AgLaunch is excited to welcome four early-stage technology startups as the inaugural cohort of the AgLaunch365 Livestock Challenge. The innovators and entrepreneurs participating in the program are developing technologies that address key issues within livestock agriculture such as animal tracking and management, animal health, waste management and environmental sustainability. This program builds off the success of the AgLaunch365 Row Crop Challenge that AgLaunch has been running in partnership with Farm Journal.
Participating startups will experience three days of intense virtual programming from November 30th to December 2nd. Founders will learn to refine their value proposition, meet with leading farmers and agricultural industry experts, and improve their pitch and go-to market strategy. After the Livestock Challenge, startups will have the chance to pitch to a panel of farmers and industry experts for a spot in the AgLaunch365 Accelerator.
AgLaunch is a 501c3 non-profit known for a unique, farm-centric approach to innovation. In addition to offering traditional acceleration resources such as business strategy coaching, mentorship, and funding, AgLaunch also works with a network of more than thirty early-adopter farmers who collaborate with entrepreneurs to trial and scale new technologies. Startups participating in the Livestock Challenge were interviewed and selected by livestock farmers within the AgLaunch Farmer Network.
The four startups participating in the AgLaunch365 Livestock Challenge are:
Agriwater
Agriwater helps farmers turn animal poop into profit while eliminating costly discharge fines. Our technology integrates an onsite water purification technique equipped with water quality sensors that notify the farmer of pollution, thereby preventing the leaching of toxic waste. Founder: Dr. Bianca Bailey. Champaign, Illinois.
BovIQ
BovIQ is a mobile app that integrates cattle, land, and carbon for more valuable calves, more productive land, and sequestered carbon. Our calf certificates increase market value by more than $100/head, while our grazing management system saves more than $200/cow. Our system also quantifies the capture of nearly 1 billion tons of atmospheric carbon. Founder: Christian Nielson. Pittsboro, NC.
Corral Technologies
Corral Technologies helps cattle ranchers increase their profits by increasing the number of cattle grazing per acre while incurring fewer material and labor costs. Ranchers utilize the Corral Technologies easy-to-use virtual fencing system to move their cattle remotely, track their cattle, and create fences anywhere. Founder: Jack Keating. Atkinson, Nebraska.
Working Trees
Working Trees’ mission is to deploy trees where the interests of farmers and the climate overlap. We have deployed a technology platform that democratizes access to carbon markets for U.S. pasture owners of any size for incorporating trees into pasture. Founder: John Foye and Aakash Ahamed. Burlingame, California.
Livestock Challenge finalists are competing for a spot in the AgLaunch365 Accelerator beginning in January 2022, where they will join the finalists of the AgLaunch365 Row Crop Challenge to receive services, support, mentorship, and will design their on-farm trials with members of the AgLaunch Farmer Network.
“We are looking forward to the chance to work with more startups innovating in the livestock space this year,” said Pete Nelson, Executive Director at AgLaunch. “Several of the livestock farmers in our network voiced an interest in trialing more technologies, so we are pleased to introduce this program to bring in new innovations that could benefit their farms. We will use this year to pilot and refine the Livestock Challenge programming so that we can offer the opportunity to more entrepreneurs in the future.”
