Kansas and U.S. Corn Growers Choose Promising New Use Ventures

Kansas and U.S. Corn Growers Choose Promising New Use Ventures

Oct. 23, 2024-Kansas corn growers are one step closer to creating promising new uses for their crop. During a competition in San Francisco on Tuesday, the Radicle Corn Value Chain Challenge Sponsored by US Corn Farmers awarded a total of $1.5 million to two companies who are developing promising new uses for corn. The Kansas Corn Commission and other state corn checkoffs are funding partners in the challenge conducted by Radicle Growth, a food and agriculture venture capital company.

KCGA Board Member Chad Epler, Columbus, who serves as Chair of NCGA's Research and New Uses Action Team participated in the Pitch Day Competition along with Kansas Corn's Director of Innovation and Commercialization Connie Fischer.

"U.S. corn farmers continue to produce an affordable, high-quality and reliable crop each year," Epler said. "That crop can be turned into more than just food, feed, and fuel. The corn kernel can be utilized in so many ways, which is why we focus on new uses and corn as an industrial feedstock. Working with NCGA and other state corn checkoffs, we are excited to continue to partner across the agricultural and biotech industry to help a variety of new technologies overcome barriers to commercialization so they can begin to grind more corn."

1st Place: me energy
Winning first place, and taking home a $1million investment prize, is me energy. Me energy has developed unique technology enabling rapid chargers that generate climate-friendly electricity from low-cost ethanol. Me energy's portable, rapid chargers, powered by renewable energy such as corn bioethanol, can also create a new use for corn. The stations do not require a connection to the power grid because they generate their own electricity from sustainable bioethanol.

2nd Place: Lakril Technologies
In second place, winning a $500,000 investment prize, is Lakril Technologies. Lakril's bifunctional catalyst enables the efficient conversion of corn ethanol into bio-based acrylics, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional petrochemical methods. This innovation leverages renewable corn resources to produce acrylics, reducing carbon emissions and aligning with the growing demand for eco-friendly chemical production solutions.

Radicle Growth's panel of judges heard pitches from four finalists and were able to ask the presenters in a "Shark-Tank" style competition. Several factors were considered when the finalists were chosen including ensuring they were in the more advanced stages of product development.

"It can take years to turn an idea into a startup and then into a viable business," Fischer said. "What's special about the Radicle Corn Challenge is that Kansas Corn and our partners are teaming up with an organization with a proven track record of identifying viable proposals that are farther along in the development process. These projects have a higher potential to create new uses and markets for corn in a shorter timeline."