Expo AgriTech in Nevada will bring together startups, universities and investors to transform the future of agriculture
The Expo bringing together startups, universities and investors in Nevada already has a date set, and the topic could not be more pressing: how to produce more food with less water, less land and in an increasingly unpredictable climate. The world is growing, rainfall patterns are shifting, and the old math just does not add up anymore. That is exactly where innovation steps in, bringing drones, robots, artificial intelligence and new ways of caring for soil right onto the farm.
At the center of this movement is the University of Nevada, Reno, through its College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources, which decided to join forces with private companies and educational institutions from around the world to support the START AgriTech Scale-Up program. The result of that partnership arrives in May with an event that promises to connect the most promising solutions in the sector with those who have the capital and interest to take them to the real market. The final Expo and Pitch event is confirmed for May 14 at the university’s Extension office in Las Vegas 🌱.
What is the START AgriTech Scale-Up program
Before talking about the Expo itself, it is worth understanding the program that gave rise to all of this. The START AgriTech Scale-Up is run by Frontier RNG, a global innovation hub focused on agriculture in desert regions and climate solutions. Frontier RNG operates with 250 acres dedicated to applied research and leverages global resources to support agricultural ventures with a climate focus. The program is now in its fourth cohort and is led by Arieli Innovate, the innovation arm of the Arieli Group, a global investment firm.
Here is how the process works: entrepreneurs apply through an online application, and selected startups take part in an intensive week of curated business meetings, culminating on May 13 and 14 with the Expo and rounds of meetings that draw international participation. It is a model designed to shorten the distance between technical validation and commercial deployment, offering participating companies one-on-one business meetings, VIP events and direct access to international investors and major global corporations that could become partners, investors or clients.
The selected startups work in areas that directly align with the research that University of Nevada, Reno faculty are already conducting. We are talking about desert-region crops, regenerative soils, agrivoltaics, precision agriculture powered by artificial intelligence, water and irrigation solutions, sustainable inputs, post-harvest technologies, and genetics with climate control. In other words, there is genuine synergy between what academia is investigating and what these startups are trying to bring to market.
Who is behind the event
The ecosystem of partners involved in this program is robust and diverse, which says a lot about how serious the initiative is. In addition to the University of Nevada, Reno and Arieli Innovate, the program counts on collaboration from the World Trade Center Utah, Utah Tech University, the Haifa Group, and the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council along with the Ramat HaNegev R&D Center. Financial, academic and public-sector support comes from names like JPMorgan, the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), LVGEA, UNLV, Nucleus Fund, the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce, the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest, KittyHawk, HESY Aquaculture B.V. and Zero Labs.
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Bill Payne, dean of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources at the university, reinforced the importance of this partnership by stating that collaboration among higher education, researchers, industry and government is essential to tackling the global challenges of food production under increasingly difficult conditions. According to him, it is critical to harness new technologies as they become available to promote sustainable agricultural operations.
Karsten Heise, Senior Director of Strategic Programs and Innovation at GOED, also pointed out that the fourth cohort strengthens Nevada’s entrepreneurial ecosystems while delivering new solutions for the agricultural technology sector. He emphasized that the program clearly positions Nevada as a destination for local, national and international entrepreneurs who want to build their technology companies in the state.
Concrete results from previous cohorts
One of the things that gives this program real credibility is that it is not selling promises — the numbers already show real results. After three successful cohorts, Frontier RNG has supported 24 companies that together raised approximately $11 million. Two program graduates, Solarwine and Bioleaf, joined Frontier RNG as portfolio companies through its value-creation model.
Other case studies illustrate the kind of impact the program generates. Agrilight, for example, developed a patented agrivoltaics solution designed to improve the productivity of orchards and vineyards, and launched a pilot with an apple grower in Washington state. Meanwhile, Arugga deployed agricultural robots for pollination, tomato plant training and crop management in the greenhouse-of-the-future project at Ramat HaNegev, allowing farmers to significantly reduce their labor needs. These are concrete examples of how technology moves off the drawing board and into the field with measurable impact.
The startups of the fourth cohort
The fourth cohort brings a growing group of AgriTech ventures developing solutions specifically for arid and climate-stressed regions. Here are some of the startups worth keeping an eye on:
- AgriPass — Is developing an AI-powered robotic solution for sustainable weed control. The goal is to help farmers cut labor costs while protecting soil health and boosting operational sustainability.
- Clean Soil — Focuses on soil disinfection using Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology, which allows growers to eliminate soil pathogens without chemicals and plant immediately after treatment. This is a massive leap forward for anyone working with intensive crops.
- Proscout — Is building an intelligent spray analytics platform for greenhouses and indoor farms, using real-time sensors and computer vision to optimize spray coverage, reduce waste and improve productivity.
Each of these startups represents a piece of the puzzle that modern agriculture needs to solve. Pest control without chemicals, automation of repetitive tasks, more efficient use of inputs — all of this converges toward a production model that is simultaneously more productive and less destructive to the environment 🤖.
