From Research to Reality: Building an AgTech Startup

Eli Hornstein, founder of Elysia Bio, discusses what it takes to turn agricultural research into a successful agtech startup. Drawing on his experience as an entrepreneur, he shares insights into transforming scientific innovation into a viable business and how farmer feedback, startup funding and strategic partnerships are helping bring new agricultural biotechnology solutions to market.

In the first episode of AgTech 360’s From Idea to Impact series, host Adrian Percy talks with Pete Nelson, President and Executive Director of AgLaunch, about a different approach to developing agricultural technologies—one that puts growers at the center of the process. Discover how farmers are helping startups identify real-world challenges, shape and test new solutions, and even share in the financial success of the innovations they help bring to market.

Mohan Tavorath shares his perspective on how artificial intelligence and agricultural data can help growers make faster, more informed decisions. He explores what it takes to make AI tools practical and trustworthy on the farm, why human expertise remains essential, and how AI could ultimately become a seamless part of precision agriculture and everyday farm management. 

Dr. Debjani Sihi of NC State explores how artificial intelligence is helping scientists make sense of complex agricultural and environmental systems, uncover patterns in vast datasets and improve predictions. She also explains why AI alone isn’t the answer and why scientific knowledge, human intelligence and real-world expertise remain essential to turning these powerful tools into meaningful solutions for agriculture. 

Ranveer Chandra, Vice President at Microsoft, shares his perspective on how artificial intelligence is reshaping agriculture. From the importance of high-quality data and digital infrastructure to the role of collaboration and specialized AI models, he explores what it will take to unlock AI's full potential and how these technologies can help solve some of agriculture's biggest challenges.

 Dr. Steven Mirsky of USDA's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) explains how the digital infrastructure behind artificial intelligence is being built today to power the future of agriculture. From computer vision and image repositories to BenchBot and the Digital Agricultural Systems Hub (DASH), he shares how researchers are creating the datasets, tools, and standards needed to train AI systems that can detect pests, diseases, crop stress, and other field conditions. Steven also discusses why collaboration across government, academia, and industry is essential to moving these innovations from research to real-world impact. 

Charlie Baxter, Head of Trait R&D at Syngenta discusses how plant traits, biotechnology and genome editing are shaping the future of agriculture. From insect resistance and herbicide tolerance to AI-driven trait discovery and precision breeding, Charlie explains how crop trait innovation is helping farmers improve yield, strengthen climate resilience and advance sustainable farming practices. The conversation also explores the future of crop improvement, the evolving role of genetic technologies in agriculture and how companies like Syngenta are developing next-generation solutions to help feed a growing global population. 

In this final episode of the Climate-Ready Agriculture series, agtech investor and innovation advisor Mark Brooks shares insights on how new technologies, research, and business decisions are shaping the future of agriculture. The conversation explores emerging trends in agtech, how climate challenges are influencing real-world decisions across the food system, and why stronger collaboration between researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry will be key to building more resilient agricultural systems. 

Mariano Alvarez, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Avalo, shares how AI and machine learning are reshaping plant breeding. From genomic prediction to advanced modeling and data-driven decision-making, we explore how advanced tools are accelerating crop development and helping breeders tackle complex traits like heat tolerance, drought response, and nitrogen use efficiency.  The conversation highlights how AI is reshaping the speed, cost, and impact of modern crop development—from the lab to the field. 

In this episode, Bill Salas, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Regrow, explains how MRV—measurement, reporting, and verification—is helping agriculture quantify environmental and agronomic outcomes at the field level. The conversation explores how satellite data, models, and farm-level information come together to support climate-ready agriculture, enable regenerative programs, and help growers and agri-food companies make informed, data-driven decisions.