ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, USA, October 25, 2022- Canadian company Nutrien, the world's largest provider of crop inputs, services, and solutions partnered with San Diego, California, Radicle Growth, an accelerator and venture capital firm focused on early-stage agriculture and food technology startups, to sponsor the Radicle Inclusion Challenge. This year’s event was committed to driving goals of diversity and inclusion with historically underrepresented agtech entrepreneurs in early-stage food and agtech startups. More than one hundred and thirty applicants from forty countries participated in the Challenge for an opportunity to receive assistance in venture capital and access to valuable resources helping them to deliver their technologies to market.
Candace Laing, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Nutrien said, “At Nutrien, we believe addressing historical inequities in agriculture is essential to advancing social justice efforts and creating a long-lasting impact on the industry. To help support systems-level change, we can leverage the opportunity we have in our investments and agtech partnerships to strengthen business, social, environmental, and investment outcomes.”
Coinciding with the annual World Food Prize Foundation’s Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, this past week, finalist presented their ideas and business objectives to a panel of experts. Agtools was one of two winners recognized for building a SaaS-based data platform for commodities to provide volume and insights to a range of customers including buyers and suppliers – growers/shippers. The price awards a $250,000 investment and access to high-level industry expertise and a global network of executives serving as strategic partners and mentors assisting in their pathway to success.
Kirk Haney, Managing Partner at Radicle Growth said: “We are highly impressed with the high-quality entrepreneurs and technologies that we've identified through the Radicle Challenge process. This Challenge has resulted in data-driven market intelligence on diversity and inclusion in agtech, providing transformative insights into how underrepresented groups are accessing the funding and resources they need to be successful. This is an incredible data set, and we look forward to leveraging these insights to drive systemic change and lead the next wave of innovation in agtech.”
Agtools was one of four finalists chosen that went on to win the Radicle Inclusion Challenge Award. Presenting the company was President and CEO, Martha Montoya. "Winning this competition is the culmination of a long road of trying to explain the complexity of the world markets impacting any local farmer and how they have to manage their farm beyond the obvious. Focusing on increasing yield and lowering costs is only a percentage of farming good practices. Knowing the global variables impacting their commodity is crucial for their longevity. Truly rewarding," says Martha Montoya, CEO at Agtools.
About Agtools:
www.ag.tools Agtools, Inc. – Microsoft Machine Learning and AI award winner, is a fast-growing SaaS business intelligence solutions company driving efficiencies within the global food and agriculture supply chain. With one billion transactions per second, Agtools® offers a solution to the challenge of accessing the real-time data needed for short- and long-term business decisions that are causally related to revenue, cost, and overall efficiency. The company provides data and analytics for farmers, buyers, distributors, retailers, government agencies, financial firms, and other stakeholders to manage volatile product categories. Agtools® harnesses infinite industry knowledge to improve results. The company is headquartered in Orange, California.
Selected as: Accenture 1871- Supply Chain Innovation Award, Orange – Worldwide Decarbonization Award
Participant in the next-level endeavor accelerator and NASDAQ accelerator