Up to 10 Startups will be invited to pitch to leading U.S. farmers and will become eligible for

AgLaunch365 – including access to investment, field trials, and data.

 MEMPHIS, Tenn. (September 4, 2019) —Early-stage agtech startups focusing on row crop innovations can now apply for a chance to pitch their idea before a national audience of leading farmers, retailers, farm advisors, and agronomists at Farm Journal’s 2019 AgTech Expo and compete for $200,000 worth of development services and investment from AgLaunch and partners.

“If your early-stage startup company is seeking to get a foothold into US row crop agriculture, there is simply no better opportunity than this approach,” said Schuyler Dalton, Director of Entrepreneurship and Farmer Network at AgLaunch. “In our fourth year of programming, with more than two dozen companies through our programs, AgLaunch and our farmers have optimized the best way to get from idea to the field, and ultimately to scale.”

The 10 startups accepted for the Row Crop Challenge will:

Receive one week of startup support services to refine the startup’s value proposition and prepare to pitch to row crop farmers and agricultural investors;

Showcase their companies at a highly visible 20×20 exhibit on the floor at Farm Journal’s AgTech Expo; and

Pitch during the evening reception to a panel of farmers and agricultural investors to be one of the 6 startups selected for participation in AgLaunch365 – a $200,000 value comprised of investment capital and services.

“This is a leading opportunity to help early-stage startup companies in agriculture and

give unprecedented and curated access to leading farmers,” said Doug Catt, VicePresident of Row Crops at Farm Journal.

Up to 6 startups pitching at AgTech Expo will be offered a spot to participate in AgLaunch365, which will start in January 2020 and includes $75,000 venture capital investment and startup support services valued at over $125,000.

AgLaunch365 programming and investment package will include:

Venture capital funding from Innova Ag Innovation Fund and Ag Ventures Alliance; Access to the AgLaunch farmer network, which provides cost-share supported field trials with leading farmers that includes access to field-level data;

Opportunity to participate in the Digital Acre program at Agricenter International; Agricultural-focused accelerator program with Start Co.;

Access to data and market information from Farm Journal;

Marketing and communications support from Archer Malmo, a top 5 US agricultural marketing company;

Legal support from attorneys with Baker Donelson, one of the largest law firms in the U.S.; and

Investor Demo day and demonstration at the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis on February 28-29, 2020.

To be eligible to participate in the AgLaunch and Farm Journal Row Crop Challenge,  startups must be addressing an identified problem in row crop agriculture, be seeking to participate in AgLaunch365 programming 2020, currently have or are willing to have a farmer engaged directly in the business, and be located or willing to locate in a rural area in the United States.

The application deadline is October 1, 2019, but applications will be evaluated as they are received. Accepted teams will be notified by October 15, 2019 and will be expected to spend November 11-15 in Memphis to prepare for AgTech Expo and participate in stage and demo-floor activities at AgTech Expo on December 16-17 in Indianapolis.

Applications to participate can be found here.

Questions can be emailed to: innovation@aglaunch.com The deadline to apply is October 1, 2019.