Food technology company NATIVE (www.nativeag.io) has been selected by Capital Innovators for its Startup Accelerator Program. NATIVE's food supply chain technology connects buyers with growers and farmers, providing them the opportunity to access crops before or as soon as they are harvested, with complete traceability from seed-to-sale.

Based in St. Louis, Capital Innovators accelerator program provides startups with access to over $1 MM in funding, as well as benefits, mentorship, connections with the St. Louis community's top businesses and leaders, and access to an extensive network of investors. NATIVE is part of the Fall 2019 class, the 20th to go through the 12-week accelerator program. Capital Innovators has ranked as one of the top accelerators in the world for the last 5 years.

"Capital Innovators' accelerator program will enable us to continue expand our partnerships with growers and buyers (wholesalers and retailers) across the United States, as well as enhance the seed-to-sale visibility of our technology platform," said Sarah Sanders, co-founder of NATIVE.

Capital Innovators selects companies biannually in the spring and the fall with five or six tech or product companies selected for each class. Capital Innovators launched in 2010 and currently has 70 portfolio companies.

"Our mission is to provide traceability within the food supply chain, fulfilling the demands and unique needs of today's knowledgeable consumer," said Frank Pica, co-founder of NATIVE. "Food providers need the data this technology provides to meet growing consumer expectations."

NATIVE's seed-to-sale process begins when growers sow their fields and input the planting data into the NATIVE farm management platform-indicating when the produce is planted, sprayed, tilled, and the lot/location on the farm. NATIVE's platform then monitors the growth as well as other attributes that relate to the quality of the crop, including possible anomalies that could affect the market value and makes it available for purchase to buyers prior to its harvest.

The NATIVE platform help ensure that growers sell harvests at a premium, while also providing restaurants, retailers and wholesalers with better access to crops and associated data from nearby farms, helping to deliver on the promise of local sourcing.

Based in New York, N.Y., NATIVE officially launched in the St. Louis market in May 2019, operating in the Cortex Innovation community.