Plug and Play Topeka announces latest cohort of participating startups!

TOPEKA, KANSAS, April 1, 2024 — Following an in-person pitch event at Plug and Play Headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA, Plug and Play Topeka has announced the 16 Animal Health startups and 11 Agtech startups that were selected for the newest batches of the Animal Health and Agtech accelerator programs. The program aims to foster innovation within those two industries, both of which have a significant impact on the region. The chosen startups will participate in a series of business development webinars, mentor sessions with industry experts, and projects with the programs’ corporate partners (many of which have bases in the Midwest).

This year’s cohort comprises companies from 10 different countries—and 10 different states within the United States. Their technologies seek to address a variety of different problems within the two industries: from precision farming, digitalization, and automation in the Agtech space to diagnostics, alternative ingredients, and pet marketplaces in the Animal Health space.

Andria Beal, one of the founders in the new group, said, “EpiPaws is very excited for this opportunity to be in the Plug and Play accelerator! We are eager to learn, expand our network, and hopefully forge some new partnerships that will help us reach our goals for this year.” Beal will be participating in the virtual program from Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

CAMSENS, another startup participating in the program, is based in Schleusingen and Bremen, Germany. Chief Business Development Officer Erika Barreto, said, “It feels surreal to be accepted to the Plug and Play Accelerator Program. Running a Start-up can be overwhelmingly challenging, filled with uncertainty and moments of doubt. To pitch in Silicon Valley and then be chosen by corporate partners for the program is a leap of faith. It is a ‘green light’ that we are on the right path with our innovative solutions. This opportunity is a significant chance to learn and advance our company CAMSENS toward success. We are now more hopeful than ever that this year will be our breakthrough – ‘Auf ein erfolgversprechendes Jahr!’”

This will be just the second batch for program manager Anne Gunden to lead. “I enjoyed every second of the last program, so I am thrilled that the time has finally come to get the next batch started! I feel incredibly lucky that my job involves interacting with and learning from passionate startup founders—people who are trying to change the world for the better. My goal is to support these companies in any way I can as our team provides them with access to resources, mentors, and the greater Plug and Play ecosystem. We want to do everything we can to help them impact their respective industries.”

Lindsay Lebahn, who will now serve as Director in addition to her Partner Success Manager role for Plug and Play Agtech and Animal Health, is looking forward to hosting the graduation event in Topeka once again. “We are so lucky to have this program based here in Topeka. There’s something so special about the Midwest; we know it as a team, and the startups feel it when they get to experience the region firsthand. We want to continue to collaborate creatively to continue the momentum that has been built
over the last three years. We’re excited for others to witness the technologies these startup founders have developed at our Expo in June.”

Official program events have already begun, with orientation having taken place last Thursday. The program will run for approximately twelve weeks, with its culminating event set to take place in Topeka, KS on June 6. That event, which is co-hosted by Go Topeka, is open to the public. Stephanie Moran, Senior Vice President of Innovation for Go Topeka, is looking forward to connecting another group of startups with the local ecosystem. “Having the startups pitch in person to be part of the accelerator program has been a beneficial twist this year! It’s allowed all of the partners to spend time meeting and getting to know startups prior to final selection and has initiated strong collaborations early in the process. We’re looking forward to hosting the startups in Topeka, so we can showcase what our region has to offer those in the Animal Health and Agtech industries.”

Plug and Play proudly partners with the following entities: Go Topeka, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Cargill, American National Insurance, Bremer Bank, Farm Credit Services of America, and Mosaic.

Click below to learn more about the 26 startups participating in the programs.

Agtech Startups:
Agrigator
Agrigator is combining AI and capital to help agribusinesses address challenges arising from climate and operational uncertainties for sustainable growth.

Athian
Athian’s cloud-based platform benchmarks, validates and certifies Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas reductions for the animal agriculture value chain, that are sold as carbon insetting credits to fund on-farm sustainable practice changes.

DigiFarm
DigiFarm detects the world’s most accurate field boundaries to power precision agriculture.

Gårdskapital
Gårdskapital connects farmers with investors to accelerate the transition to more sustainable agriculture.

LandPrint
LandPrint measures the environmental quality of farms and develops economic and financial mechanisms to transition supply chains towards regenerative agriculture.

Mapana
Proprietary sensing technology used to analyze plant systems for fertilizer and mineral intake with an AI enabled data and analysis tool for input recommendations and soil health tracking.

Oaken
Oaken is a B2B SaaS platform creating a world where managing, owning, finding, and investing in farmland is magical and effortless.

RawData
RawData: Integrated farm management and HR solution, optimizing operations, productivity, and workforce management for agricultural businesses.

RealmFive
Manage and automate your remote operations with RealmFive SMARTSITES.

Terrra
Terrra is democratizing wetlands carbon removal through a technology platform to measure, manage and issue carbon credits.

TRIC Robotics
Helping farmers control pests and disease with ultraviolet light in place of chemical pesticides.

Animal Health Startups:
Arch Pet Food
The next generation of alternative protein dog food and treats.

CAMSENS
CAMSENS GmbH helps veterinarians and laboratories to detect pathogens in just minutes using
automation and AI.

CheckForPet
CheckForPet supports dog and cat owners in finding the right food.

Dog Child
Dog Child is the leading home cooking recipe community for dog parents, providing nutritionist developed recipes and shoppable products.

EpiPaws
EpiPaws is an animal health company that currently provides an easy at-home age estimation test for dogs and cats.

Friends & Family Pet Food Company
Friends & Family Pet Food Company makes cultivated meat pet food better than anyone else.

GenoTwin
GenoTwin combines leading genomics expertise and data science to transform the detection of pathogens and assess immune responses to them.

Isomark
Isomark is creating cutting edge breath technology AI-based detection of bacterial and viral infections to improve production, reduce losses, and increase efficiency of your herd.

Lampovet
Personalized gut microbiome analysis and tailored nutrition to promote pets health

Livestock Labs
Livestock Labs creates and supplies genetically engineered cell lines designed to grow predictably, stably, and economically.

Organicin Scientific
Organicin is working to reduce the world’s reliance on antibiotics and to introduce safe and sustainable alternatives to protect our food supply, and population, from disease.

Planet Sustainable Technologies
At Planet Sustainable Technologies, we develop sustainable technologies to reduce the carbon footprint of plastic and fully biodegrade plastic waste leaving behind no toxins or microplastics.

Poultry Patrol
Commercial poultry tending robot that puts more money in the pockets of farmers while making birds healthier leading to more output for similar inputs.

PRONOVA
PRONOVA- Pioneering Proactive Pet Care: Non-invasive, comprehensive, real-time health insights. Saliva-based biosensors for point-of-care, acting as an early-warning system for pet health.

Seismi
Seismi offers a compact IoT veterinary vital signs monitor with zero-touch continuous measurement of heart rate, respiration rate that fits inside animal enclosure, on exam tables, and other clinical settings.

About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform—connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we’re present in 50+ locations across five continents. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we’ve invested in hundreds of successful companies, including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/

Plug and Play Topeka Contact: l.lebahn@pnptc.com