April 12, 2024 Plug & Play Topeka Selects 26 Startups for Accelerator

Emerging companies from over 10 countries begin the three-month animal health/ag-tech startup program in Kansas’ capital city.

TOPEKA, Kan. – In collaboration with GO Topeka, the economic development group for Kansas’ capital city, Plug and Play Topeka, a global innovation platform that creates industry-specific accelerator programs, announced it has selected 15 animal health startups and 11 ag-tech startups for the spring 2024 cohort. These early-to-mid-stage startups hail from more than 10 countries, including the U.S., Norway, Sweden, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the U.K., among others.

Chosen by founding partners of the program – including Cargill, Evergy, Bimini Pet Health, and Hill’s Pet Nutrition – the startups represent a broad range of new innovations focused on areas like automation, precision farming, pet nutrition and more. Entrepreneurs representing these startups will now participate in a three-month-long accelerator program to connect them with resources and help their businesses get off the ground. 

The 26 startups selected for the program are: 

• Agrigator is helping agribusinesses address challenges from climate and operational uncertainties for sustainable growth through AI.
• Athian is creating an industry-led platform to fund carbon projects within the livestock value chain.
• DigiFarm detects the world’s most accurate field boundaries to power precision agriculture.
• Gårdskapital connects farmers with investors to accelerate the transition to more sustainable agriculture.
• LandPrint measures the environmental quality of farms and develops economic and financial mechanisms to transition supply chains towards regenerative agriculture.
• Mapana develops proprietary sensing technology through AI for soil health tracking.
• Oaken is a B2B  platform to streamline farmland operations.
• RawData develops an integrated farm management and HR solution for agricultural businesses.
• RealmFive manages and automates supply chain and labor operations.
• Terrra is democratizing wetlands carbon removal through a technology platform to measure, manage and issue carbon credits.
• TRIC Robotics is helping farmers control pests and disease with ultraviolet light in place of chemical pesticides.
• Arch Pet Food is developing the next generation of alternative protein dog food and treats.
• CAMSENS GmbH helps veterinarians and laboratories detect pathogens in just minutes using automation and AI.
• CheckForPet supports dog and cat owners in finding the right food.
• Dog Child is the leading home-cooking recipe community for dog parents.
• EpiPaws provides an easy at-home age estimation test for dogs and cats.
• Friends & Family Pet Food Company makes cultivated meat pet food.
• GenoTwin combines leading genomics expertise and data science to transform the detection of pathogens and assess immune responses to them.
• Isomark is creating cutting-edge breath technology and AI-based detection of bacterial and viral infections.
• Lampovet offers gut microbiome analysis and tailored nutrition to promote pets’ health.
• Livestock Labs creates and supplies genetically engineered cell lines designed to grow predictably, stably and economically.
• Organicin Scientific is working to reduce the world’s reliance on antibiotics and to introduce safe and sustainable alternatives to protect food supply and population from disease.
• Planet Sustainable Technologies develops sustainable technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of plastic and fully biodegrade plastic waste leaving behind no toxins or microplastics.
• Poultry Patrol is streamlining poultry production with autonomous robots.
• PRONOVA is pioneering proactive pet care with non-invasive, comprehensive, real-time health insights.
• Seismi offers a compact IoT veterinary vital signs monitor with zero-touch continuous measurement of heart rate and respiration rate that fits inside animal enclosures, on exam tables and in other clinical settings.

“We are so lucky to have this program based here in Topeka,” said Director and Partner Success Manager for Plug and Play Topeka Lindsay Lebahn. “We want to continue to collaborate creatively to build on the momentum set up over the last three years. We’re excited for others to witness the technologies these startup founders have developed to better the ag-tech and animal health industries.”

The Plug and Play Topeka accelerator aims to bring global innovation to the Midwest by facilitating opportunities for business development, mentorship programs, and proof of concepts between the selected startups and the program’s founding partners.

“We are excited to work with these startups and have the opportunity to showcase the regional resources and partnerships available to support the development and growth of their businesses while immersing them in our community,” said Senior Vice President of Innovation for GO Topeka Stephanie Moran. “We’re looking forward to hosting the startups in Topeka so we can showcase what our region has to offer these key sectors.”

Topeka is centrally located within the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, the world’s largest concentration of animal health companies and related industries. More than 300 animal health companies located between Manhattan, Kansas, and Columbia, Missouri, including four of the top 10 animal health companies in the world, generate 56% of the total animal health, diagnostics and pet food sold globally, totaling $21.5 billion in annual sales.

The program will run for approximately twelve weeks, culminating in a June 6 event in Topeka, Kan. Since its start in the spring of 2021, 78 startups have graduated from the Plug and Play Topeka accelerator program. Each year, the program will develop two accelerator groups, each comprising 10-12 animal health and ag-tech startups.

About GO Topeka
GO Topeka creates county-wide economic success for all companies and citizens through the implementation of an aggressive economic development strategy that capitalizes on the unique strengths of the community. GO Topeka operates under the Greater Topeka Partnership and is the leading economic development agency in the area. For more, visit GoTopeka.com.

About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform—connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we’re present in 50+ locations across five continents. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we’ve invested in hundreds of successful companies, including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit plugandplaytechcenter.com.

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