Recruitment for the next cohort of AgLaunch365 has begun! 

We’re looking for the next generation of agricultural innovation companies to join Phase I of our flagship program – AgLaunch365. Ideal applicants are addressing real world problems specifically targeting row crop production. Example problems include spray drift, herbicide resistant weeds, nitrogen and water management, automation and labor, robotics, precision planting, grain bin management and logistics. We are open to discussing other sectors and approaches so please let us know if you are interested and want to clarify if you would be considered.  AgLaunch365 participants will have access to investment capital, a fantastic network of farmers, and a proven process to grow really exciting companies in the agricultural innovation sector.  The application can be found HERE.

Sneed Brothers Farm.

Ray Sneed of Sneed Brothers Farm is a member of the AgLaunch Farmer Network a regional network trialing over a dozen new technologies this summer in row crops, vegetables, and livestock

Friends,

AgLaunch’s Schuyler Dalton moderates a panel of AgLaunch alumni startups at the Knoxville Bootcamp this week. Participating entrepreneurs were: Jairo Trad, Kilimo; Chinmay Soman, EarthSense; Zack James, Rabbit Tractors.

RSVP for upcoming field days on August 2 and August 9, 2018

Growing Acres Field Day

• WHEN: Thursday, August 2nd, 2018
  from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM (CDT)
• WHERE: Growing Acres Farm
  550 Lacefield Dr
  Savannah TN 38372 US

Agricenter Field Day

• WHEN: Thursday, August 9th, 2018
  from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM (CDT)
• WHERE: Agricenter International
  7777 Walnut Grove Road
  Memphis TN 38120 US

Ray Tyler from Rose Creek Farm shows us the control center for his new automatic roll-up sides & climate control system designed for small scale vegetable production.

AgLaunch in the News

• AgLaunch Bootcamp underway in Knoxville
• Rantizo mentioned in AgWeb blog on solutions for resistant weeds
• EarthSense’s TerreSentia robot featured in Science Daily
• Skycision’s Brandon Carrol featured in NASDAQ Interview
• Kilimo receives investment from Yield Lab
• Persistence Data Mining’s remote sensing management zones in Precision Ag
• AgriSync announces capital raise lef by Memphis-based Innova
• SwineTech on CNN
• GroGuru wins seed funding in Radicle Automation Program
• Rabbit Tractor, WISRAN, others to participate in Farm Progress Show with our friends at the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator
• Indigo Ag launches ag data platform
• The Seam forms Cotton Technology Alliance, brings data standards to industry
• Life in the Silicon Prairie: Tech’s great migration to the Midwest 
• Venture capitalists find rising market in rural America: data-loving farmers

Applications Open Until 08/13 for AgTech Startups to Participate in First Phase of AgLaunch365

Farm-Centric Program Assists in Field Trials & Attracting Investment

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (July 17, 2018) – AgLaunch Initiative is excited to announce applications are open for Phase I of its nationally recognized commercialization approach – AgLaunch365.  The program combines its leading accelerator approach with its network of innovative farmers in a flexible wrap-around model that revolves around the agricultural production cycle.  Teams that are accepted into AgLaunch365 are eligible to receive pre-seed investment from Innova Ag Innovation Fund, a $31 million Rural Business Investment Company whose limited partners are eight farm credit banks.

“AgLaunch365 is revolutionizing the way agricultural innovation is brought to market,” says Matt Bell, Managing Director, Cultivian Sandbox Ventures. “AgLaunch365 accommodates the specific needs and timing of those working in the agricultural industry in a unique farm-centric model that is unparalleled in the industry,” he said.

Areas of interest include:

• Precision Farming (management of inputs, soil, water & crop tech)
• Farming Technology (new equipment, robotics & automation, harvest & storage)
• Supply chain & Logistics (processing/productivity tools, diagnostics, & food safety)

Here are a few of the tools that AgLaunch365 participants will have access to:

• Customized programming focused on agriculture from AgLaunch and lean method approach to scale growth and operations from Start Co.
• Support from a national network of agricultural-focused mentors and service providers including Archer Malmo and Baker Donelson
• Pre-seed investment and access to our network of ag & food VCs
• Commercial scale field trials supported by a cost-share program 
• Direct access to Farm Journal Media as an exclusive media channel partner, including behind-the-scenes access to events like AgTech Expo

“We are excited to participate in AgLaunch365 as the leading way to connect our farming operation with developers of new technologies in a way that is beneficial to both,” said Scott Fullen, President, Mid-South Family Farms.” “AgLaunch365 is bringing the right people – from investors, entrepreneurs, and those within the ag industry – to a region that supports innovation and agriculture,” he said.

