Accelerator is Underway!
Great innovation starts with answering one question: what problem are you uniquely positioned to solve?
Velocity is an agbioscience accelerator focused in three critical areas: food is health, bioinnovation and farmer-focused innovation. Guided by research and strong mentorship, participants ranging from students, start-ups and existing companies will create solutions to defined challenges. Velocity culminates with a $25,000 prize for each track and an opportunity to move big ideas forward.
The 2026 Velocity accelerator runs from July to November and will conclude with a Demo Day and awards presentation.
Empowering innovators to move big ideas forward.
In partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance, Velocity tasks students, startups and existing companies with creating solutions to defined challenges in three critical areas: bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health.
Meet the Cohort
BioInnovation
Developing technology that unlocks powerful markets for bio-based products, including focuses on gene editing for operational simplicity, mid-scale biomanufacturing and fermentation infrastructure, and agricultural waste stream biorefinery transformations.
BioFique, Inc.
BioFique, Inc. is a plant-derived natural ingredient platform with an initial use case of improving animal protein production efficiency by addressing animal gut health and disease in poultry, swine and ruminant production. The result is improved feed conversion ratio and increased weight gain, two significant levers impacting producer return on investment, as well as reduced enteric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Led by CEO Nassir Patel, BioFique’s natural ingredient can be used standalone or complementary to existing feed or pharma solutions including antibiotics, vaccines or probiotics.
ClearLeaf
ClearLeaf uses patented technology that is organic certified in the EU and Japan to provide a line of safe fungicides and bactericides for agricultural use with pre- and post-harvest solutions for several crops including specialty crops, row crops, vegetables and ornamentals. The solution, GotaBlanca, is currently sold in six Latin American countries and since going to market, has sold over $2 million in products. ClearLeaf is led by its CSO and Co-Founder Agustin Buchert.
Ecoatex
Ecoatex converts agricultural byproducts into bio-based material inputs for packaging, coatings, nonwovens, fibers, composites and specialty applications. Its platform produces cellulose inputs, functional nanocellulose, lignin-derived materials and bio-based coatings that help manufacturers reduce reliance on petroleum-derived and PFAS-based materials. Ecoatex is led by founder and CEO Raha Saremi.
NAKI
NAKI, led by founder and CEO Barak Manbar, is an environmental technology company that transforms high-cost food industry waste (sludge) into high-value, sustainable raw materials on-site. NAKI creates a profitable and regulatory-compliant circular economy model by solving a major waste problem for food factories and delivering carbon-negative local feedback that drastically reduces emission scores.
Farmer-Focused Innovation
Leveraging technology to assist farmers with some of the most critical issues facing their operations; including farm data intelligence and interoperability, regulatory navigation and compliance automation, and human-out-of-loop automation for labor-intensive operations.
AgriTerra
AgriTerra is a farmland intelligence platform that consolidates the soil, water, conservation, renewable energy and market data scattered across eight-plus federal agencies into a single instant analysis for any U.S. parcel. Its flagship product, Land Scout, lets a farmer or landowner type an address or draw a parcel and compare four futures for the same acres side by side in dollars: farm it, cash-rent it, enroll it in conservation or lease it for solar or wind. AgriTerra is led by Co-Founder Tim Fulton.
AgroNet ZERO
AgroNet ZERO is developing SoilSync, an AI-enabled decision platform that helps farmers, advisers and input suppliers evaluate where regenerative inputs and practices are most effective. Initially focused on biochar, the platform is designed to expand to other regenerative solutions, including compost, manure-derived inputs and biostimulants. The company is led by Chief Research Officer Tetiana McLemore.
Fallow Ag
is a risk translation layer connecting farmers and lenders, converting a farm’s real, non-standard risk profile into a standard that capital providers can underwrite. The company uses a proprietary risk model and translation layer that turns messy, farm-level data (operational, agronomic and financial) into a standardized score a lender can use. Fallow is led by CEO Naveed Iqbal.
Verility, Inc.
Verility, Inc., led by CEO and Co-Founder Liane Hart, is revolutionizing livestock reproduction with a low-cost, non-invasive, mobile fertility diagnostic, called Fertile-Eyez, bringing lab-grade accuracy on-farm. Its AI-driven, handheld system pinpoints the optimal breeding window for sows and gilts, reducing failed inseminations, cutting semen doses, labor and costs, while boosting herd productivity.
Food is Health
Developing and accelerating innovation that increases food and nutrition access and enables food as a driver of health, giving opportunities across the agricultural and health care value chains to positively impact healthier lives, communities and environment.
Arylium, Inc.
Arylium, Inc. is developing therapeutics and dietary supplements based on a novel class of small molecules in turmeric, creating a unique intersection between agriculture and biotechnology through the cultivation of a high-value medicinal crop as a source of pharmaceutical ingredients. The company’s lead programs focus on neurological and metabolic diseases and are supported by proprietary preclinical data and an exclusive position around a newly identified drug target with applications across multiple therapeutic areas. Arylium is led by CEO Alexander Crawford.
