states, nationwide investors, and a mission to digitally transform agribusiness operations.

Croft Technology, Inc., “Your Digital H-2A Farm Manager,” has reached new milestones in serving labor-intensive agribusinesses. By replacing inefficient and costly manual workflows, Croft’s collaborative, configurable, and affordable online software is digitally transforming farm office operations across 45 states for greater efficiency, savings, compliance, and profitability.

With 2,000% revenue growth over the past 12 months and customers spanning nearly 95% of the U.S., Croft is redefining how farms manage back-office activities and workforce operations. Through Croft Connect (for H-2A growers/employers), Croft Case Manager (for H-2A agents), and Croft Recruiter (for H-2A recruiters), the platform streamlines farm office activities year-round for every participant in the H-2A ecosystem – preseason (incl. onboarding), midseason, end-of-season, and postseason. The result is a seamless experience for farm owners, their staff, workers (domestic and H-2A seasonal), H-2A agents, and recruiters.

“For years, H-2A farm managers of both large and small farms have turned to Croft to modernize their operations to enhance their business viability. They appreciate how accessible, farm-focused, and cost-effective our platform is, and they’ve been instrumental in sharing Croft with their peers,” said Scott Prince, CEO of Croft.

A Nationwide Network of Support

Formed and venture-backed by Purdue University’s College of Agriculture DIAL Ventures in 2022, Croft secured additional investment in 2024 from a national network of strategic, ag-centric investors. This group includes investors from Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, and California. These investors bring deep expertise and provide local presence in regions where Croft’s customer base continues to expand.

“Croft’s platform is revolutionizing how farms handle back-office and workforce management,” said Ben Williamson, Managing Partner at Grit Road Partners, the lead investor in the round. “As ‘Your Digital H-2A Farm Manager,’ Croft simplifies labor management while delivering measurable results for the ag industry.”

Looking Ahead to 2025

Croft now serves thousands of H-2A employers, supporting a diverse range of farm sizes and types, from large-scale operations to smaller farms, farm labor contractors, with specialization across row crops, seed production, fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural sectors. In 2025, Croft plans to enhance its digital platform with new features and expanded capabilities tailored to meet the needs of this broad farming community.

“Croft is a B2B SaaS company delivering immediate ROI for our H-2A customers,” said Prince. “Streamlining farm back-office activities remains our core mission, and we’re building Croft Business Intelligence to deliver strategic, actionable insights for farm profitability. This innovation will help growers make better enterprise decisions while transforming some expensive fixed costs into controllable, affordable variable costs.”

The Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge, now in its 11th year, provides opportunities for Farm Bureau members to showcase business innovations being developed for agriculture. Indiana-based Gripp is the winner of this year’s competition. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, announced the winner from among four finalists at the 2025 American Farm Bureau Convention.

Gripp received a total of $100,000 to grow the business. Tracey Wiedmeyer, an Indiana Farm Bureau member, is team lead for the company, which offers farmers an operator-centric way to keep records of assets in combination with communication tools to keep everyone connected.

Labby was named runner-up in the contest and received a total of $25,000. Julia Somerdin, a New York Farm Bureau member, is team lead for the company, which develops cutting-edge, real-time milk testing solutions powered by AI, advanced photonics and mobile spectroscopy for the dairy industry.

“We’ve doubled the prize and doubled the impact for this year’s Ag Innovation Challenge,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “The entrepreneurs honored today are helping shape the future of agriculture by finding innovative solutions to the challenges faced by farmers and ranchers.”

The final four teams that competed in San Antonio were selected from a field of 10 semi-finalist teams that participated in a virtual pitch round in October with three judges representing various sectors of the agricultural supply chain.

Halio from Utah and RhizeBio from North Carolina also reached the final four round of the competition and received $10,000 each.

The Ag Innovation Challenge winner and runner-up were selected by a three-person judging panel: Rosella Mosby, president, Washington Farm Bureau; Martha Smith, vice president of stakeholder relations, Bayer Crop Science; and Ray Behrens, senior relationships manager, Capital Farm Credit.

Farm Bureau is proud to recognize these innovative businesses, in partnership with sponsors Farm Credit, Bayer Crop Science, John Deere, Farm Bureau Bank, Farm Bureau Financial Services and T-Mobile. Learn more about the competition at fb.org/challenge.

