Robotics, drone technology, biology and sensing research coming out of Mid-Atlantic universities could open new ways for farmers to harvest crops, protect fields and keep waterways clean, with a special NSF I-Corps Agriculture Technology cohort helping to turn that research into companies.

Penn State University and the NSF I-Corps Hub Mid-Atlantic Region hosted the first regional cohort devoted to agricultural technology from July 22 through Aug. 14. Fifteen teams developing technologies ranging from wave-energy harvesters to mushroom-picking robots completed the Special Ag-Tech I-Corps Summer Regional Short Course, which was open to agricultural technology teams from any I-Corps hub institution.

The cohort drew 26 participants from six universities, plus one non-Hub team, and was anchored by Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, Pennsylvania’s largest outdoor agricultural exposition. Held Aug. 11-13 at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, the free event brought together more than 400 exhibitors and gave teams direct access to the farmers, equipment suppliers and agribusinesses that are their customers.

“Agriculture is one of the region’s most important industries, and the research happening at our partner universities can help it become more productive and more sustainable,” said Dan Kunitz, director of the NSF I-Corps Hub Mid-Atlantic Region. “I-Corps gives researchers a disciplined process for learning what their customers need before building a product. Pairing that process with Ag Progress Days put hundreds of farmers and agribusinesses within walking distance, and these teams made the most of it.”

The University of Maryland, College Park fielded the largest contingent with six teams, including four led by UMD I-Corps interns working with Maryland agricultural deep-tech startups backed by the Chesapeake Bay Seed Capital Fund. Carnegie Mellon University, North Carolina State University and Penn State each sent two teams, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Columbia University each sent one.

Team projects spanned agricultural robotics, precision pest management, sustainable inputs, aquaculture, water quality and carbon removal, along with one adjacent life-sciences venture. Among them:

• Mushy (Penn State) is building autonomous mushroom-harvesting robots that use machine vision and gentle handling to address labor shortages and reduce crop damage.
• Hermes Vision (Carnegie Mellon) is developing drone perception and mission-planning software to map weeds and support targeted herbicide application.
• Benanova (NC State) is designing biodegradable, microplastic-free seed coatings that deliver crop-protection agents and suppress soil-borne diseases.
• Chesapeake Algae Solutions (Maryland) uses algal systems to pull excess nutrients from water while producing biomass for fertilizer and other uses.
• Oceanic Dynamics (Maryland) is harvesting wave energy to power remote aquaculture and environmental-monitoring sensors.
• Kinetic Biologicals (unaffiliated) is developing fungal inoculants to improve fertilizer efficiency, crop yield and drought resilience.

Benanova is a return participant. The company completed an NC State regional cohort in 2023 and has since raised $4.7 million, including a USDA SBIR award, before coming back to I-Corps to test a new market for its seed coatings.

Customer discovery is the core of I-Corps training, and Ag Progress Days gave teams three days of concentrated access to growers, dealers and other agricultural stakeholders. Team Enze alone reported completing 10 customer interviews on the grounds.

Those conversations sharpened several teams’ strategies. Benanova entered the program targeting row-crop growers and pivoted toward vegetable growers after learning how much they spend on overseeding and thinning. Oceanic Dynamics left talks with oyster farmers with clear priorities for its sensor platform: continuous oxygen monitoring, resistance to biofouling, and equipment that holds up in salt water.

Vertical cohorts, which bring together teams from across the region around a single technology sector, have become the Hub’s signature format since its first therapeutics cohort in 2024. The agricultural technology cohort follows programs in quantum, therapeutics, health tech, and AI and robotics.

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