Launching the next big name in plant science innovation
Startups Get Their Start Here
We strive to grow entrepreneurs with grit and determination to improve the world through plant science innovation, accelerating new discoveries and technologies and launching new startups, all in the interest of advancing agriculture in North Carolina and beyond.
The N.C. PSI Seed2Grow Startup Program offers exciting new opportunities for researchers who want to turn their ideas into local and global solutions. Admission to the program, granted by our Commercialization Advisory Council, offers:
Access to the Plant Sciences Building’s specialized labs, core facilities, research and meeting spaces
Proximity to talent: leading faculty members, graduate students and undergrads
Mentoring with an Executive in Residence
Networking Opportunities
Assistance with Business Plan Development and Marketing
Startup Spotlight: Hoofprint Biome
Methane has proven to be one of the main drivers behind climate change, and cows emit this gas every time they burp. Hoofprint Biome, a startup led by Scott Collins and Kathryn Polkoff, is out to provide producers, and our climate, with a solution: a feed additive that eliminates the microbes that cause methane in a cow’s rumen.
The Innovation Hub is a 2,500-square-foot combined open office and wet lab space in NC State’s Plant Sciences Building that houses agricultural technology startup companies emerging from the university.
Appointed by the advisory council, executives in residence provide guidance to startup companies, liaise between the companies and the council and serve as advocates for companies in identifying and overcoming hurdles.
Commercialization Advisory Council
The Commercialization Advisory Council helps identify promising technologies with market potential, provides their expert advice on commercializing N.C. PSI technologies and uses their experience to provide high-level mentorship to N.C. PSI startups.
