Iowa City-based startup Rantizo took home $20,000 on Wednesday after winning the AgTech Innovation Competition in Des Moines.
Founded by Michael Ott in 2018, Rantizo uses drone technology to spray crops, allowing farmers to more precisely deliver chemicals to their fields.
“People are beginning to see just how viable the Rantizo solution is for agrichemical spraying,” Ott said in the announcement. “Our drone sprayer is ‘moving from a toy to a tool’ and that’s definitely a win for us.”
This is the second year for the AgTech Innovation Competition and the first year Rantizo has competed.
Five ag tech startups were given five minutes to pitch their business to a panel of three judges. AgVend was awarded the Peoples’ Choice Award along with a $5,000 prize, while Rantizo took home the Grand Prize and $20,000.
In early 2018, Rantizo won the AgLaunch Startup Station Pitch Contest in Memphis, Tennessee and was one of four companies to participate in the 2018 fall cohort of the Iowa Startup Accelerator.
The company is currently doing trials locally and in Memphis with plans of having their product ready to sell in October 2019.
Rantizo will be presenting at 1 Million Cups Des Moines on February 6 and exhibiting
Previous coverage
Rantizo is bringing drone technology to the ag industry –-Oct. 15, 2018
Rantizo: Precision drone spraying -April 11, 2018