The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) has unveiled the accelerator program’s new agtech track, which includes seven startups that will use the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to advance technologies focused on climate change.
The seven startups selected for the program include three companies headquartered in St. Louis. Another company, headquartered in Maine, has a research laboratory in the St. Louis region. There also are companies from California and Nebraska. As part of the incubator program, each startup selected will receive up to $250,000 in non-dilutive funding that can be used for technical support and field trial projects. IN2 said this year’s cohort of companies focuses on firms that have technologies and products targeting the effects of climate change on global food systems.
"In the face of intensifying challenges in the agriculture industry and our environment, the world urgently needs innovative, sustainable solutions,” said Trish Cozart, IN2 program manager and the director of the innovation and entrepreneurship center at U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in a news release. “With projections indicating a global population of 10 billion people by 2050, we must develop methods that not only increase productivity, but do so without causing harm to our planet. IN2 is at the forefront of this mission, supporting promising startups that are reimagining the future of food and farming.”
This is IN2’s 12th cohort and its fifth for its agtech track. IN2, a startup incubator funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and located at NREL in Golden, Colorado, in 2018 announced a partnership with the Danforth Center to expand by advancing companies and products focused on agriculture technology. Each startup selected for the program is paired with Danforth Center scientists who provide research assistance.
“IN2’s twelfth cohort highlights some of the best startups in climate-aligned agriculture,” said Elliott Kellner, director of commercial innovation at the Danforth Center. “The selected companies have commercially viable technologies with tremendous potential to deliver environmental, economic, and societal benefits.”
Startups selected for this year’s cohort are:
- HabiTerre (St. Louis): The startup says its technology uses remote sensing, modeling technology and artificial intelligence to collect data and provide insights for farming operations for functions such as greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration and water use. It is working with Chris Topp of the Danforth Center.
- Impetus Ag (St. Louis): Impetus Ag is developing new pest control products that it describes as “eco-friendly.” It is developing both spray-on products as well as technology that would provide insect control through a plant’s seed. It is paired with the Danforth Center’s Bala Venkata and Nigel Taylor.
- Impossible Sensing (St. Louis): The St. Louis maker of sensing technology is focused on using sensing technology for soil management, saying it would collect data related to nutrients, soil health and carbon levels in the soil. It is working with Allison Miller of the Danforth Center.
- InnerPlant (Davis, California): The startup says it has developed seed technology that allows plants to “communicate early and specific stresses via easy-to-collect optical signals,” helping growers know when best to use fertilizer and protection products. It is paired with the Danforth Center’s Katie Murphy.
- Mirai Solar (Mountain View, California): Mira Solar says it uses shading technology that allows for “converting blocked sunlight into smart solar energy” and is used for greenhouses. It is working with Ru Zhang of the Danforth Center.
- Running Tide (Portland, Maine): The company makes software and hardware products it says are designed to improve conditions in the ocean. It has a laboratory based in the 39 North agtech innovation district in Creve Coeur. It is working with the Danforth Center’s Noah Fahlgren and Malia Gehan.
- Sentinel Fertigation (Lincoln, Nebraska): The startup has developed software it says is used to track nitrogen on farms. A news release said it will work with Kellner of the Danforth Center “to connect with a broad set of research teams across the cohort’s ecosystem.”
IN2 has provided funding to 26 agriculture firms through its incubator programs and has backed 72 companies overall. The firms have brought in a total of $1.8 billion in follow-on funding, according to IN2.
