ReEnvision Ag, founded by Jason Ryner and based in Nora Springs, IA, is one of six startup companies selected to participate in the full AgLaunch365 Accelerator and to participate in on-farm trials in 2021. The companies were chosen after participating in the virtual week-long AgLaunch Row Crop Challenge, pitching to a committee of AgLaunch Farmer Network members and investor partners Ag Ventures Alliance Innova Memphis.

The AgLaunch Row Crop Challenge winners are addressing pain points identified by farmers like worker safety, traceability, weed management, and more.

Jason Ryner founded ReEnvision to develop disruptive technology that will change the row-crop farming industry. The ReEnvision Ag Planter system works to allow farmers to plant in more diverse conditions without the pain of compaction the current industry standard causes. ReEnvision Ag focuses on solving problems in commercial agriculture in an effort to create a traceable, reliable, and sustainable food source – reducing environmental impact in a commercially sustainable way for family farms. Jason is a graduate of the NIACC Pappajohn Center Venture School.

Additional teams selected for the AgLaunch365 Accelerator include:

• Global Neighbor, Inc., Dayton, Ohio
• Index Biosystems, Inc, Toronto, Ontario
• JLI Robotics, Aurora, Nebraska
• LeafTech Ag, Greenfield, Indiana
• Spornado, Inc, Toronto, Ontario

“This year’s cohort has already proven their commitment and determination given the uncertainty created by the pandemic. We could not be more excited about these companies, and our farmer network is eager to start working with the founders to define trial objectives and plans  to get their technologies on the farm  this next year,” said Margaret Oldham, AgLaunch Business Development Specialist.

At the center of AgLaunch’s work is a group of farmers engaged and committed to seeing promising agtech startups succeed. The companies moving into the next phase of programming have been screened, vetted, and endorsed by farmers at each stage of the process.

This year’s challenge was focused on recruiting teams addressing the sustainability measures as laid out in the Cotton Trust Protocol, just one of several standards being presented to measure the impact of sustainable practices. The Protocol has identified areas where efficacy of a technology could be measured by a third-party verifier. This next trial season marks AgLaunch’s second year of utilizing the Cotton Trust Protocol across all of its in-field trials, regardless of the crop.

In addition to receiving investments from Innova Memphis and AgVentures Alliance, these companies will spend the early part of 2021 working on refining their business plans and planning their summer on-farm trials with AgLaunch’s Farmer Network members and agronomist. These companies will be deploying on-farm trials with farmers supported through Tennessee Department of Agriculture, investment from Innova Ag Innovation Fund IV and AgVentures Alliance, as well as accelerator support as part of the AgLaunch365 program designed with farmers at the center of the work.

Ag Ventures Alliance is an Iowa-based and nationally recognized farmer owned organization focused on increasing farm profitability and income. Ag Ventures Alliance finds ag tech investment opportunities for farmers, makes early-stage investments in technologies and facilitates a farmer network that pays farmers to test new technologies on their farms.

Innova Ag Innovation Fund IV, a $31 million, USDA-certified Rural Business Investment Company backed by eight Farm Credit banks, is based in Memphis and invests in early-stage agtech startups headquartered in rural locations across the country.

The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center is the expert in rural business innovation and success. In partnership with North Iowa’s Small Business Development Center, together we provide tools, support, and resources to Iowa’s entrepreneurs. We counsel both new and existing local businesses, from Main Street to industry leaders. We’re growing Iowa’s entrepreneurial culture through grade school initiatives, college and community programs, and business training and development. Contact the NIACC Pappajohn Center at 641-422-4111 or pappajohn@niacc.edu.

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