AgriNovus Indiana News Archives - The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership

AgriNovus Indiana Names Christy Wright President and CEO

Courtney Kerr2025-08-11T10:22:17-04:00August 11, 2025|

AgriNovus Indiana, a non-profit coalition focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today that Christy Wright will be its next president and CEO, effective August 18. Wright brings 15 years of leadership in food and agriculture, having most recently served as the director of Global Food Systems at Corteva Agriscience. “Christy has a focus and commitment to accelerating impact at AgriNovus and driving this critical agbioscience economy forward,” said Karen Plaut, former executive vice president for research at Purdue University and chair of the AgriNovus Indiana Board of Directors. “The AgriNovus Board welcomes her to the team, and we look forward to supporting her leadership to make Indiana a global leader in agbioscience innovation.” In her tenure at Corteva Agriscience, Wright led efforts as director of Global Food Systems, partnering with food and agriculture stakeholders to create a more [...]

AgriNovus Indiana announces changes to its Board of Directors

Courtney Kerr2025-08-11T11:37:34-04:00July 22, 2025|

INDIANAPOLIS (July 22, 2025) — AgriNovus Indiana, a nonprofit coalition focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today changes to its board of directors. The board unanimously approved the addition of Craig Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Ag Alumni Seed, Dr. Robert Pepper, president of Huntington University and Eric Young, chief financial officer at BiomEdit, to replace outgoing directors. “To execute a bold vision, you must have great leaders in place,” said Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research at Purdue University and chair of the AgriNovus Indiana Board of Directors. “The additions of Craig, Robert and Eric bring a varied background of skills, perspectives and experiences to our Board that will be critical to our shared vision of growing this agbioscience economy.” Anderson is the president and chief executive officer of The Ag Alumni Seed Improvement Association [...]

AgriNovus Indiana’s Velocity Announces 2025 Winners, Awards $75,000 to Entrepreneurs at Demo Day Event

Courtney Kerr2025-06-19T11:28:39-04:00June 19, 2025|

Forty-Two Teams Develop Solutions in BioInnovation, Farmer-Focused Innovation and Food is Health; Launches Next Phase of Velocity Program Designed for Scale-Up Companies AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to grow the agbioscience economy, today announced Chicago, Ill.-based Integrated Dynamics, Indianapolis, Ind.-based NanoBio Designs and South Bend, Ind.-based NutriPop have won Velocity, securing each company $25,000 to advance their tech-enabled businesses that address many of the toughest challenges facing the food and agbioscience economy. In partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Elevance Health, Beck’s Hybrids, Ag Alumni Seed and Gutwein Law, Velocity challenges students, startups and existing companies to create solutions to fill research-defined gaps in three critical areas: bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health. “Velocity was launched to inspire innovation that addresses three critical forces of change facing our food and agbioscience economy today and well [...]

National Search Underway for AgriNovus Indiana’s Next President and CEO

Courtney Kerr2025-06-19T15:26:05-04:00June 16, 2025|

AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to grow the agbioscience economy, has launched the search for its next President and CEO following Mitch Frazier’s departure from the organization after a five-year tenure. Indianapolis-based Medallion Partners, a national organization development and executive search firm, will lead the search with the help of a committee of industry leaders identified by the AgriNovus Executive Committee. Members include: Karen Plaut — executive vice president for research at Purdue University – chair of the AgriNovus Board of Directors and committee lead Trent Torrance – chief operating officer at United Animal Health – vice-chair of the AgriNovus Board of Directors David Pugh – chief financial officer at AgReliant Genetics Jeff Simmons – CEO of Elanco Wes Sprinkle – CEO of Indiana Farmers Insurance “Growing and advancing agbioscience innovation is critical to Indiana’s economy,” said Karen Plaut, executive [...]

AgriNovus Indiana to award $75,000 to entrepreneurs at Velocity Demo Day June 18 in Indianapolis

Courtney Kerr2025-05-21T10:33:58-04:00May 21, 2025|

Three winners to receive $25,000 each for solutions to challenges in bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to grow the agbioscience economy, will host its first Velocity Demo Day from 3 to 6 p.m. on June 18 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, awarding three winning teams $25,000 each. In partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Elevance Health, Beck’s Hybrids, Ag Alumni Seed and Gutwein Law, the event culminates a six-month startup accelerator designed to inspire creation of tech-enabled businesses that address research-defined challenges in bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health. “Velocity is designed to accelerate development of solutions to some of the toughest challenges facing the food and agricultural economy in Indiana and around the globe,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus. “Demo Day will spotlight entrepreneurs [...]