AgLaunch365 operates in three phases (business model, field plan, and implementation) over a 1 year period, allowing startups to participate in the phase or phases that are relevant to each company’s stage of growth.   Entrepreneurs who participate in Phase I will have dedicated blocks of time for programming in Memphis, Tennessee, but also have flexibility to travel or be in the field to conduct normal business and assignments in-between programming.

Applications for Phase I are due by 5 p.m. CT on Monday, August 13, 2018. Phase I starts the first week of October 2018.

For more information on AgLaunch365 and access to the application go to: http://aglaunch.com/aglaunch-365

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About AgLaunch™ 

AgLaunch (www.aglaunch.com) supports agtech startups, builds collaborative farmer networks and addresses gaps in the regional food and ag innovation ecosystem. AgLaunch is a partnership with Tennessee Department of Agriculture and a network of farmers interested in helping create new opportunities.

AgLaunch Notes

Vol. 5, No. 2                                                                  May 29, 2018

AGLAUNCH AND OUR PARTNERS IN THE NEWS Rise of the Rest Bus Tour Cultivates Stronger Support for Job-Fueling Startup Businesses, May 8, 2018 Memphis One of 10 Cities Selected for FAA Drone Pilot Program, May 9, 2018 Billionaires: They Are Just Like Us!, May 10, 2018 Turn Old Malls Into Vegetable Hothouses? Memphis Set to be Heart of Food Innovation, May 11, 2018 AgTech Startups Highlighted in Nationwide Bus Tours, May 15, 2018 Davos on the Delta Puts Memphis At Center of Agriculture World, May 16, 2018 First Round of Farmer-Driven Innovation Trials Announced, May 21, 2018 Precision Ag Bytes 5/23, May 23, 2018 OUR TEAMS IN THE NEWS Ag Robot Speeds Data Collection and Analyzes Crops as They Grow, March 2018 Cross a John Deere with a Roomba, and You Get This Crop-Monitoring Robot, March 13, 2018 This Startup Just Raised $1.1 Million To Build Better Data Platforms For Farmers, March 19, 2018 Iowa City Drone Sprayer Company Gets Attention in Memphis, April 10, 2018 Rantizo: Precision Drone Spraying, April 11, 2018 Iowa Startup Power Rankings for April, April 30, 2018 Argentine Agtech Startup Kilimo Raises Expansion Capital, May 14, 2018

From L to R: Zack James, CEO and Founder of Rabbit Tractors, showcasing his quarter-scale model of his autonomous tractor to Steve Case as part of the Rise of the Rest tour stop in Memphis; EarthSense Founder and CEO Chinmay Soman and AgLaunch President Pete Nelson showing off the latest TerraSentia robot that will be participating in field trials this summer.

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Applications due June 8!

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (May 24, 2018) — Up to eight Tennessee agriculture entrepreneur teams will have the chance to participate in a week-long agri-tech bootcamp being held on the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture campus in Knoxville from July 9-13, 2018. The event is coordinated by Knoxville Entrepreneur Center (KEC) in partnership with AgLaunch, a statewide agricultural innovation program. Teams accepted into the program will experience best-in-class agricultural entrepreneurship programming and have access to investors, mentors, and farmers.

AgLaunch Bootcamp applicants must be located in Tennessee and can include:
• Small startup companies operating in the agricultural sector;
• Existing companies that are creating new innovations or product lines; and
• Student or faculty teams that are developing new innovations in agriculture.

AgLaunch Bootcamp applicants should be focused on addressing real problems in agriculture within the crop and livestock sectors. These include but are not limited to: automation and robotics, solutions to issues such as spray drift and herbicide-resistant weeds, financing approaches, water and nitrogen management, innovative livestock production technologies, food traceability and food safety, market access, and new equipment. AgLaunch and KEC will consider any new and novel idea in the agriculture and food value chain.

Teams in the program will have the opportunity to participate in AgLaunch365 programming during Fall 2018 and be considered for investment from Innova Ag Innovation Fund IV. The Innova Ag Fund is a $31 million venture fund backed by eight Farm Credit banks focused on agriculture innovation.

Tennessee-based entrepreneurs with an idea or an agtech startup who are interested in the intensive bootcamp can apply here. Applications are being accepted through 5 pm EST on June 8, 2018. Up to eight teams will be selected to participate.

