Rantizo Wins AgTech Innovation Competition in Des Moines

Iowa City agritech startup Rantizo won the $20,000 Grand Prize, sponsored by Farm Credit Services of America, at last month’s AgTech Innovation Competition in Des Moines. Rantizo is an Iowa based agricultural tech startup creating a targeted drone spraying platform that utilizes electrostatic technology to safely and precisely deliver cartridge dispensed agrichemicals when and where…

Michael Ott receiving AgTech Innovation Competition Grand Prize Winner Award

Iowa City agritech startup Rantizo won the $20,000 Grand Prize, sponsored by Farm Credit Services of America, at last month’s AgTech Innovation Competition in Des Moines.

Rantizo is an Iowa based agricultural tech startup creating a targeted drone spraying platform that utilizes electrostatic technology to safely and precisely deliver cartridge dispensed agrichemicals when and where they are needed.

Founded by chemist and venture capitalist Michael Ott in early 2018, Rantizo has quickly become known as one of the most innovative companies in the precision agriculture industry, receiving several mentions in regional press as an innovator in the precision agriculture space and most notably acknowledged by Forbes during their time at the AgTech Summit in Indianapolis as “revolutionizing the spraying market”.

This is the second year for the AgTech Innovation Competition and the first year Rantizo has competed.

Five ag tech startups were given five minutes to pitch their business to a panel of three judges. In the end, AgVend was awarded the Peoples’ Choice Award along with a $5,000 prize, while Rantizo took home the Grand Prize and $20,000.

“People are beginning to see just how viable the Rantizo solution is for agrichemical spraying”, said Rantizo CEO Michael Ott. “Our drone sprayer is ‘moving from a toy to a tool’ and that’s definitely a win for us.”

In early 2018, Michael and the Rantizo team also won the AgLaunch Startup Station Pitch Contest in Memphis, Tennessee.

Michael and the Rantizo team have several other items of business to tend to in Des Moines in the near future, including exhibiting at the AgriBusiness Showcase and Conference February 12th and 13th.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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