Make It in Brooklyn Ag Tech Pitch Contest

Get your tickets to the Make It in Brooklyn Ag Tech Pitch Contest and join us at GOLFZON Social to learn about the future of agriculture. 

Ag tech is revolutionizing how we grow food, manage land, and build resilient supply chains. Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s Make It in Brooklyn’s Ag Tech Pitch Contest brings together local Ag Tech startups, early-stage founders, seasoned investors, and industry leaders to spotlight solutions that will define agriculture’s next chapter. 

Five founders will pitch to a panel of expert judges, who will evaluate each presentation based on criteria such as innovation, feasibility, market potential, and impact. The $5,000 prize will help the winning startup take their business to the next level. 

Your $5 ticket includes a refreshing drink and the opportunity to learn about the startups at the frontier of Ag Tech. 

Our panel of judges includes: 

ANDREW CARTER | Anther Labs
Andrew Carter is a CPG operator and entrepreneur based in Brooklyn, NY. He founded Smallhold in 2017, starting from a single shipping container under the Williamsburg Bridge and scaling it into a national specialty mushroom brand. Under his leadership, the company grew to over 100 employees, built and operated indoor farms in Brooklyn, Austin, and Los Angeles, produced over 2 million pounds of organic mushrooms annually, and reached more than 1,400 retail doors, including becoming the fastest-growing fresh mushroom brand at Whole Foods. Andrew now consults for emerging food and agriculture brands on retail strategy and go-to-market, with deep expertise in controlled environment agriculture, natural channel retail, and early-stage brand building.

ARIANE DAGUIN | All One One All Farm (AOOA)
Ariane Daguin is the founder and CEO Emerita of D’Artagnan, the celebrated gourmet food purveyor synonymous with humanely-raised meats, foie gras, and artisan charcuterie. Born in Gascony, France, she learned her craft from her father, the legendary Chef André Daguin. In 1985, she co-founded D’Artagnan as the first U.S. purveyor of game and foie gras, becoming a pioneering force in the organic and sustainable food movement. After a successful acquisition in 2022, Ariane continues to champion regenerative agriculture through All One One All Farm, a silvopasture farm and education center in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Her honors include the French Légion d’Honneur, two Lifetime Achievement Awards from Bon Appétit and the Specialty Food Association, and the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America.” 

AUSTIN EVARTS | NYU Tandon Future Labs
Austin brings 15+ years of experience in startups and innovation, with the past six focused on climate. He leads the ACRE Incubator at NYU Tandon’s Urban Future Lab, supporting early-stage climatetech startups with mentorship, fundraising, and strategic partnerships. At ACRE, he helps lead one of the country’s most successful climatetech incubators, whose portfolio companies have raised over $4 billion in follow-on funding and created more than 5,000 jobs to date. Austin remains deeply embedded in the innovation ecosystem – advising founders, judging startup competitions, and leading the Techstars NYC chapter. His work centers on scaling high-impact companies that drive decarbonization, resilience, and equitable economic growth.

SARAH GARLAND | Triple Helix Institute
Sarah Garland, PhD is Founder and Executive Director of Triple Helix Institute for Agriculture, Climate, and Society, a nonprofit dedicated to building cross-sector awareness and engagement around AgTech for climate action. Before founding Triple Helix, she received a PhD in Plant Sciences from the University of Cambridge focused on CRISPR gene editing in plants and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Earth Institute, Columbia University exploring the role of crop biotechnology in developing climate-resilient and nutritious food systems. Dr. Garland is frequently relied upon for her thought leadership on the intersection of technology and agriculture, and her writing has been featured in publications such as Scientific American, Slate, and The New Republic.

KIDD SOLOMON | NYCEDC
Kidd Duhe Solomon, MPH, is an Assistant Vice President on the Innovation Industries team at NYCEDC. At NYCEDC, Kidd manages the sustainable bioeconomy portfolio focused on leveraging advancements in biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics to develop a new generation of nature-inspired solutions. Prior to joining NYCEDC, Kidd worked in Washington, D.C. for the Aspen Institute, where he focused on increasing the impact of global social ventures with Fellows of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and the U.S. State Department, where he worked on a micro-entrepreneurship campaign to increase protections for entrepreneurs in the global south. 

EMCEE: EMMA FORMAN | Myca Collective
Emma Forman is the founder of Myca Collective, a global community for leading women in food and agriculture. She also serves on the product team at DoorDash Labs, where she’s helping build the first autonomous vehicle purpose-built for delivery. With over 7 years of experience across the food system—spanning nonprofits, CPG, retail, and logistics—Emma brings a cross-sector perspective on how technology can reshape the way food is grown, made, and moved.

We are accepting applications from startups until Sunday, March 15th at 11pm. 

Learn more about the Make It in Brooklyn Ag Tech Pitch Contest and apply