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About AgLaunch
AgLaunch attracts, creates, and grows agtech startups, facilitates the development of new agriculture and food value-chains, and builds collaborative farmer networks in the Mid-
South, with a commitment to intentional inclusion. AgLaunch was formed through a joint initiative between Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Memphis Biowork Foundation. AgLaunch365 is a farm-centric innovation platform for agriculture designed to calibrate support with the specific needs of agtech startups and the agricultural industry. AgLaunch365 is made possible through partnerships with Innova, Start Co., TN Farm Bureau, Farm Credit Mid-America, Farm Journal Media, Archer Malmo, and Baker Donelson.

About Knoxville Entrepreneurship Center
Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is a business accelerator located in Market Square that
serves as the front door for entrepreneurs in our region, and a resource for anyone looking
to start or grow a business here. By nurturing and supporting a culture of entrepreneurship,
we are fostering innovation, creativity and job growth within our community. KEC is a place for networking, education and teaching others what we’ve learned. We are a mentor-driven business accelerator, a shared workspace and a source of mediocre coffee. As a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, KEC is funded through sponsorships, partnerships, grants and membership fees. In addition to support from the City of Knoxville and the State of Tennessee, KEC relies on the generous contributions of leading East Tennessee corporations, successful entrepreneurs and those who have a vested interest in the success of new businesses in our region.

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Friends,

It has been quite the winter! AgLaunch has been running full-steam ahead for the last few months. From hosting a convening with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research about cropping systems of the future to recruiting and supporting new agtech teams, we’ve been busy.

As you know, we moved to year-round focused programming with AgLaunch365. We continue to work closely with Innova and their USDA RBIC AgInnovation Fund IV  to invest in innovative agtech companies. We had three teams join us in the fall to participate in Phase I, where they worked with our partners at StartCo. to conduct customer discovery and develop a viable business model. Participating teams were:

• DryMAX
• Earth Sense
• Rabbit Tractors

This culminated with a showcase at the Farm Journal AgTech Expo in Indianapolis. Read more about the teams that participated in the Expo here.

As 2018 kicked off, so did Phase II of our programming. Our teams began working with agronomists, farmers, and researchers to develop comprehensive, 3-year field trial plans to begin “ground-truthing” their technologies. Joining the cohort for this phase was Rantizo.

For the second year, AgLaunch hosted the StartUp Station as part of the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show, the premier event for thousands of farmers to experience three floors of exhibits and to see the latest in farm equipment technology. The StartUp Station boasted fifteen of the most innovative agtech companies in the business right now. They pitched their ideas to a panel of expert farmers, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs.

As an additional benefit for the Phase II teams, they were able to connect with Congressman David Kustoff and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and share their technologies with them directly.

Moving into the spring, we are in field-trial mode. Our teams are working directly with farmers to test their technologies and collect meaningful data. New this year is a cost-share pilot project with Tennessee Department of Agriculture for Tennessee farmers trialing AgLaunch companies’ technology. Additionally, AgLaunch was awarded a $125,000 grant from Tennessee’s Agriculture Enterprise Fund to create model farms for innovation and research.

Repeatedly this winter, I have been asked to share our vision, our model, and our work with members of state legislatures and, in February, I even testified about how agtech can revitalize rural America before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade. You can read my written testimony here.

We are extremely proud of the work we’ve done and how we’re growing. We want to thank Memphis  Bioworks and Tennessee Department of Agriculture for their continued support, and thank you for your role in building a truly transformational region and ag sector.

Kind Regards,

Pete

AgLaunch teams and partners with Sec. Perdue and Congressman Kustoff at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show

EarthSense’s robot makes an appearance at the Farm Journal AgTech Expo in Indianapolis, IN

Phase I teams at the Agricenter International fish fry in Memphis, TN

Pete Nelson addresses the US House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade in Washington, DC

AGLAUNCH IN THE NEWS Read what others are saying about us! Shark Tank Eyes Hottest Agriculture Technology, March 7, 2018 AgLaunch Finds Traction In Intersection of Startups, Investors and Farmers, March 7, 2018 AgLaunch Hosts Startup Station Featuring 12 AgTech Companies, February 21, 2018 The Future of Ag Tech in the Midwest, February 20, 2018 Tennessee Officials Announce $400k in Agriculture Grants, February 6, 2018 Innovation Spotlight on AgTech StartUps, December 20, 2017 Exploring opportunities in resilient agriculture and crop diversity, November 30, 2017 Farm Journal Media’s AgTech Expo to Highlight Startup Innovations, November 18, 2017

Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, AgLaunch, and TN Commissioner of Agriculture Jai Templeton at the National Farm Bureau Convention in Nashville, TN

