DES MOINES, IA — The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator is pleased to announce the program’s next executive director, Nadilia Gomez. Nadilia joins The Accelerator from Corteva Agriscience — one of the Accelerator’s six investor companies — where she served as a senior research scientist in Predictive Ag and as digital pillar leader of the Disruptive Business Innovation Portfolio. At Corteva, she was responsible for tactical and strategic planning of digital solutions for breeders, agronomists and farmers. Nadilia has also spent time serving on various influential industry association boards and committees, including the Technology Association of Iowa and the South Central Region Governor’s STEM Advisory Board.
“Nadilia has an excellent perspective on agtech, having been a mentor at The Accelerator for two years and shepherding Corteva’s digital solutions innovation for the past 18 months,” said Kerty Levy, interim executive director of The Accelerator. “Nadilia holds a PhD in applied plant sciences and has been a researcher at Corteva (previously DuPont Pioneer) for the last eight years. She will be able to bring great value to the startups, helping further their innovations, connecting them with industry expertise and helping them accelerate their businesses.”
Nadilia will take over as executive director on August 1 and will be responsible for the overall management and direction of the program. Her primary responsibilities will entail program execution and management of the startups, investors, mentors and entrepreneur in residence, in addition to managing connections with ecosystem partners and industry groups.
The Accelerator’s 2019 program has support from some of the largest and most well-known agtech and ag-related companies in Iowa, including Corteva, Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company, Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corporation, John Deere and Sukup Manufacturing Co., in addition to more than 130 mentors. Four startups are currently in Des Moines participating in the 2019 program, including Otrafy (Vancouver, Canada), droneSAR (Des Moines, Iowa), Raks Agricultural Technology (São Leopoldo, Brazil) and FarmatroniX (College Park, Maryland).
About the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator
The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator, based in Des Moines, Iowa, is a mentor-led accelerator focused on agtech innovations. Led by innovators and leaders in several areas of agriculture, The Accelerator seeks startups ready to change the status quo. For more information about the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator, visit AgIowa.com.
