439. AgriNovus’ Tim Dixon on the 2026 Velocity startups, advancing ideas into market-ready solutions across bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health

Last week, AgriNovus announced that 12 startups will participate in its 2026 Velocity accelerator, a five-month program that awards entrepreneurs a total of $75,000 in cash prizes for their technology solutions divided equally between the strategic categories: bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health. Behind this year’s cohort magic is the organization’s Senior Director of Innovation, Tim Dixon, who joins us this week. He gets into: Tim’s journey to joining the AgriNovus team and what drew him to the organization How he defines innovation – and how the definition has evolved over the years Most promising areas of innovation across agbioscience that have opportunities for transformational impact How startups should think about customer adoption in a tight farmer and agribusiness market What makes Indiana uniquely positioned to lead in agbioscience versus other regions of the country Velocity’s launch and how it’s designed to address gaps in the ecosystem Tim’s ambitions for Velocity in year one and what he believes competing teams need to be successful The importance of collaboration among companies, universities, investors and entrepreneurs to turn ideas into market-ready solutions Outcomes that will signal success for Velocity in 2026 What has him most excited about this year's cohort of startups