K-12 Ag Ed Roundtable group tours Germantown Farm Park in Memphis, TN

Scott Sartor of IndigoAg speaks at the Memphis Food & Ag Innovation Meetup

WHAT WE’RE READING EQUIPMENT: Tractor-Hacking Farmers Are Leading a Revolt Against Big Tech’s Repair Monopolies Kyle Schwarting is a farmer by trade, and a hacker by necessity. His farm, about 20 minutes outside the city limits of Lincoln, Nebraska, is full of tractors and agricultural equipment, which he picks up in various states of repair from fellow farmers, fixes up, and resells. “I would say what I’m doing is hacking,” Schwarting tells me, gesturing to a Windows laptop and a USB-to-tractor cable he Frankensteined himself. READ MORE SPECIALTY CROPS: Dan Barber’s Seed Company Seeks to Sow the ‘Democratization of Flavor’ Chef Dan Barber loves heirloom produce. But, after cooking with it for years, the world-famous author and advocate for sustainable food says he realized that there was an important reason these delicate fruits and vegetables would probably never make it to the masses. READ MORE POLITICS: Trump Pledges to Boost Farmers and Rural America President Trump lays out his plan to boost agriculture and prosperity in rural America. What’s at stake is more than a hill of beans. LISTEN HERE YOUNG FARMERS: A growing number of young Americans are leaving desk jobs to farm Liz Whitehurst dabbled in several careers before she ended up here, crating fistfuls of fresh-cut arugula in the early-November chill. The hours were better at her nonprofit jobs. So were the benefits. But two years ago, the 32-year-old Whitehurst — who graduated from a liberal arts college and grew up in the Chicago suburbs — abandoned Washington for this three-acre farm in Upper Marlboro, Md. READ MORE INNOVATION: How Driscoll’s Reinvented the Strawberry One foggy May morning, the Joy Makers, a team of scientists employed by Driscoll’s, the world’s largest berry company, gathered at its research-and-development campus, which is known as Cassin Ranch, in the small agricultural town of Watsonville, on California’s Central Coast. Before them was a table laden with plastic clamshells: red, white, and pink strawberries for the pipeline. Phil Stewart, an affably geeky, sandy-haired strawberry geneticist, offered me a yellowish-white specimen with rosy stains, like a skinned knee when the blood starts seeping through. READ MORE NOTEWORTHY: This Tiny Country Feeds the World In a potato field near the Netherlands’ border with Belgium, Dutch farmer Jacob van den Borne is seated in the cabin of an immense harvester before an instrument panel worthy of the starship Enterprise. From his perch 10 feet above the ground, he’s monitoring two drones—a driverless tractor roaming the fields and a quadcopter in the air—that provide detailed readings on soil chemistry, water content, nutrients, and growth, measuring the progress of every plant down to the individual potato. READ MORE AGTECH & INVESTMENT: Ag venture capital: Here’s what investors are watching in 2018 Software, social media, and the latest wearable gadgets might be getting all the attention, but its the technological changes that are shaking up the agriculture market that are really going to change lives over the next decade. And it’s coming not a moment too soon. READ MORE AGTECH & INVESTMENT: Will Bitcoin Work in Agriculture? If you checked the Internet lately, you’ve probably seen the words Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain. I won’t describe them in great detail here, but Google is your friend. Currently, Bitcoin is the talk of the town gaining 1,000% in value in the last year and now is worth north of $10,000 a coin from $1,000 earlier in the year. Some say it’ll go to a million by 2020. READ MORE AGTECH & INVESTMENT: This Robot Handles the Entire Process of Growing Lettuce by Itself Inside a warehouse in the middle of the suburban office sprawl of San Carlos, a Silicon Valley town south of San Francisco, hundreds of heads of lettuce and herbs grow next to a mobile robot designed to move the plants as they get bigger. READ MORE

Fifteen companies showcased in second AgLaunch Startup Station at 2018 Mid-South Farm and Gin Show

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (March 7, 2018) —

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue met with three AgLaunch startup companies as part of the AgLaunch Startup Station weekend held as part of the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show at the Cook Convention Center. Secretary Perdue attended the Farm and Gin Show to announce a new cost share program for cotton producers.

Rantizo, a recent graduate of the AgLaunch365 programming, was the overall winner for the event and will receive an all-expense paid trip and dedicated spot to pitch at the 2018 Farm Journal AgTech Expo in Indianapolis. 

“We were able to meet farmers and investors interested in our drone spraying technology. Their feedback and enthusiasm was incredibly valuable,” said Rantizo founder and CEO, Michael Ott. “Rantizo is honored to win the pitch competition, especially considering the strength of all the other companies. Our team will take the momentum from the Farm and Gin Show and use it to build great products that address farmer’s needs.”