ClearPRO
ClearPRO is developing a specialty whey protein technology that enables clear, heat-stable, high-protein beverages with improved taste, clarity and clean-label appeal. Their process modifies whey protein functionality to help beverage and ingredient manufacturers create shelf-stable clear protein drinks without excessive additives, bitterness, sedimentation or cloudiness after thermal processing. ClearPRO is a product of Purdue University, led by Sunandita Ghosh.
Crossroads Life Sciences
Crossroads Life Sciences is a biotechnology company focused on developing naturally occurring cembranoids, particularly 4R-cembranoid (4R), a nicotine-free compound synthesized on the surface of tobacco leaves and flowers, into products that support brain health (neuroprotection, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, neuroinflammation, organophosphate and nerve-agent exposure). The company plans to continue exploration of their broader therapeutic potential through future scientific and clinical research. The company is led by CEO Dina Ferchmin.
Yellowwood Farmstop and Cafe
Yellowwood Farmstop and Cafe puts hard-earned money back in farmers’ pockets, while providing a retail outlet for local food. Indianapolis has several grocery options, but none with Yellowwood’s specific geographic focus and mission-driven model. The retail market gives its farm and food partners 70 percent of the sale of each item and builds curated grocery boxes built on food-is-medicine partnerships. Yellowwood Farmstop and Cafe is led by Director of Cafe Operations Anna Holloway.
Explore Challenge Research
Priority Areas for Indiana's Agbioscience Future
Conducted by Arrowpoint Labs, the study entitled Advancing Innovation: Priority Areas for Indiana’s Agbioscience Future, updates the sector’s economic impact in Indiana, synthesizes insights from key state and national agbioscience leaders and provides problem statements for the innovation community – from students to startups and existing companies – to solve through Velocity.
What problem will you uniquely solve?
Velocity Innovators can focus on one of three critical areas:
BioInnovation
Develop technology that unlocks powerful markets for bio-based products, including focuses on gene editing for operational
simplicity, mid-scale biomanufacturing and fermentation infrastructure, and agricultural waste stream biorefinery
transformations. Challenges include:
- Advance gene editing technologies delivering enhanced crop traits (climate resilience, nutritional density, nitrogen-use efficiency) through improved seed varieties that minimize operational change requirements.
- Advance technologies enabling modular, flexible mid-scale fermentation and bioprocessing infrastructure that support pilot and scaling of precision fermentation, microbial strain engineering, and bio-based chemical production domestically.
- Develop enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, and chemical conversion technologies transforming high-volume agricultural waste streams into high-value bioplastics, biochemicals, specialty food ingredients, and advanced materials at commercial scale with positive economics.
Farmer Focused Innovation
Leverage technology to assist farmers with some of the most critical issues facing their operations; including farm data
intelligence and interoperability, regulatory navigation and compliance automation, and human-out-of-loop automation for
labor-intensive operations. Challenges to address include:
- Build unified farm data platforms that consolidate 500,000+ daily data points from fragmented systems into predictive decision support tools that demonstrate clear ROI and integrate seamlessly with existing farm operations.
- Develop automated compliance and regulatory navigation platforms that reduce time burden of complex EPA pesticide point systems, conservation program paperwork, and multi-jurisdictional requirements while maintaining farmer access to essential chemistry and economic incentives
- Create autonomous equipment and AI-enabled robotics for complex farm tasks (specialty crop harvesting, livestock management, processing operations) that deliver under 2-year ROI, mitigate skilled labor needs, and integrate with existing farm infrastructure.
Food Is Health
Develop and accelerate innovation that increases food and nutrition access and enables food as a driver of health, giving
opportunities across the agricultural and healthcare value chains to positively impact healthier lives, communities and
environment. Challenges to address include:
- Build platforms connecting farmers to healthcare payers, CPG companies, and health-conscious consumers that enable transparent pricing premiums for nutrient-dense crops, identity-preserved supply chains at commercial scale, and measurable clinical outcome tracking.
- Develop data collection, integration, and analytics platforms demonstrating measurable clinical outcomes (ER visit reduction, hospitalization decrease, medication use reduction) from food interventions, enabling sustainable business cases for healthcare payers beyond temporary grant funding
- Develop protein-enriched ingredients and functional food components that integrate seamlessly into existing CPG manufacturing processes while improving macronutrient profiles and meeting consumer requirements.
An accelerator program for innovators. Get started with us today!
2026 Timeline
Challenge Released
Application Deadline
Accelerator Runs
Demo Day
Directionally Speaking
Meet the entrepreneurs and innovators in last year’s Velocity cohort.
Explore Challenge Resources
Demo Day Speakers
Maggie Bowden
Program Director Elevance Health Foundation
Brad Fruth
Director of Innovation Beck’s Hybrids
Allan Gray
Executive Director DIAL Ventures
Megan Ritter
Chief Administrative Officer Indiana Farm Bureau
Congratulations to our 2025 Velocity Winners!
Chicago, Ill.-based Integrated Dynamics, Indianapolis, Ind.-based NanoBio Designs and South Bend, Ind.-based NutriPop have won Velocity in 2025, securing each company $25,000 to advance their tech-enabled businesses that address many of the toughest challenges facing the food and agbioscience economy.
