A new initiative wants to help bring the region's agricultural growers as well as the founders, funders and technologists of the local startup scene closer together to further shepherd the strengths of the farming community throughout Western Pennsylvania.
Mimetic, founded on the principles of nature's Müllerian mimicry phenomenon where species with a common predator work together to survive, is the result of a dual partnership from local research firm KRNLS and entrepreneurship hub RustBuilt.
The group is looking to kick off its establishment with a day-long AgTech Farm tour on Oct. 15 which will span three counties and include tours at four farms. The hope then is to hear from farmers about their needs and to set goals for the startup community to try and address areas where both might be able to mutually benefit.
Ensuring that both sides are working in tandem is crucial to the purpose of the group.
"We are looking at working not just with the local tech scene, but really working with the rural farmers and entrepreneurs outside of the city," Olga Pogoda, KRNLS principal & co-founder, said. "The hope is to bridge the gap between our differences in rural and urban centers through this kind of work."
For Kit Mueller, RustBuilt's head of platform, that referenced urban and rural divide isn't just in terms of economic differences between the two settings, but more about how the two can benefit through mutual collaboration.
"It is the rural farmers, but it's also the amazing tech and the amazing innovations that we see every day and the more conversations we're having with both sides, there's like a, 'how do we talk to them, how do we engage," Mueller said. "What's the format and how do we provide community around that?"
The announced tour is already "filling up quickly," Pogoda said and added that there will be more of them to come in the future.