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Companies will pitch to a panel of farmers and investors, including Innova Memphis, a $31 million fund seeking to invest in agriculture’s next big innovation

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (February 20, 2018) —

AgLaunch is bringing its Startup Station pitch event back to the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show for a second time on Friday, March 2, 2018. This event will host some of AgLaunch’s most innovative agtech entrepreneurs from across the country to showcase how their ideas will shape the future of food and agriculture.

Agtech entrepreneurs are addressing on-farm issues with real-world solutions like irrigation management, farm-level efficiencies, and autonomous equipment. The Startup Station will highlight more than a dozen companies that will receive feedback from an expert panel that includes farmers, investors, and industry experts. This event serves as the culmination of Phase II of the AgLaunch365 programming, a farm-centric model that supports agtech companies by connecting to them farmers early in their development process.

Current AgLaunch365 Cohort:

• EarthSense is developing ultra-compact autonomous robots that use machine-learning to monitor and manage problems in agriculture, specifically to identify weeds and chemical-free methods of reliably eradicating superweeds.
• Rabbit Tractors is building swarm-enabled, autonomous tractors that are approximately one-third the size and one-fourth the weight of normal tractors and spray rigs and capable of pulling implements as well as late-season spraying.
• Rantizo is developing an electrostatic spraying system for targeted drone-based spraying.

AgLaunch Alumni Teams:

• Kilimo provides a decision-support tool for irrigation management in agriculture by using satellite, climate, and on-site data.
• Microbiometer is a quick test used to estimate the microbial biomass in soil in 10 minutes for 10 percent of the cost of a lab test.
• Persistence Data Mining is developing a non-intrusive remote hyper-spectral soil analysis to service large tracks of open farmland.
• Skycision rapidly identifies field stress through the analysis of aerial imagery.

Additional participating teams being evaluated for investment or participating in AgLaunch365 Phase III Farmer Network Field Trials and growth-track programming:

• AgHelp is an app and wrap-around services helping ag workers find jobs and resources.
• AgriSync is a communication platform connecting farmers with trusted experts.
• Global AgSmarte has developed SmarteRoot, an irrigation add-on that increases absorption of water and nutrients for crops to increase yields.
• Harvest Yield is an electronic record-keeping system to ensure accurate invoicing for custom harvesters.
• Stable’N is a nitrification inhibitor process that utilizes electricity delivered into the soil by a retrofit to existing fertilizer application equipment.
• SwineTech has developed a farrowing safety device to protect the health of piglets.

During two investment pitch sessions, entrepreneurs will be given 8 minutes to pitch their ideas and 7 minutes to answer questions from a panel of farmers, investors, and agribusiness professionals who will provide feedback to refine these products and prepare the companies for follow-on investment and 2018 farm-scale trials. Participating panelists represent the following organizations:

• Growing Acres Farm
• Indigo Ag
• Innova Ag Innovation Fund IV
• Mid-South Family Farms
• National Black Growers Council
• Ritter Agribusiness
• TechStars

Teams that perform well will have the opportunity for follow-on investment from Innova Memphis and participation in 2018 farm-scale field trials with the AgLaunch Farmer Network.

The AgLaunch Startup Station will be open at the Chickasaw Room on the Mezzanine Level at Booth #4027 for anyone wishing to engage with the startup companies or to learn more about AgLaunch from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The investment pitch sessions will be held from 10:30 am-12:00 pm and from 1:30 pm until 3:00 pm.

The Mid-South Farm and Gin Show hosts more than 400 exhibitors and 20,000 farmers every year. You can learn more about the Farm and Gin Show at their website https://www.farmandginshow.com.

AgLaunch Startup Station
Friday, March 2, 2018
9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Cook Convention Center, Chickasaw Room, Booth #4027
255 N Main St, Memphis, TN
Investment Pitch Session #1: 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Investment Pitch Session #2: 1:30 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
Free Registration Here

About AgLaunch™ 

AgLaunch attracts, creates, and grows agtech startups, facilitates the development of new agriculture and food value-chains, and builds collaborative farmer networks in the Mid-South, with a commitment to intentional inclusion. AgLaunch is a joint initiative of Memphis Bioworks Foundation (www.memphisbioworks.org) and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (www.tn.gov/agriculture). AgLaunch365 is a farm-centric innovation platform for agriculture designed to calibrate support with the specific needs of agtech startups and the agricultural industry. AgLaunch365 is made possible through partnerships with Start Co., Tennessee Farm Bureau, Epicenter, Farm Journal Media, Archer Malmo, and Baker Donelson. 

Learn more: www.aglaunch.com.