Mitch Frazier, AgriNovus President and CEO to Step Down

Courtney Kerr2025-05-20T10:20:37-04:00May 16, 2025|

Organization Launches National Search for New President and CEO AgriNovus Indiana announced today it is launching a search for a new chief executive officer following the resignation of its current CEO Mitch Frazier who will depart from the organization June 6. Frazier, who has served as president and CEO of AgriNovus since June 2020, will become President of IBJ Media Corporation June 16. “It has been an honor to serve alongside the team at AgriNovus and work with partners across the state and around the world to build the next chapter of the agbioscience economy in Indiana,” said Frazier. “Together we have built a powerful engine to accelerate growth in this economy, and I know the passion that fuels this team will continue to deliver results well into the future.” During Frazier’s tenure at AgriNovus, the organization refined its [...]

Corteva Veteran Joins AgriNovus to Lead Growth Efforts Across Indiana’s Agbioscience Economy

Courtney Kerr2025-04-16T14:30:53-04:00April 8, 2025|

Former Dow AgroSciences and Corteva Leader Megan DeVelvis to Focus on Economic Growth, Joins Expanded AgriNovus Leadership Team AgriNovus Indiana, a nonprofit coalition to grow Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today Megan DeVelvis as its new senior director of growth – a role charged with enabling and accelerating growth of agbioscience companies in the state. DeVelvis, who joins AgriNovus after more than 20 years in agriculture, will lead AgriNovus’ economic development efforts, connecting industry, academia, capital providers, governments and non-profits to opportunities to fuel growth across food, animal health, plant science, agtech and agriculture. “Agbioscience is the only economy in the world that touches every person on the planet, and Indiana has emerged as the destination of choice for innovators and companies seeking to build the next chapter of food and agriculture even stronger,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO [...]

AgriNovus Indiana names new executive members, welcomes new directors

Courtney Kerr2025-03-11T14:29:42-04:00March 11, 2025|

AgriNovus Indiana, a nonprofit coalition focused on growing Indiana’s agbioscience economy, announced today changes to its executive committee and its board of directors. The board unanimously approved the addition of Robert King, executive vice president, Crop Protection Business Unit at Corteva Agriscience, and David Pugh, chief financial officer of AgReliant Genetics, to the executive committee. The board also approved the addition of Dr. Brian Lutz, vice president of Agricultural Solutions at Corteva Agriscience, and Micah Beckwith, Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, as successions to replace outgoing directors. “Indiana’s agbioscience economy continues to grow thanks to the direction and support of the AgriNovus board of directors,” said Mitch Frazier, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. “The addition of these experts to our Board brings even more breadth of expertise to our team as we work to build the agbioscience economy of [...]

AgriNovus Indiana launches $75,000 startup accelerator, Velocity, to address areas ripe for agbioscience innovation

Ronnetta Spalding2025-02-10T19:37:58-05:00December 18, 2024|

Velocity empowers innovators to develop solutions in bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health; Registration deadline is January 24 AgriNovus Indiana, an initiative to grow the agbioscience economy, announced today the launch of Velocity, a six-month agbioscience accelerator to inspire the creation of tech-enabled businesses to address many of the toughest challenges facing the food and agbioscience economy. In partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Elevance Health, Beck’s Hybrids and Ag Alumni Seed, Velocity challenges students, startups and existing companies to create solutions to fill research-defined gaps in three critical areas: bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health. The entrepreneur who presents the top solution in each of these three gaps will receive $25,000. “Bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health are the top three forces of change that will shape the next chapter of [...]

New EntreWorks report outlines opportunities to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in Indiana

Ronnetta Spalding2025-02-10T19:38:08-05:00December 17, 2024|

Indianapolis, IN – With a focus on expanding Indiana’s entrepreneurial environment, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) and AgriNovus Indiana today unveiled their new report, Unlocking IP: Leveraging Indiana’s R&D Assets to Boost Entrepreneurship. In partnership with EntreWorks Consulting, the report outlines opportunities to increase support for startups, identify emerging programs and priorities, and create a base of home-grown tech talent and an expanded innovation network across the state. “Indiana is often cited as one of the best places to start a business, which is a great starting point,” said Melina Kennedy, CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. “The data released in this report confirms that while we have some great strengths to build up, we have more work to do to as we still lag behind our peers in number of actual new business start-ups per year. The [...]

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