Penn State Collaborative Effort Aims to Accelerate the Future of Agriculture

An innovative interdisciplinary collaboration between Penn State’s Smeal College of Business and the College of Agricultural Sciences will focus on fostering innovation in food and agriculture.

The 2026 Land Grant Startup Launch Competition is the brainchild of Travis Lesser, the director of Smeal’s Center for the Business of Sustainability, and Mark Gagnon, the Harbaugh Entrepreneur and Innovation Faculty Scholar in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

The application window opens today (Dec. 1) and closes on Feb. 1, 2026.

The competition will support early-stage startups focused on sustainable business practices. Early-stage companies with a clear vision and the potential to transform the food and agricultural landscape are encouraged to compete.

Winning startups will receive a $50,000 investment from the Garber Venture Capital Fund to accelerate their growth and impact. The investment is intended to support scaling the business, furthering research and development and contributing toward team expansion.

The Garber Fund is housed within Smeal’s Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Smeal’s Office of Impact Entrepreneurship is also supporting the competition.