2026 Finalists

New York, NY, USA
Barnwell Bio is making barn-level metagenomics the gold standard in animal health. We turn every barn into a diagnostic window with a comprehensive view of the microbial community so producers can see disease coming instead of chasing it and make health and wellness decisions with confidence.

Barnwell Bio website

Troy, NY, USA
Growers make high-stakes decisions every season with only a fraction of the information they need. Budbreak builds AI sentry robots that monitor crops plant by plant, helping growers catch disease early, measure yield and development, and make better decisions across their farms.

Budbreak Innovations website

Ithaca, NY, USA
CryoBio is addressing one of agriculture’s most overlooked threats in NY state and across the globe, frost, by developing a biomolecule-based universal spray that’s affordable, scalable, and effective, with the potential to prevent the loss of up to 5% of the food produced.

CryoBio website

Rantoul, IL, USA
Earnest Agriculture uses an AI-powered microbe matching platform to design multi-strain bacteria communities for a specific crop and outcome. The result is biological farm inputs farmers rebuy: 7% higher soybean yield across 45 third-party trial sites in 14 states.

Earnest Agriculture website

Rotterdam, Netherlands
Fooditive is a circular biotech using precision fermentation and upcycled inputs to brew real animal-free dairy casein, the protein that makes cheese melt and stretch and a zero-calorie sweetener, giving manufacturers affordable, sustainable ingredients at scale.

Fooditive website

Juneau, AK, USA
Frost Methane turns waste methane into stable, recurring revenue for livestock farmers, while taking action on one of the strongest levers against climate change.

Frost Methane website

Westfield, NJ, USA
Nomie makes organic, just-add-water kids’ meals. You just add hot water directly to the pouch, and a meal is ready in less than 10 minutes. Perfect for at home or on-the-go!

Nomie website

Saskatoon, Canada
Agricultural waste is a growing cost, and insect protein yields are stuck. NRGene Canada solves both: MaxBSF, our AI-selected (non-GMO, non-CRISPR) Black Soldier Fly strain, converts local dairy, apple, and food-processing waste into premium protein, pet treats, and biostimulant.

NRGene Canada website

Woodstock, NY, USA
Nuravine is a modular, automated system giving indoor or outdoor facilities of any scale complete control of dosing, irrigation, and environment. We build our own hardware and software, seamlessly integrated in an affordable, rapidly improving package that keeps farmers ahead of the curve.

Nuravine website

Syracuse, NY, USA
OrganoTech is a startup aiming at the acceleration of deep technologies for sustainable wastewater treatment and resource recovery from organic wastes. Our services include technical research and development, market analysis of new technologies, licensing for technology transfer, conceptual design and prototyping, business model development, field demonstration and pilot testing, and feasibility study.

OrganoTech LLC website

Brookline, MA, USA
PropelMapper is the operating system for agricultural advisors. Advisors record field observations by voice, and PropelMapper turns them into structured reports tied to the right farm, field, and season. Observations merge with satellite and weather data, so advisors show up knowing every client.

PropelMapper website

Newton, MA, USA
Prospect Growth uses material engineering at the nanoscale to develop and manufacture more efficient fertilizers with new functionalities, with the goal of helping growers increase farm profitability and reduce nutrient inputs.

Prospect Growth website

Ithaca, NY, USA
Quantera Analytical is pioneering sample handling and preparation solutions that improve performance, speed, and cost for the chemical tests food and agriculture producers rely on for safety and quality, in the field or at the lab bench.

Quantera Analytical website

New York, NY, USA
Recoup is Regeneratively Organic sparkling hydration with functional benefits. We deliver real functional benefits—maple tree water that has natural, organic prebiotic fiber for digestive , and real ginger. Recoup is hydration redefined.

Recoup website

Ithaca, NY, USA
RETRN detoxifies the plastic supply chain by converting agro-industrial and forestry wastes into hundreds of proprietary biobased materials built to replace plastic throughout industry. From coatings in packaging to fibers for textiles, RETRN turns waste problems into supply solutions.

RETRN website

Berkeley, CA, USA
Spectacular Labs builds fully automated, cloud-connected molecular testing systems that let food producers safely perform lab-grade pathogen testing on-site. Its sealed tabletop platform delivers certified results in hours, helping reduce product holds, costs, food waste, and recall risk.

Spectacular Labs website

Madison, WI, USA
Spraycision develops precision spraying technology for orchards and vineyards that automatically sprays only where plant canopy exists. Our EveryZone system reduces chemical waste, lowers operating costs, and improves sustainability by retrofitting existing airblast sprayers.

Spraycision website

New York, NY, USA
Starfish is the leading network for supply chain traceability, helping food companies share data with partners using systems they already trust — enabling secure, real-time collaboration, better insights, and more connected, compliant, resilient supply chains.

Starfish website

Murfreesboro, TN, USA
Over 1.5 billion apples protected. Startchy develops and commercializes washable post-harvest coatings for apples to replace wax, improving apple quality and shelf-life along the value chain.

Startchy website

Los Angeles, CA, USA
ThermoShade’s patented radiative cooling panels provide effective, energy-efficient heat-stress relief for livestock and people. Our technology improves animal health and productivity while reducing reliance on costly, energy-intensive cooling systems.

ThermoShade website