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
‘You Belong Here’: Add these 10 GEW events to your calendar (then keep clicking)
Global Entrepreneurship Week is returning to Kansas City in November with the ability for attendees to build their own week-long schedules from more than 150 planned virtual and in-person sessions. With a theme focused on inclusion, the wide-ranging options offer resources and insight for solopreneurs and small business to scaling startups — regardless of geography.…
West Coast accelerator for women taps second wave of Kansas City tech founder talent
Kansas City is in the pipeline now, as the FourthWave Accelerator for women in tech recently selected a local founder for its cohort for the second consecutive year. After her own valuable experience with the accelerator in 2021, Carlanda McKinney, founder of Bodify, encouraged her fellow Pipeline fellow Terri Foudray, founder and CEO of ConvIOT,…
After exit: How Rx Savings Solutions’ $875M sale could mean opportunity for KC (even if details aren’t yet clear)
The years after a headline-grabbing acquisition can mean a “jump ball” for the ecosystem where the startup was grown, said Jeff Hornsby, acknowledging the various outcomes ahead when a hometown company gets new owners. Possibilities range from massive community reinvestment to staffing reductions and all-out relocation, though such moves aren’t mutually exclusive. “They may say…
NFL Draft wants diverse vendors for ‘largest event in the history of our city’; Here’s how to apply
When the NFL Draft comes to Kansas City in April, diverse local businesses will share center stage with the next generation of football players. The NFL Business Connect program is an initiative that seeks to link up to 100 local, diverse businesses with large event experience to contracting opportunities related to the 2023 NFL Draft,…