The Combine, a statewide startup accelerator that supports innovation in food and agriculture, announced Brennan Costello as its new director. Costello said he will prioritize fostering connections with ag producers and tech startup founders in Nebraska to better understand their present needs. He hopes this effort will attract more entrepreneurs to The Combine’s programming to move them forward in growing a “profitable, sustainable company.”

The Combine is located on the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln and specializes in helping startups that address problems faced across the ag industry. The statewide initiative is led by Invest Nebraska, and offers expert mentorship, business networking and incubation space for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“When you are building something in AgTech and maybe you don’t come from the farm, understanding the ag market and the farmer market can be difficult,” said Costello. “It’s a very relationship-based industry, and if you don’t have those relationships … [it] can be challenging.”

Born and raised in Gothenburg, Nebraska, Costello said his lived experience, education and professional career thus far have prepared him to be the next leader of The Combine. He participated in Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4-H in his youth, and went on to study agribusiness at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Costello has worked for Lincoln-based startups FarmAfield and BasicBlock, and served as chief business relations officer for the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program.

Costello said that ample opportunities for creating new companies and fostering innovation exist across Nebraska. Using the robotics startup Grain Weevil as an example, Costello said he believed there are more community members, workers and researchers who are passionate about coming up with impactful answers to pressing issues. He said The Combine could help position those potential business owners to succeed. 

Other areas of interest Costello shared include partnering with university researchers in order to transform their discoveries into businesses, as well as collaborating with legacy companies in Nebraska to adopt new technologies. 

While Costello expressed a need for additional infrastructure to help startups demonstrate the commercial viability of their solutions in the field, he attributed Nebraska’s diverse natural environments with spurring a variety of ag businesses in the state.

“You have a … big extension network to test your startup in a lot of different environments on both the crop and animal side,” said Costello. “This is a fertile testing ground for startups … if you want to succeed in the agricultural industry.“