LEXINGTON, Ky. — Ten agricultural technology startups are beginning a six-week virtual training program designed to accelerate their path to commercialization, officials announced June 5, according to a University of Kentucky announcement.

The UAccel: AgTech I-Corps Summer 2026 cohort, organized by Launch Blue and the Bluegrass AgTech Development Corp (BADC), brings together entrepreneurs working on agricultural innovations ranging from crop protection to food chain solutions. The program includes FarmSense, Clear Grain, Verdant Equus, Urban AgStarz, PhenoShield, Invictus Informatics, Vets, FoodChain, Biofish Solutions and Your Dog Days.

"This cohort reflects the kind of innovation ecosystem we are working to build across the region," said Laura Halligan, executive director of Launch Blue. "In collaboration with exceptional partners like BADC, we are excited to help these teams strengthen their customer discovery skills, validate real-world needs and move promising ideas closer to meaningful impact."

The Innovation Corps program is funded by the National Science Foundation and provides experiential entrepreneurial training to researchers and entrepreneurs across all disciplines of science and engineering. Throughout the six-week program, participants engage in customer discovery exercises to evaluate the market potential of their technologies and explore the best commercialization pathways.

The University of Kentucky is a member of the Mid-South I-Corps Hub, which spans nine regional universities including Vanderbilt, George Mason, Jackson State, and others across Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. BADC, launched in 2022, is a partnership of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, UK's Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and Alltech.

The program began May 15 with an introductory panel featuring Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Lesley Oliver of the Research Office at Martin-Gatton, and Rebecca Delles of Alltech. Additional mentors include successful regional agtech entrepreneurs such as Seth DeBolt, co-founder of RedLeaf Biologics; Eric Hauck, CEO of Parasight System Inc.; and Aardra Kachroo, a biotechnology professor and co-founder of PhytoGenesis.

Jacob Ball, executive director at BADC, said the partnership strengthens Kentucky's position in the agricultural technology sector. "BADC exists to accelerate AgTech innovation that benefits Kentucky farmers," Ball said. "We are building an ecosystem where founders don't just get funding; they get the mentorship, market intelligence and commercialization structure to turn breakthrough ideas into lasting companies."