In its sixth year, the Grow-NY attracted 312 applicants from 50 countries, including Canada, the UK and Italy, along with 89 entries from New York
By Stefan Yablonski
Three startups from New York state won prizes at the 2024 Grow-NY global food, agriculture & technology competition. Udderways of Albion won $500,000.
Twenty startups competed for $3 million in total prize money at the fifth annual Grow-NY Summit, the world’s largest food and agriculture business competition.
After live pitching at the Grow-NY Summit on Nov. 14 and 15, seven winners were chosen by a panel of judges.
The competition is focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage and agriculture innovation cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier.
Each winning team had to commit to operating in the region for at least one year, while also providing a modest equity stake to Cornell University, to fund future food and ag entrepreneurship programming. The competition is managed by Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement.
Udderways’ invention uses a unique, brushless technology to gently stimulate cows and ensure clean and dry teats. With the startup’s patented vortex-style application, farmers can achieve consistent stimulation and effortlessly promote milk letdown.
“We have a farm out in Albion started by my great-grandfather in 1956. He had about 16 cows — now we milk close to 600,” said Zachary Neal.
They initially were looking for a way to create a new sanitizer for the parlor, he said.
“My dad was like ‘we should come up with a new applicator tool’ because what we had didn’t work with the existing tools,” he said.
“My brother, who was 13 at the time, took on the challenge of developing it. We had a 3D printer in our garage. So what we did was print a prototype in the garage and then we’d bring it over the farm. That would allow us to develop very quickly because we mark off what we liked and didn’t like about the product and then go back and make improvements and we’d have a new prototype the next day,” he continued. “We have been working on it for about nine years now. I’d say we had our first market ready prototype ready in 2023. But even in this last year it’s changed — it’s gotten a lot better.”
The Neals were the runners-up in the farm bureau ag innovation challenge back in January of 2024.
“Someone came up and said, ‘hey have you guys considered doing anything with Grow-NY?’” he said. “So we applied thinking there was no way we were going to get in, but there is always next year. And we got the notification that we were finalists! That was pretty exciting.”
The number of entries was more than 300.
“I could be wrong, but I think there were applicants from 56 countries,” he added. “They had finalists, one or two from Africa — the team that won [the million dollars] they have a base in New York, but I’m pretty sure they are from Argentina.”
Unibaio of New York City won the $1 million top prize.
It offers naturally derived particles that trap the active ingredients of pesticides and fertilizers, enabling them to penetrate plants more efficiently.
“It was exciting, very exciting,” Zachary said of winning the half million dollars. “We got a lot out of the connections we made through Grow-NY. That network has been fantastic; the contacts have been great.”
Milestones
“At the moment our plan is to create at least four direct jobs. The award will be paid out in milestones,” he explained. “The first one has to do with job creation and then eventually it will move into manufacturing. We haven’t established those quite yet. We’re going to have a meeting in a couple weeks with a Grow-NY team to solidify what those milestones are.”
They have a few things in the works right now.
“I can’t comment on what; they aren’t patented yet,” he said. “But we will continue working on new innovations.”
In its sixth year, the Grow-NY competition attracted 312 applicants from 50 countries, including Canada, the UK and Italy, along with 89 entries from New York — with 44% of applicants featuring a female founder and 60% representing a culturally diverse group.
The winners will now focus on executing their plans in New York state, fostering job growth and leveraging the regional connections made during the competition.
All winners are required to work toward making a positive economic impact in the Grow-NY region, which consists of 22 counties home to vibrant farmlands, a hardworking population, abundant freshwater and several rising cities, including Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca, Geneva and Binghamton.
Central New York Regional Economic Development Council co-chair Randy Wolken, president and CEO of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York, congratulated all of the winners and everyone who was a part of round six of the Grow-NY competition.
“New York state continues to experience unprecedented growth in the agriculture and food industries. The Grow-NY competition represents yet another exciting investment in our community that will further bolster regional job growth and further support our agricultural base throughout Central New York ensuring the region continues to rise,” he added.
