AgIntel has been named the winner of the inaugural Florida Chamber Foundation Technology and Innovation Summit Innovation Pitch Competition. The company, which has developed a patented AI-powered platform to provide large-scale crop insights, aims to help farmers optimize yields, reduce waste, and improve profitability. AgIntel reports that its technology is supported by enterprise contracts and maintains gross margins above 90 percent.
“I want to thank everyone who put on this event,” said Matt Donovan, CEO & Co-Founder of AgIntel. “I know the Florida Chamber is striving to make Florida a great place for innovation. We built our company in Florida, for Florida’s needs, but also to be able to export to the world…It’s been a pleasure to be able to come here and to participate in this first pitch competition.”
Mark Wilson, President & CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Foundation, stated: “The Florida Innovation Pitch Competition is an opportunity to showcase the cool innovations being born out of Florida and Florida’s future economy will be driven by innovators, like our five finalists, who solve real-world challenges with scalable solutions. A special congratulations to Matt Donovan and AgIntel for taking home the win. Their work shows how Florida technology can strengthen key industries like agriculture while making Florida more competitive on the global stage.”
During the competition, several startups from across the state presented their business solutions before receiving feedback and scoring from a panel of judges. The judges included Kevin Burgoyne (Florida Venture Forum), Frank Downing (ARK Invest), Robert Harvey (Florida Opportunity Fund), Mitchel Laskey (DeepWork Capital), Linda Olson (Tampa Bay Wave), TJ Villamil (eMerge Americas) and was hosted by Dr. Keith Richard from the Florida Chamber Foundation.
Other finalists in the pitch competition were ZoraSafe—founded by Catherine Karow—which offers cybersecurity solutions aimed at protecting vulnerable users from scams and online threats; VeriChem, Inc., led by CEO Jay Letendre—developing forensic technology for drug detection; Baseline Bio—headed by Jimmy Lee—which works on new approaches for treating Type 1 diabetes; and Energy to Power Solutions (E2P)—led by Dr. Christopher Rey—which designs advanced superconducting magnets and cryogenic systems for defense applications.
As part of its victory, AgIntel will present at next year’s Florida Venture Capital Conference—a major national gathering of venture capitalists—and gain entry into eMerge Americas’ Global Startup Accelerator + Showcase where it will have access to mentorship programs as well as networking opportunities with investors.
A complimentary virtual webinar is scheduled for September 15th at 11 am for participants of the summit as well as other business leaders interested in advancing tech innovation in Florida.
The Florida Chamber Foundation serves as a statewide research organization focused on long-term strategies for economic growth through partnerships with regional leaders. Its work centers around improving talent pipelines, expanding technology adoption across industries, enhancing infrastructure development efforts statewide, promoting efficient governance practices as well as maintaining high standards of living throughout communities in Florida.
The foundation relies on support from its Community Development Partnership Council—comprised of individuals committed both financially and strategically—to advance initiatives such as research projects related to economic development across different sectors within the state (https://www.flchamber.com/cdp).
For more information about joining or supporting these initiatives contact Dr. Keith Richard at krichard@flchamber.com or call 850-521-1231.
