St. George, UT—Multi-faceted investment firm Arieli Capital is launching the long-awaited second cohort for its venture scale-up program, START Agri-Tech, powered by Frontier RNG a joint venture between Arieli Capital and Ramat Hanegev Regional Council, in partnership with Utah Tech University, Haifa Group and Exit Ventures, sponsored by The World Trade Center Utah. Following the success of its first cohort back in 2023, the program is returning for another batch, and this time, in St. George, Utah, on the 15-18 of April, with a cohort of 11 highly innovative and promising startups. Join the final expo and pitch event here.

A launchpad for climate-focused ventures, START Agri-Tech leverages global resources to support the growth of startups in the fields of desert-tech, water-tech, regenerative agriculture, smart farming, plant health and nutrition, helping them commercialize cutting-edge solutions and build strong businesses to drive their value to market at scale.

Aiming to address the world’s environmental challenges by promoting highly advanced technological solutions, the program is taking place in Utah Tech University’s Atwood Innovation Plaza, and will provide participating startups with dedicated 1-on-1 business and networking opportunities with international investors and global corporations as well as to a final pitch event where they’ll be invited to present to a variety of future partners and clients.

The first cohort of the program included 8 ventures, who’ve collectively raised a combined $9.5M in investment capital and have gone on to hit impressive milestones after participating. Among them was Nanomnia, who have succeeded in securing their second pilot with a multinational agriculture corporation, as well as We-Agriwhose data-driven platform allows farmers to track and sell their carbon credits, recently received validation for its biggest project, Milopri, and secured a significant deal with Bank Hapoalim. To fuel their growth further, Arieli Capital is evaluating investment into some of the program’s participating ventures.

“The selection committee brings an outstanding mix of startup expertise and broad technological capabilities,” notes Paul Burgon, Managing Partner at Exit Ventures. “With the combined resources of dedicated partners Arieli Capital, Frontier RNG, strategic investors, and distinguished agriculture academics, I am confident that the participating startups are poised for
substantial growth.”

“Haifa Group was pleased to take part in the final selection committee for START AgriTech,” says Chanan Sluszny, Innovation Agronomist at Haifa Group. “Throughout the sessions, we engaged with an impressive group of 20 startups, gaining valuable insights from these leading innovators in the AgTech space.”

The program has attracted applications from ventures across more than 11 countries. The selected group includes 11 uniquely innovative startups, each led by talented founding teams in their Seed to Series A phases, which have collectively raised over $44M and generated $4.7M in revenue. Now gearing up to take their operations to the next level, the second cohort for START Agri-Tech includes the following ventures:

Agri-Light Energy Systems: Developing a solar tracking system with a proprietary agri-voltaic algorithm that enables dual usage of land, optimizing both electricity generation and crop cultivation.

Arugga AI Farming: developing ground robots to treat and monitor individual plants by replicating pollination in greenhouses in a manner that lessens the need for chemicals and the spread of crop disease, easing the challenges in crop production.

Bactelife Industries: making nutrients available to plants, enhancing soil, and conserving water.

BioLeaf: developing natural, eco-friendly, postharvest solutions that prolong the shelf life of fresh produce.

Bioplasmar: converting compost into completely biodegradable planting pots that can be planted directly in the soil and eliminating the need for plastic pots.

Contact Organics: constructing innovative methods to create a non-toxic product range that eliminates the perpetual problem caused by weeds that compromise crops.

Eden Technologies: revolutionizing water purification to make affordable drinking water accessible to all around the world.

Projini Agchem: redesigning chemistry for health by developing new pesticides in order to support a greater quality food production at higher volumes, to support the world’s growing population.

Saffron Tech: cultivating premium saffron year-round in indoor vertical farms, supporting sustainable agriculture and saffron-based products.

TomGrow: enabling people, communities, and organizations to grow diverse and healthy plants anywhere in the world, in any climate and for any purpose – from food to medicine and cosmetics and wellbeing.

Vexxel Biotech: reshaping the production landscape and enabling healthier food options while ensuring sustainable and environmentally friendly production methods.

An active investor into desert and agriculture technologies, alongside its innovation center, Frontier, Arieli Capital has a lively presence in and long-standing relationship with the state of Utah. Also having offices in New York, London, Arieli Capital has deep roots in Israel and is uniquely positioned to spearhead climate initiatives and support ventures in parallel fields, due to a native familiarity with desert landscapes that spur agricultural innovation.

“Climate and food security are some of the world’s most pressing issues making the need for innovation in these verticals ever more important. With desert conditions covering roughly 30% of Utah’s land mass and 60% of Israel’s land mass, these two global ecosystems provide the perfect platform for desert, climate and agriculture innovation” says Or Haviv, partner and head of global innovation at Arieli Capital. “We’re beyond excited to be coming back for another cohort with 11 outstanding ventures, and our amazing partners – all sharing the same vision. Our first cohort showcased just how much value can be created through this program, and we knew from then that we’d return with another group. Utah is an exceptional environment for us in every sense, with an outstanding entrepreneurial ecosystem and great local organizations who share our values and vision. This opportunity creates a direct connection between Frontier’s desert R&D facilities in Israel and Utah Tech University’s desert innovation facilities, unlocking strategic access to years of expertise, research, farms and facilities, sparking a new era of building cutting-edge technology companies and tackling global climate and agricultural challenges. We’re thrilled to work alongside our Utah partners on this impactful program deepening Arieli’s existing Utah activity and investments.”

Arieli Capital invites the agri-tech and climate-tech community, as well as the broader high-tech ecosystem to take part at the final expo and pitch event, and follow for more updates here.

About Arieli Capital:
Arieli Capital is a multifaceted investment firm that is an active investor and partner in the next generation of technology companies. Arieli Capital continuously strives to identify and support companies, creating real impact while keeping financial returns as the primary objective. As a recognized global leader in innovation, Arieli is trusted by governments, academic and research institutions, multinational corporations and financial institutions. For more information, click here.

Media Contact:
Nataf Dgani
Head of Marketing, Arieli Capital LLC
[email protected]