In-person @ Knoxville, Tennessee, July 11-14

Applications open on May 2nd and close on May 31st. Apply here.

About the Event

AgLaunch is partnering with a diverse group of partners across the Appalachian region to host a bootcamp for innovators in food and agriculture. The Bootcamp is a crash course in business fundamentals and training on innovation within the agriculture industry. The goal of the program is to support early-stage agriculture startups and prepare them for follow-on programming and resources offered by AgLaunch or AgLaunch partners.

The bootcamp is designed for new startups focused on agriculture, faculty/student teams commercializing ag-related technology; and existing agriculture companies exploring new innovation. While there is a preference for companies located within the Appalachian region, applicants from any location are welcome to apply. Any new and novel idea in the agriculture and food value chain that will benefit the region will be considered, but we are particularly interested in the following areas of innovation: specialty crops including new grains for beverage and food markets, regenerative and organic agriculture and carbon markets, new uses for forestry products, pasture raised cattle, local value-added products, farm-to-market with novel technologies, bioenergy, controlled environment agriculture, data & traceability, and climate resiliency.

The bootcamp will be the first official program of the Appalachian AgriFood Innovation Cluster, coordinated by AgLaunch for the Small Business Administration (SBA). Bootcamp sponsors include: AgLaunch, the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, Sync.Space, The Biz Foundry, InvestSWVA, the South Carolina Research Authority, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Tennessee Tech, the National Black Growers Council, and the North Carolina Biotech Center.