Purdue Ag-celerator seeds $100,000

Purdue University’s Ag-celerator Fund committed a total of $100,000 on Monday to help US-based businesses Heliponix and Karyosoft commercialise indoor plant cultivation and microbiome analysis technologies respectively.
Heliponix and Karyosoft will each receive $50,000 after impressing in the fifth edition of Purdue’s Ag-celerator competition, which fosters plant science-focused startups hoping to propel their businesses.
Founded in 2016, Heliponix sells an indoor plant growing device called the GroPod which emits a hydrating mist and LED light to prompt photosynthesis, creating greenhouse-like cultivation conditions for consumers.
Heliponix has already been backed by another Purdue entrepreneurship program, Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund, which supplied $80,000 of funding in May 2018.
The company was co-founded by Scott Massey and Ivan Ball, both alumni of Purdue Polytechnic Institute. Heliponix will use the funding to meet demand by ramping up its manufacturing capacity.
Karyosoft was incorporated in 2017 to design genome data analysis software for evaluating microbiomes – the network of microorganisms hosted within a given environment.
The platform, Loci, was created to help biologists apply microbial knowledge to derive advancements in fields such as crop production, animal health and healthcare.
The Ag-celerator funding will help Karyosoft grow its customer base by supporting marketing as well as upgrades to its first Loci product and the development of a follow-up version.
Ag-celerator Fund is a $2m investment vehicle launched by Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and its tech transfer office Purdue Research Foundation under the management of Purdue Ventures, the co-investment arm of entrepreneurship unit Purdue Foundry.
John Hanak, managing director of Purdue Ventures, said: “We have seen that startups receiving Ag-celerator investments during this critical time in their development are advancing quickly in the plant science industry.”
“The selection committee deliberated very carefully over the many high-quality presentations before choosing Heliponix and Karyosoft for this investment round.”