Invitation to the Land Grant Startup Launch Competition – $50K Investment Prize

[Travis Lesser]

Hello all,

I hope you all had a great holiday season!

I'm reaching out to share an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs who are working on innovations in food and agriculture.

The Land Grant Startup Launch Competition is designed to accelerate early-stage startups focused on sustainable business practices in the food and agriculture sector. Hosted by Penn State's Smeal College of Business and College of Agricultural Sciences, this competition offers significant support to help early-stage ventures scale and succeed.

Competition Highlights:

- $50,000 investment from the Garber Venture Capital Fund for the winning startup

- Support for scaling, R&D, and team expansion

- Travel stipends and accommodations for all finalist teams

- Mentorship and resources from Penn State's entrepreneurship ecosystem

Eligibility Requirements:

Teams must be a formative-stage business (corporation or LLC) that meets two or more of these criteria:

- Less than seven years from formal organization

- First product/service in testing or pilot production

- Pre-revenue or early revenue (<$1M TTM)

- Leadership team working towards commercialization

NOTE: Teams with an enrolled undergraduate or graduate student from any accredited college or university are preferred but not required.

**Application Deadline: February 1, 2026**

I'd greatly appreciate if you could share this opportunity with your undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs, particularly those in your entrepreneurship and agriculture programs, as well as throughout your broader networks. 

Please feel free to print and share the attached flyer. 

Students can learn more and apply here: https://www.smeal.psu.edu/sustainability/land-grant-launch 

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the competition to landgra...@psu.edu  

Travis

Travis Lesser, MBA ‘14

Instructor, Department of Management & Organization

Director, Center for the Business of Sustainability (CBoS)

Director, Office of Impact Entrepreneurship

Coordinator, Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Major

Course Manager, MGMT 365: Social Entrepreneurship

Program Manager, Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Faculty Advisor, Sustainable Business Association, Penn State’s Net Impact Undergraduate Chapter

 

489B Business Building