AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to grow the agbioscience economy, will host its first Velocity Demo Day from 3 to 6 p.m. on June 18 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, awarding three winning teams $25,000 each.
In partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Elevance Health, Beck’s Hybrids, Ag Alumni Seed and Gutwein Law, the event culminates a six-month startup accelerator designed to inspire creation of tech-enabled businesses that address research-defined challenges in bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health.
“Velocity is designed to accelerate development of solutions to some of the toughest challenges facing the food and agricultural economy in Indiana and around the globe,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus. “Demo Day will spotlight entrepreneurs who have worked for months to understand the challenges facing agbioscience and developed solutions needed to build this next chapter of our economy even stronger.”
Velocity Demo Day will include an innovation showcase featuring presentations from many of the 42 teams that participated in the accelerator. The event will also include insights from industry leaders, investors, check presentations and demonstrations of solutions developed.
Registration to attend Velocity Demo Day is free and available here.
AgriNovus’ Velocity accelerator is the integration and evolution of the organization’s two pilot innovation challenges – the Producer-Led Innovation Challenge and the HungerTech Innovation Challenge. Launched in 2020, the two pilot programs welcomed more than 145 participating teams from around the globe with each winner being accepted into other accelerators, receiving follow on funding or going on to be acquired.
A 2024 report from consulting firm EntreWorks entitled, Unlocking IP: Leveraging Indiana’s R&D Assets to Boost Entrepreneurship, recommended growth of the organization’s challenge series to further entrepreneurship and innovation across the state.
