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
Window wordplay: More than meets the eye for lettering artist with a hand in Cafe Cà Phê’s new look
Andrea Bosnak’s name and face might not immediately look familiar, but many Kansas Citians have definitely seen her signature work across the metro. The Spur & Serif lettering artist’s craft is featured at local hotspots like The Nelle, Café Corazón, Alma Mader Brewing, Classic Cookie, Rye, and now Cafe Cà Phê’s new brick and mortar…
Can’t-miss Saigons: KC’s Vietnamese coffee shop debuting long-awaited storefront, new drinks after slow drip
Two years after her Vietnamese coffee cart’s opening act — popping up in local businesses and parking lots across the city — Jackie Nguyen has found her audience, formed a community and will soon, finally, take center stage with her own standalone Cafe Cà Phê in Columbus Park. “When I moved to Kansas City, I…
Tesseract Ventures awarded $1.25M grant for R&D at home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber
One of Kansas City’s most innovative startups announced Thursday a direct-to-Phase II SBIR Grant with Whiteman Air Force Base — teaming the next-generation robotics leader with the U.S. military to launch smart technology with global impact, said John Boucard. “We are honored to work alongside some of the military’s most visionary minds, as we develop…
This North Kansas City hub will be base camp for GEWKC 2022; Deadline for event applications nears
KCSourceLink announced this week that Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City, the metro’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship, has a new base camp for its 15th year. The Nov. 14-20 weeklong event series is setting its main events at iWerx in North Kansas City. Popular nearby businesses like Restless Spirits, Cinder Block Brewery and Chicken N Pickle will…