Technology and innovation arriving on the farm
When people talk about AgriTech, the imagination usually jumps straight to drones flying over fields, and yes, they are part of the package. But the technological revolution in agriculture goes far beyond that. Soil sensors connected to the internet transmit real-time data on moisture, temperature and chemical composition, allowing farmers to make decisions based on precise information rather than gut feeling. Smart irrigation systems controlled by artificial intelligence algorithms calculate exactly how much water each section of a field needs, significantly reducing waste. Autonomous robots perform selective harvesting, identifying fruits and vegetables at the perfect ripeness without requiring intensive human labor. All of this is already happening, and the Expo in Nevada will showcase the current state of these solutions in a concrete, applied way.
Artificial intelligence deserves special attention in this context because it is the thread connecting all of these tools. Machine learning models analyze satellite imagery to predict yields months in advance. Computer vision algorithms identify plant diseases before the human eye can spot any visible symptoms. Data analytics platforms cross-reference climate, historical and market information to help growers decide what to plant, when to plant it and how to maximize financial returns without depleting natural resources. The innovation here is not just technological — it is a mindset shift around how agriculture can be managed more intelligently and with less dependence on expensive inputs.
The global context that makes all of this urgent
The return of the fourth cohort to Nevada comes at a time when AgriTech commercialization priorities are getting sharper globally. One data point that helps put the problem in perspective: agriculture accounts for 70% of global freshwater withdrawals. With climate volatility accelerating the adoption of precision technologies, the START AgriTech program is positioned to help founders close the execution gap between technical validation and commercial deployment through structured market access and partner-driven engagement.
Haviv, partner at the Arieli Group and Head of Arieli Innovate, highlighted that across three cohorts the program has supported early-stage companies in transitioning from pilots to real commercial positions in the American Southwest. According to him, this reflects the strength of a deliberately built consortium that brings together academia, government and industry to align research, capital and market demand in ways that create lasting economic value. He also pointed to numbers that size up the sector’s potential: precision agriculture is projected to reach $24.09 billion by 2030, and smart irrigation is expected to grow to $2.65 billion.
Yariv Erez, CEO of Frontier RNG, added that in 2026 the AgriTech sector is becoming far more selective. Companies that can demonstrate revenue, capital efficiency and demand-driven growth are the ones attracting real interest, while the market converges toward more profitable models and consolidation accelerates. The continued presence in the United States, he said, strengthens the ability to connect founders with relevant partners and stakeholders to advance deployment, especially in desert and climate-stressed regions where the need for reliable, cost-effective solutions is immediate.
The role of universities in the agricultural innovation ecosystem
The decision by the University of Nevada, Reno to become a host and central partner for this event reflects a trend that is solidifying worldwide: universities stepping out of their ivory towers and fully entering the practical innovation ecosystem. Publishing scientific papers in specialized journals is not enough if the discoveries sit idle in labs. The partnership with private companies and investors creates a direct channel between academic research and real-world market application, accelerating the development and commercialization cycle of technologies that can make a genuine difference in the lives of farmers and consumers.
This collaborative model is especially powerful in the AgriTech sector because the challenges are far too complex for any single player to solve alone. A startup might have a brilliant solution for pest monitoring using computer vision but lack the deep agronomic knowledge to calibrate the system for different crops in different regions. A university has that knowledge but does not have the agility or resources to turn it into a scalable product. An investor has the capital but needs technical and scientific confidence before putting money into a project. When these three elements come together at an event like the Expo in Nevada, the chances of something concrete and transformative emerging are much higher than in any isolated interaction.
The impact of this extends well beyond Nevada’s borders. Educational institutions and companies from several countries have confirmed their attendance at the event, which turns the Expo AgriTech into an international convergence point for anyone working with sustainable agriculture and technology. Ideas developed in European labs could find American investors. Solutions tested on Middle Eastern farms, like those in the Ramat HaNegev project, could be adapted for the Latin American context. This exchange of knowledge and capital is exactly the kind of catalyst the sector needs to accelerate the transition to more resilient food systems that are less taxing on the planet.
What to expect from the May event
The Expo AgriTech schedule will include startup pitch presentations, curated business meetings, VIP events and structured networking sessions between entrepreneurs and investors. The core goal is not just to inspire — it is to close deals, establish partnerships and identify the solutions with the greatest potential to scale. Each startup selected to present went through a rigorous curation process via online application, ensuring that what reaches the stage already has real evidence of performance, whether in the form of field data, commercial pilots or applied research results.
For investors and agribusiness companies, the event represents a rare opportunity to have concentrated access to a diverse portfolio of innovations in a single place over a short period of time. Instead of individually scouring the globe for scattered solutions, they arrive in Nevada and find a curated environment where every conversation has the potential to generate real value. For startups, the visibility and direct access to qualified capital can be the difference between a promising project that stays in a drawer and a company that actually reaches the market and changes the way food is produced.
Frontier RNG extends an open invitation to the AgriTech, climate-tech and broader high-tech ecosystem community to attend the final Expo and Pitch event at the University of Nevada, Reno Extension office in Las Vegas on May 14.
The AgriTech sector has been drawing growing volumes of global investment in recent years, and events like this are part of the mechanism that keeps that capital flowing and well directed. With climate pressures intensifying and demand for sustainable agriculture rising among both consumers and regulators, the window of opportunity for those developing solutions in this space has never been wider. The May Expo in Nevada arrives at a moment when the world literally cannot afford to ignore these conversations 🚀.
