Ag venture group TechAccel invests $250K in research partnership
December 9, 2016 | Meghan LeVota
A new partnership will advance agricultural innovation in the state of Missouri.
TechAccel, a Kansas City-based technology and venture development firm, recently announced it will work with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a St. Louis-based nonprofit research institute.
TechAccel will provide $250,000 in grants to the Danforth Center to help it demonstrate proof of concept and commercial feasibility with research projects affiliated with the research center. The two organizations will split returns on the technology they commercialize.
Founded in 2014, TechAccel specializes in ag and animal health technology. The firm invests in, sources and acquires early-stage innovations through collaborations with various institutions.
TechAccel CEO Michael Helmstetter said that the partnership is an important milestone for the company as well as the agricultural ecosystem.
“Agriculture research can and will change the world, but only if it has the backing to move from concept to proof to product,” Helmstetter said in a news release. “We bring capital coupled with science advancement to support that push to the finish line — the commercial market.”
The Danforth Center’s mission is to improve the human condition through plant science. Although the nonprofit has received grants in the past, the partnership with TechAccel marks the first grant specifically targeted at commercializing its innovations.
“The Path to Commercialization program provides a new tool for translating our discoveries into real-world solutions,” Danforth Center president James C. Carrington said in a release. “We look forward to seeing even more of the Danforth Center’s research delivering transformative products and technology to market.”
TechAccel participates in a similar research partnership with the University of California-Davis established in April 2016. As part of the Science Translation and Innovative Research program at UC-Davis, TechAccel invested $400,000 for grants to commercialize or prove out agriculture- and animal health-related innovations.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Bungii hires former C2FO exec for CFO role; startup delivers on new consumer demands
Ratcheting through the stages of a growing startup is easier with an experienced professional under the hood, said Ben Jackson, drawing upon the comparison of scaling to “chewing glass while staring into the abyss.” “Companies fundamentally change as various revenue thresholds are surpassed,” said Jackson, co-founder of Bungii. “A seed stage company looks completely different…
Come on (down) Now! AltCap Your Biz awards $37K in prizes with a familiar face earning biggest win of the night
The founder’s story can be the most important part of a startup’s pitch, Dr. Shelley Cooper shared after clinching the $25,000 grand prize at Thursday’s AltCap Your Biz: Pitch Competition. “Everybody else had a lot more financials in their pitch, and I took all that stuff out. I focused on telling my story the way…
Panel: Teachers can’t just ‘fail fast’ with students, but plugging entrepreneurship into classrooms builds agility in both
As someone with a hand in both education and entrepreneurship, Tiffany Dixon recognizes that a gap between the two is limiting potential in Kansas City schools. “There is an ecosystem that teachers don’t realize exists around their classroom,” she explained during a “Youth: Our Future Entrepreneurs” panel discussion for Global Entrepreneurship Week – Kansas City.…
VIDEO: How KC-built Engenious Design is scaling with stealth to atmospheric heights
Editor’s note: Engenious Design is a financial supporter of Startland News. This video feature was produced through a paid partnership. From life-saving medical devices to unexpected innovations taking orbit, Engenious Design — a white label manufacturing and design firm headquartered in Prairie Village — might be Kansas City’s best-kept success story, teased Chris Justice, principal…