Much has changed in agbioscience over the last three decades. We’ve seen the introduction of gene editing technologies, new digital capabilities, even autonomy. One leader has had a front-row seat to these innovations. He’ll soon retire, but joins us today to share perspective on where we’ve been and where we’re headed. Dan Dawes, Senior Director of Strategy and Growth at AgriNovus joins us to talk about his career and the highlight reel of groundbreaking innovations in agbioscience. We get into:

Keeping the heart of the heartland requires two key things when we think about growing small towns, cities and rural economies: big vision and lots of hard work. Today’s guest is no stranger to either and shares a great perspective on how one small community in the Midwest is reimagining itself into an epicenter of innovation. Nichole Like, CEO of The Pantheon, an innovation engine in Vincennes, Indiana joins us to talk:

According to AgFunder News, gene editing startups have raised $2.7 billion since 2012 in pursuit of technologies that advance everything from crop performance to yield. Today we are joined by a pioneer in science at the largest pure play agriculture company in the world. Dr. Wendy Srnic, VP of Biotechnology at Corteva Agriscience, to talk gene editing and its future. We get into:

Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research at Purdue University, has announced that she will retire June 30.

A national search will be launched immediately to identify Plaut’s successor. Lucy Flesch, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science and professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences, will chair a search advisory committee. The full committee will be announced next week.

“As Dr. Plaut plans her retirement from the university, we offer our deepest appreciation for her tremendous contributions. She has made multifaceted and outstanding contributions to Purdue since 2010, including these two and half years as EVP for research,” Purdue President Mung Chiang said. “In particular, she pioneered Purdue’s efforts in the Institute for Physical AI, the Purdue Applied Research Institute and One Health; created new partnerships with national labs, the Department of Defense, the Indianapolis ecosystem and private sector; launched dozens of impactful efforts to support research by faculty, staff and PhD students; and activated both new software and AI tools and hardware infrastructure for almost every department and every research institute and center on campus. Record funding throughout the sponsored research pipeline is but one reflection of her leadership as she helped enhance the very culture of research excellence at scale at Purdue, which the whole Purdue team will continue to rapidly advance in the many years to come.”

Since assuming her current position in January 2023, Plaut has fostered an environment for research and collaboration by helping to build interdisciplinary relationships between researchers for broader impact. The results have been most visible in her success in several key research areas:

Plaut’s successes are also evident in the continued growth of Purdue’s research portfolio, which surpassed $3 billion in fiscal year 2024. She has developed or relaunched programs aimed at providing internal funding to seed research, increased support for large multidisciplinary grants, streamlined processes and incentivized faculty success.

Plaut came to Purdue in 2010 as associate dean for research for the College of Agriculture, was named senior associate dean of research and faculty affairs in 2013 and became the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture in 2018. With the college’s focus on digital agriculture and data science, its ranking rose to No. 4 in the U.S. and No. 8 in the world. Under Plaut’s direction, the Purdue Moves and Next Moves investments in the Institute for Plant Sciences positioned Purdue as a global leader in developing and delivering innovation, technology and human capacity in plant phenomics, digital forestry and consumer behavior.

A researcher at heart, Plaut has approximately 100 publications focused on mammary gland biology and has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and NASA.

Plaut received her bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University of Vermont. She went on to receive a master’s degree in animal nutrition from Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in animal science from Cornell University. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health and was a faculty member at the University of Vermont and Michigan State University, serving as chair of the Department of Animal Sciences at both institutions. Plaut also worked with NASA as lead scientist for the International Space Station Biological Research Project.

According to Zion Market Research, the ag biological products market is expected to grow to $320 billion over the next decade. With a huge connection to agbioscience, what does it mean for farmers? What does it mean for agbioscience innovators? Kicking off season 8 of Agbioscience is BioBond CEO Marc McConnaughey. We get into:

Velocity empowers innovators to develop solutions in bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health; Registration deadline is January 24

AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to grow the agbioscience economy, announced today the launch of Velocity, a six-month agbioscience accelerator to inspire the creation of tech-enabled businesses to address many of the toughest challenges facing the food and agbioscience economy.

In partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Elevance Health, Beck’s Hybrids and Ag Alumni Seed, Velocity challenges students, startups and existing companies to create solutions to fill research-defined gaps in three critical areas: bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health. The entrepreneur who presents the top solution in each of these three gaps will receive $25,000.

“Bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health are the top three forces of change that will shape the next chapter of our agbioscience economy,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus. “Velocity creates a powerful new platform for innovators to explore these forces, identify unique approaches to address the opportunities they create and develop solutions to uniquely solve some of the world’s toughest challenges in agbioscience – from the future of food to improving farm profitability.”

Velocity’s central focus on addressing the three forces of change include:

BioInnovation

There is an unprecedented demand for bio-based innovation globally as many are increasingly look to replace petrochemicals with renewable solutions, such as alternative fuels, green chemistry and more sustainable and bio-based products – from packaging to cosmetics. Needed innovations may include:

Farmer Focused Innovation

Farmers face compounding risks – from weather variability and variable commodity markets to regulatory uncertainty and ever-evolving consumer preferences – adding uncertainty to a challenging business. Needed innovations may include:

Food is Health
Fourteen percent of all households in the United States experience food insecurity, adults in those households are 15.3 percent more likely to have chronic illnesses and 19 percent of commercially insured patients over the age of 18 list access to healthy food as a health-related social need. Needed innovations may include:

Velocity’s three tracks will be guided by research and strong mentorship throughout the six-month accelerator. The program will culminate with a demo day event and winning check presentations on June 18, 2025.

Companies, individuals and entrepreneurs who want to participate in Velocity can access more information and a registration link here. The deadline to register is January 24, 2025.

The launch of Velocity aligns with a recent report from EntreWorks in partnership with AgriNovus and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP). The study, Unlocking IP: Leveraging Indiana’s R&D Assets to Boost Entrepreneurship, recommends continued growth of challenge series to further entrepreneurship and innovation across the state. Velocity is an evolution of AgriNovus’ previous Innovation Challenge Series focused on farmer innovation and food security.

Winners to be announced at Mira gala in February 2025

TechPoint, the industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s digital innovation economy, today announced the finalists for the 2025 Mira Awards, commonly known as “The Oscars of Indiana Tech.”

The 133 finalists emerged from 221 submissions that were evaluated by a team of independent judges. Twenty awards – including one Emerging Leader and two Tech Company of the Year awards – will be presented at the Mira gala at The Palladium in Carmel on February 27, 2025.

“Mira is always a very special time of the year for the entire community to come together,” said TechPoint President and CEO Ting Gootee. “The live judging was an uplifting experience to see so many innovators mingling and talking about what they are building for the future.”

Now in its 26th year, TechPoint’s Mira Awards are designed to elevate the most innovative companies in Indiana’s tech ecosystem. Thousands of Indiana digital innovation companies have sought the annual recognition, but only 329 Mira Awards have been presented. Learn more about the Mira Awards here.

Mira finalists are highlighted below by award categories. Additional awards that do not identify finalists are Deal of the Year, TechPoint Trailblazer, TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s Bridge Builder Award and Nextech K12 Computer Science Teacher of the Year.

AgriNovus Indiana Agbioscience Innovation Award

 

BioCrossroads Life Sciences Innovation Team Award

 

Community Impact Award

 

Conexus Indiana Manufacturing Innovation Award

 

Digital Transformation of the Year

 

Exceptional Employer of the Year

 

Higher Education Innovation Award

 

Resilience Award

 

Rising Entrepreneur of the Year

 

Innovation Service Partner of the Year

 

Startup of the Year

 

Talent Impact

 

Tech Company of the Year 

 

Tech Innovation of the Year

 

Emerging Tech Leader of the Year

Food is the only economy in the world that touches every person on the planet. We are all connected to food, and one of the world’s top marketers turned entrepreneur is now making the connection between farms, food, and people. Scott Nelson, CEO of Make Hay, joins us to talk all things consumers and connecting to the meaningful world of agriculture. We get into:

The existing gap between farms, food and people – and the opportunity to leverage today’s media landscape to connect all three.
His time at Panera and how it shaped his viewpoint on storytelling for brands.
How Scott’s background brought him to Make Hay + what the company aims to do.
Make Hay’s relationship with Purdue’s DIAL Ventures and High Alpha, and how it’s accelerating their business.
Scott’s vision for Make Hay – creating content for food transparency at scale, consumer awareness and farmers at the center of it all.
Where Make Hay is at today and what’s ahead.

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