News Release
Contact:
Billi Hunt, executive director
bhunt@cultivationcorridor.org
515-864-0732 or 515-480-2394
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2025
AMERICA’S CULTIVATION CORRIDOR® LAUNCHES 2025 COHORT OF
CULTIVO® VIRTUAL ACADEMY WITH NINE SCALEUP COMPANIES
Entrepreneurs from the United Kingdom are participating in program designed to build connections, speed U.S. market entry
DES MOINES, IOWA – The fifth cohort of Cultivo® Virtual Academy hosted by America’s Cultivation Corridor® launched on Feb. 18, 2025. Nine companies from the United Kingdom will participate in the six-week virtual program with sessions facilitated by Iowa business and university leaders. The ground-breaking program provides entrepreneurs with mentorship and interaction with Iowa’s agricultural leaders and a curriculum focused on U.S. market entry, regulatory and financing systems, and customer perspectives.
America’s Cultivation Corridor will host and coordinate the Cultivo Virtual Academy in partnership with its investors and supporting organizations. The tuition of participating companies will be underwritten by the United Kingdom Department for Business and Trade, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The Iowa Economic Development Authority is the presenting sponsor of the program.
“Cultivo Virtual Academy provides an opportunity for scaleups to connect with Iowa’s business leaders, researchers and forward-thinking farmers and livestock producers to learn about the market, regulatory and other factors that are unique to the U.S. marketplace,” said Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority. “The world-class speakers, networking opportunities and connections they will make through this program will help them more successfully navigate their entry into the complex U.S. market.”
Participating companies include:
- AgriSynth generates synthetic imagery of crops with pixel-perfect annotation data to train robust AI models for AI-based vision systems in many aspects of agriculture.
- AgSenze provides technology solutions to automate cow health and productivity monitoring including their award-winning Herdvision system.
- DairyLight Ltd manufactures and distributes LED light products with specific light spectrums to improve visibility, welfare, productivity and fertility for indoor housed herds.
- Earth Rover uses innovative technologies, AI and robotics to improve farmer’s efficiency and productivity, including the development of CLAWS robot for weeding, scouting and data analysis.
- FA Bio is harnessing the power of fungi to discover microbial active ingredients with disease control, plant growth promotion and fertilizer activities to increase productivity with fewer inputs.
- FLOX is bringing enterprise-grade computer vision and machine learning to help poultry farms make data-driven decisions across animal welfare, health and performance.
- Gardin has developed a cloud-based crop intelligence system for controlled environment agriculture, featuring high-tech optical sensors to generate performance alerts and growth insights.
- LettUs Grow designs and builds aeroponic technology and farm management software for indoor and vertical farms.
- SugaROx Ltd is developing a game-changing platform technology for crop stimulation with active ingredients to mimic natural plant molecules that stimulate carbon use and allocation.
“I’m delighted that we have nine UK ag-tech companies taking part in this cohort of the outstanding Cultivo Virtual Academy. I know they will benefit hugely from the deep expertise of the speakers they will hear from and the connections they will make with Iowa’s world-class agriculture leaders,” said Will Surman, the UK’s Agriculture Attaché to the US. “I’m certain that the exciting, innovative technologies these companies have to offer, which are aimed at driving production and sustainability across the food and agriculture industries, will enjoy great success in the US market. And they will find that success quicker thanks to Cultivo.”
The Cultivo Global Ag Innovation® program was launched in 2021 and features the six-week Virtual Academy as well as consultations, connections and curriculum for international scale-ups to learn from Iowa’s agricultural leaders and prepare for a U.S. market entry.
“The UK-based companies in this cohort of Cultivo Virtual Academy bring exciting new technologies and innovations to improve animal health, crop health and productivity, and sustainability for the world’s farmers,” said Billi Hunt, executive director of America’s Cultivation Corridor. “We are looking forward to working with them and making connections to Iowa’s leaders to provide a strong foundation and strategic advantage as they explore U.S. market potential.”
For more information on the program, or to learn about opportunities to sponsor or participate in a future cohort, visit www.cultivationcorridor.org or contact Billi Hunt, executive director of America’s Cultivation Corridor at bhunt@cultivationcorridor.org.
Investors and partners of America’s Cultivation Corridor are working together to accelerate the development of new technologies, strengthen Iowa’s ag bioscience workforce, and attract economic development, all focused on meeting the challenge of feeding a growing world population in a sustainable way.
Stakeholders in America’s Cultivation Corridor include Ames Regional Economic Alliance, Chevron Renewable Energy Group, Corteva Agriscience, Deere & Company, Greater Des Moines Partnership, ISG, Iowa Corn Promotion Board, Iowa Pork Producers, Iowa State University, Kent Corporation, MidAmerican Energy Company and Sukup Manufacturing Co.
Sponsors of the 2025 Cultivo cohort include Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa State University Economic Development and Industry Relations, BioConnect Iowa and Beck’s Hybrids.
More information is available at www.cultivationcorridor.org, or by following on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
About America’s Cultivation Corridor
Focused on further developing and marketing the world-renowned agricultural and bioscience economy in Iowa, America’s Cultivation Corridor is building on a rich history of innovation to accelerate value-added agriculture business development by attracting companies, talent and capital from across the globe to the state. Representing a diverse public-private coalition of stakeholders including Iowa State University, Greater Des Moines Partnership, Ames Chamber of Commerce, nonprofits and private sector companies from across the region and state, the Cultivation Corridor is one of the nation’s foremost cluster-based economic development organizations. For more information, visit CultivationCorridor.org.