3 St. Louis startups win spots in Danforth Center/Wells Fargo agtech incubator program

Three St. Louis startups have been selected for the newest agtech cohort of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²), which includes companies using the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Creve Coeur to advance research and development initiatives.

Startups selected for the program will receive up to $250,000 in nondilutive funding for research at the Danforth Center. Each startup is paired with Danforth Center scientists who provide research assistance.

The new cohort is IN²’s 11th, and the fourth for its agtech track. IN², a startup incubator funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, in 2018 announced a partnership with the Danforth Center to expand by funding a track of companies specifically focused on agriculture technology. The accelerator program said this year’s companies are developing products that use “biological solutions to improve the resilience of global food systems.”

“This year’s IN² agtech cohort companies are creating new technologies that can help control and mitigate a variety of emerging crop vulnerabilities,” said Elliott Kellner, senior program manager at the Danforth Center. “We're excited to support the development of such a broad range of strategies by a cohort that is so diverse, in terms of commercialization stage and technological approach.”

Startups selected for this year’s cohort are:

• Cytophage Technologies (Winnipeg, Canada): The biotechnology firm is developing products it says will help fight against antibiotic resistant diseases and improve food safety, animal health and human health. The company is paired up with Rebecca Bart and Allison Miller of the Danforth Center.

• Edison Agrosciences (St. Louis): This local company is focused on boosting natural rubber created by the sunflower plant. It seeks to both diversify the sources of natural rubber and provide a consistent produced supply domestically. It is working with the Danforth Center’s Todd Mockler.  

• Peptyde Bio (St. Louis): Peptyde is using technology to create natural fungicide products that can serve as an alternative to chemical fungicides. The startup was established by the Danforth Technology Co., a recently launched company focused on helping Danforth Center scientists commercialize their research and technology. Peptyde is teaming up with the Danforth Center’s Mao Li and Noah Fahlgren.

• Robigo (Cambridge, Massachusetts): The startup is developing what it says are “more effective and environmentally friendly biopesticides” that will improve soil and crops. Rebecca Bart and Allison Miller of the Danforth Center are working with the startup.  

• Synthetic Vector Design LLC (St. Louis): This local firm is teaming up with another Susterco, an agtech firm launched St. Louis-based BioGenerator, to create technology designed to help manage disease control in crops. Toni Kutchan and Veena Veena of the Danforth Center are collaborating with the company on its research.

Founded in 2014, IN² now has 66 companies in its portfolio. Startups it has backed have raised $1.3 billion in follow-on funding from other sources.