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St. Louis Is The Silicon Valley Of Agtech

  • November 08, 2017

Ten years ago if you wanted to grow your business in an innovative environment, that was attractive to skilled talent and boasted a great quality of life you would have had to look to the west coast. However, with a skyrocketing cost of living many companies have started looking to the center of the country for the best place to grow their business.

This is especially true for agtech companies, as the Midwestern United States has long been a hub for agriculture. But many companies still had questions. Where is the best place for me? Where can I find the talent I need? Where is the best environment for a growing company?

The answer? St. Louis, Missouri.

Over the past ten years St. Louis has cultivated a reputation as being the Silicon Valley of agtech. And with its rich agricultural heritage, booming startup ecosystem, world-class universities and research centers, and industry giants like Monsanto and Bunge calling the region home it is little wonder why.

“When you’re talking about agtech and the food-tech cluster, you can make a strong case that there’s no better place in the world to be than the St. Louis region,” says Sam Fiorello, CEO of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. “Our proximity to producers, as well as trade organizations like the American Soybean Association and National Corn Growers Association, gives us a strong platform to help homegrown startups develop, as well as attract companies from around the nation and the world.”

Across Missouri leading agtech organizations, including the Danforth Plant Science Center, Bayer, Monsanto, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Yield Lab, DuPont, BASF, Bunge, KWS, FarmLink, Symbiotics, AgriLabs and more are developing innovative technology that is transforming agriculture.

Meanwhile, Missouri’s new agtech innovation community 39 North is taking root in St. Louis.

The district covers nearly 600 acres in Missouri and includes many of the regions top agtech companies including Monsanto, the Danforth Plant Science Center, Bio-Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park and the Helix Center Biotech Incubator. 39 North is geared toward providing the lifestyle often sought by today’s highly skilled scientific workers, with a mix of retail, residential and office space connected by walking and biking trails.

The use of drones, satellites and data is transforming farming as we know it. Missouri companies, like Monsanto’s Climate Corporation, are leading the way in investment and innovation in advanced farming. Big data, smart farming, input optimization, precision ag, prescription ag, biologicals, breeding, green chemistry, green pharmaceuticals – it’s all growing right here.

And its not just technology that makes Missouri the global agtech leader, its also our world-class talent. Universities across the state offer advanced plant science degrees and Missouri is home to the highest concentration of plant science PhDs in the world.

For more information on why Missouri could be a prime location to launch or grow your business, contact Steve Johnson, CEO of Missouri Partnership, at 314.725.2688 or via our contact form, with any questions you might have, and learn how Missouri Partnership can help with your business expansion needs.

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