Larta Institute and the UC Davis World Food Center, have partnered to launch the Ag Innovation Showcase, California’s first such event, at the Conference Center at UC Davis on May 8th and 9th.

The partnership leverages UC Davis’ position as the top ranked university in the U.S. for agriculture research and top ranked globally for veterinary medicine alongside Larta Institute’s award winning high impact expertise in accelerating commercial innovation.

The Ag Innovation Showcase will feature early-stage companies and discussions involving investors and food and ag experts. The event will especially focus on emerging, transformative technologies across areas of high-value crops, livestock and dairy.

“Staying at the leading edge of technology keeps California agriculture globally competitive. Our aim is to create investment opportunities through the Ag Innovation Showcase that advance commercial solutions for the ag and food sectors,” said Josette Lewis, associate director of the World Food Center.

In 2015 venture investments nearly doubled. Since then, investor interest in the ag sector has continued to grow, despite a decline across all sectors in 2016. The emergence of several M&A deals reflect a continuing consolidation around innovative solutions that promote efficiency, increase productivity and leverage technologies in new extraordinary ways. The Ag Innovation Showcase is poised to capitalize on these developments in tangible ways.

“We intentionally modeled this event on our premier agtech conference in St. Louis, which is an exceedingly successful event for both entrepreneurs and investors. With the world-renowned concentration of agriculture and technology industries in California, we believe Davis makes a perfect geographical extension of this model,” says Rohit Shukla, Founder and CEO of Larta Institute.

The event is expected to attract an audience of investors, entrepreneurs and food and ag companies at the forefront of innovation. The industry event will showcase innovations from the farmer to the consumer, from climate-smart technologies to advanced food safety solutions. The showcase themes are:

•  Automation and robotics for fresh produce, fruits and nuts
•  Food safety from production to product
• Nutrition and sensory enhancement for foods
• Innovation for livestock and dairy

About Larta Institute

Larta Institute, founded in Los Angeles in 1993, is an internationally-recognized and mission-driven innovation accelerator that provides a runway of success for world-changing ideas in agriculture, energy and healthcare.  Larta Institute has helped more than 10,000 companies transform ideas into commercialized innovations that feed, fuel and heal the world. With a global network of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, industry leaders, research institutions, government agencies and support organizations, Larta conducts commercialization assistance programs throughout the U.S. and in more than 20 countries. Follow us on Twitter @LartaInstitute.

About UC Davis World Food Center

Established in 2013, the World Food Center is elevating the impact of UC Davis research for healthier food systems, sustainable solutions and to grow the innovation economy. For additional information about World Food Center, visit the organization’s website at worldfoodcenter.ucdavis.edu.