HARVEST AgTech 2026 Cohort Call: Biologicals
We are excited by your interest in HARVEST AgTech’s 2026 Biologicals Cohort!
Please see below for detailed information regarding the program offering, the process and the kinds of companies and technologies we are seeking for the inaugural cohort of HARVEST AgTech.
After reviewing this information, if this year’s opportunity sounds like a good fit for your technology, please fill out the referral form at the bottom. We look forward to hearing from you!
What Startups
Receive
Startups participating in HARVEST AgTech’s 2026 Biologicals Cohort will receive a significant number of benefits that are unique to this program:
Research collaborations with some of the world’s top institutions to speed the path to market
- With technical support from the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative (NCPSI) and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR), your startup will have an unparalleled opportunity to work with some of the best experts working in the field of biologicals today.
- Access to NCPSI or UCANR facilities to conduct collaborative research, validate your technology or test your solution in the field.
Tailored support for your specific challenge, with experts helping you in the lab or field setting
- The collaboration will be customized based on your company’s specific needs.
- If accepted, you’ll work closely with the technical partners to design a successful body of work that allows you to explore, address, and validate your toughest scientific and technical challenges.
Non-dilutive financial support giving the startup the resources you need to work with HARVEST AgTech’s technical partners
Each company receives a non-dilutive financial award to support their work with one of the technical partners (to cover costs such as travel, equipment, analysis requirements, etc.)
Access to a world-class global network of Ecosystem Partners and Advisory Board members
- The HARVEST AgTech network is designed to support and lift up companies that are selected for our cohorts.
- This means HARVEST AgTech curates access to some of the leading practitioners in the agtech space across investors, corporates, non-profits, academia, and Ecosystem Partners.
Private, in-person events hosted by HARVEST AgTech and its partners, to showcase yours work and connect you with resources
- Startups selected for our cohort will be frequently highlighted by HARVEST AgTech and our partners for your leadership.
- Startups will have access to invite-only events with members of our network as well as other public opportunities such as conference invitations.
What We Are
Seeking
HARVEST AgTech’s Biologicals Cohort is dedicated to advancing agricultural biologicals via scientific advancement and technical validation that improves the performance, consistency, and adoption of biological solutions. This includes innovations that directly improve field efficacy, enhance product formulation, or address upstream challenges such as data-driven insights, screening methodologies, and precision application. The outcome of this work will be a clearer, faster path to commercialization for the most promising solutions.
We are seeking startups with technologies that are building upon basic research and those that are moving toward field validation (e.g., can demonstrate proof of concept that would de-risk investment in the technology). This includes companies developing novel products with a strong scientific foundation and a clear pathway for repeatable results, such as technologies that leverage advanced formulation, genomics, synthetic biology, or data-driven insights to ensure product stability, improve shelf-life, and enhance a product’s effectiveness under a range of environmental conditions.
While we are most interested in direct biological applications, we will also consider ancillary services and enabling technologies that support the biologicals sector, such as data acquisition platforms, advanced testing and screening methodologies, or precision application technologies that improve a product’s effectiveness and reliability in the field.
Finally, we will also consider eligibility for companies that believe they have a product enhancement that could expand into a new agricultural setting, use case, or geography (especially within California and/or North Carolina).
Our partnerships with the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative and University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources provide unparalleled access to cutting-edge researchers and practitioners working in the plant microbiome, microbiology, and advanced analytics, as well as a network for rigorous field trials across diverse agro-climatic zones, coupled with access to field researchers and extension specialists to support these trials. We are targeting companies with a core technology that can be rigorously validated and a team poised to translate scientific discovery into a scalable, trust-building product for farmers.
Program Length
While each technical project will be unique we anticipate the amount of time required at a minimum of 6-9 months and possibly longer than 12 months depending on the nature of the technical work being undertaken.
IP Guidance
Intellectual property (IP) discussions will take place individually with each selected company, but we are providing an overview here so you can have an initial understanding of what to expect. Our intention is to be as easy for a startup to work with as possible and that includes IP considerations.
Geography
Our technical partners are based in North Carolina and California. We do not expect companies to move to either of these locations; rather, this program is virtual with an expectation that you will travel to your site a minimum of two times during the program as well as an in-person convening at the beginning of the program (your non-dilutive funding award is intended to cover these travel expenses). Companies outside the United States (who are referred by an Ecosystem Partner) are encouraged to apply.
What to Expect if Selected to Work With:
N.C. PSI
When NC State University engages with a third party, intellectual property (IP) rights are governed by the university’s Patent and Tangible Research Policy and managed by the Office of Research Commercialization (ORC). The university has several types of 3rd party agreements as described on our website. The two main types of agreements that are most likely to be relevant are Testing and Services Agreements and Sponsored Project Agreements. Testing and Service Agreements (TSA) cover defined analytical or technical work using established NC State methods or equipment, where no new intellectual property is expected to be created and the sponsor typically owns the resulting data or reports. Field trials, for example, are often conducted under a TSA. Sponsored Project Agreements (SPA) support original research conducted by NC State investigators, where new knowledge or inventions may arise. All terms, including ownership, licensing scope, and confidentiality, are formally negotiated in the SPA before work begins. NC State generally retains ownership of any new IP created through the SPA, while the sponsoring company may receive options or negotiated licenses, depending on the project scope. Academic freedom and publication rights are preserved, with limited review periods to protect confidential or patentable information.
UC ANR
Startups who conduct field trials at a UC ANR Research and Experiment Center (REC) will be expected to execute a Licensing Agreement, which will be drafted and negotiated with the UC ANR Office of Contracts and Grants and the respective REC Director. This agreement will cover details related to each party’s obligations for the duration of the usage of land, inputs, and researcher capacity at the respective REC Center.
Technical Capabilities Available to Startups
Our world-class technical partners, University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources and North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, can offer startups in the HARVEST AgTech Biologicals Cohort a diverse range of capabilities. The core focus for our technical partners will be in research and technical validation in laboratory settings, controlled environments and in field trials.
For laboratory-focused research collaborations and controlled environment technology validation, we expect to be able to offer:
- Collaborative research with faculty on fundamental research questions and technology improvement
- Labs and innovation space designed for interdisciplinary research
- State-of-the-art growth chambers and controlled environments to study plant–microbe interactions under reproducible conditions.
- High-throughput phenotyping platforms to measure plant responses to microbial inoculants (growth, stress tolerance, yield traits).
Research-scale greenhouses and indoor farms designed for crop production studies offering the ability to test microbial products under realistic commercial production conditions
For field trials, we expect to be able to offer:
- Access to a highly diverse set of research plots covering a wide range of geographies, climatic conditions, and crop types.
Analytics capabilities as well as access to research faculty and staff (depending on need) to both design trials and evaluate results
Beyond these core functions, other capabilities that may be available include scale-up and biomanufacturing; data, sensing, and genomics; specialized lab analysis; and engineering and prototyping.
For more detailed information about the technical capabilities of our technical partners please see additional information regarding N.C. PSI here or UC ANR here.
Timeline
Application opens
Application closes
Final selection and notification of winning companies