Agtech initiative Cultivar STL, which aims to boost the agricultural technology sector in St. Louis by connecting with international businesses, has launched a new Core Facilities Access Fund.
The fund will focus on connecting agtech ecosystems in St. Louis and Latin America. It provides selected startups from Latin America with $2,000 to $20,000 to access the Danforth Center, a non-profit research institute dedicated to improving human and environmental health through plant science. Startups can use the center's facilities to advance research, test technologies, and build industry connections.
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“The idea behind the fund is to build a pipeline of companies by giving them access to one of our biggest assets in the region,” said Isabel Acevedo, manager of technology-based economic development at BioSTL. The Danforth Center includes a plant growth facility, phenotyping, bioanalytical chemistry, data science, advanced bio-imaging and plant transformation.
The fund recently awarded its first two startups. Argentina’s APOLO Biotech, which uses RNA-based technology to prime plant’s immune systems, and Innovaciones Circulares of Costa Rica, which develops small-scale reactors to recover fertilizer from swine farms.
Stephanie Regagnon, executive director of The Yield Lab Institute, said she hopes the fund will support additional startups in the future. The Yield Lab Institute is a non-profit think tank that supports global innovation in agricultural and food systems.
