CropVoice by InnerPlant Earns 2026 E+E Leader Award for Innovation in Sustainability
CropVoice platform recognized for its contributions to supporting environmental sustainability
DAVIS, Calif. (April 22, 2026) – InnerPlant, the seed technology company engineering crops that communicate their needs, today announced that the CropVoice™ platform was named a Startup Disruptor winner in the 2026 Environment+Energy Leader Awards. The annual program recognizes companies delivering measurable progress in energy management, environmental performance, and sustainability.
Award-Winning Innovation
InnerPlant’s CropVoice platform was recognized in the Startup Disruptor category for redefining how farmers detect and respond to crop disease by introducing a new biological data layer in agriculture. Winners span categories including product innovation, project implementation, startup advancement, and organizational leadership.
The platform uses genetically engineered soybeans, InnerSoy™, that emit an optical signal when their immune system detects stress from fungal infection. These signals are captured via optical sensing technologies and validated through a multi-step process that includes field scouting, agronomic expertise, and data modeling, ensuring accuracy before alerts are delivered.
By improving the timing and accuracy of fungicide applications, CropVoice helps reduce unnecessary chemical use, lower environmental impact, and support more efficient farming practices. The platform represents a new approach to agricultural data by generating insights directly from the plant, providing farmers with earlier and more actionable information.
Judges highlighted the breakthrough nature of the technology and its real-world impact, noting the solution is “(...) genuinely innovative and tackles a major driver of unnecessary chemical applications,” and “The ability to reduce pesticide use, prevent yield loss, and scale rapidly through seed deployment provides major sustainability and economic value.”
CropVoice is designed as a full system that integrates biology, sensing, and data delivery into existing farmer workflows. Alerts are delivered through familiar platforms and simple communication channels, ensuring accessibility and ease of use in real-world conditions. The platform is supported by a high-touch customer success model that helps farmers interpret insights and act with confidence throughout the growing season.
In its first commercial deployment, CropVoice was rolled out across 50,000 acres in key U.S. growing regions, with plans to scale tenfold in 2026.
A Testament to Innovation in Sustainable Agriculture
“CropVoice takes the guesswork out crop management decisions so farmers can make better decisions with real-time, validated data from their fields,” said Shely Aronov, CEO and co-founder of InnerPlant. “This recognition highlights how plant-powered intelligence can improve productivity while reducing environmental impact.”
“As organizations navigate an increasingly dynamic and uncertain operating environment, the ability to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and deliver measurable results has never been more critical,” said Sarah Roberts, Co-President and Publisher of Environment+Energy Leader. “This year’s winners demonstrate the innovation and leadership required to move forward with clarity and impact.”
After key successes in 2025 – partnerships with major agronomic providers such as CHS and SunAg, and the world’s first real-time detection of a fungal infection in a commercial soybean field – InnerPlant is well positioned in 2026 to continue making an impact for farmers and the agricultural community.
About InnerPlant
InnerPlant is a seed technology company developing novel traits that harness plant physiology and unlock actionable data at scale. The Company’s technology enables the earliest detection of pathogens and other stresses in key crops to make farming more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. By tapping into plants’ immune systems, InnerPlant engineers crops that emit optical signals detectable from as far away as space when under attack by pathogens, pests, or other stressors. InnerPlant’s first commercial product, CropVoice, was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. The company is backed by leading industry and venture partners, including John Deere, Systemiq Capital, and an alliance of North American farmers via Coutts Agro. For more information, visit innerplant.com
About the Environment + Energy Leader Awards
Now in its 14th year, the Environment+Energy Leader Awards program recognizes excellence across products, projects, startups and organizational initiatives that deliver meaningful advancements in environmental programs, sustainability, and energy management. Entries are evaluated by an independent panel of industry experts, with a focus on innovation, scalability, and measurable impact. Winners are recognized as leaders in advancing best practices and setting new standards across the global energy and environmental landscape.
For Media Inquiries, Please Contact:
Laura Often
Crackle PR
508-887-3796
innerplant@cracklepr.com
Kay Harrison
Head of Awards Program
VP | Associate Publisher – kay@environmentenergyleader.com
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InnerPlant’s Customer Service Team Wins 2026 Excellence in Customer Service Award from Business Intelligence Group
Seed technology company recognized for high-touch customer service model
DAVIS, Calif. (April 22, 2026) – InnerPlant, the seed technology company engineering crops that communicate their needs, was named a Technology of the Year winner in the 2026 Excellence in Customer Service Awards by the Business Intelligence Group (BIG), a global independent awards organization recognizing outstanding achievement across business disciplines.
“CropVoice introduces a completely new type of data for farmers, and we knew from the start that delivering value would depend on more than the technology itself,” said Shely Aronov, CEO and co-founder of InnerPlant. “This program ensures farmers feel confident using these insights in their operations, and that their feedback directly shapes how the product evolves.”
The Excellence in Customer Service Awards honor the companies, products, teams, and individuals delivering measurable, human-centered customer experiences in a rapidly evolving service landscape. This year's program attracted nominations from organizations across more than 20 industries worldwide and was evaluated by a panel of experienced business executives using objective scoring benchmarks.
InnerPlant was recognized for designing and implementing its customer success program to support the adoption of its CropVoice™ platform. The program includes proactive onboarding calls, in-season outreach tied to disease alerts, and end-of-season feedback loops to ensure farmers understand and act on real-time crop insights.
Over the past year, InnerPlant’s customer success team has focused on building trust with farmers at every stage of the growing season. By combining direct outreach with continuous feedback, the company has created a model that strengthens adoption while improving both the product and overall customer experience.
“InnerPlant built their customer success program around one of the hardest adoption challenges in agtech: getting farmers to trust and act on a new category of crop intelligence,” said Russ Fordyce, Chief Recognition Officer at the Business Intelligence Group. “The white-glove onboarding, in-season outreach, and real-time support model they built reflects a deep understanding of who their customer is and what they actually need.”
For the complete list of 2026 Excellence in Customer Service Award winners, visit www.bintelligence.com/posts/2026-excellence-in-customer-service-awards-from-scripts-to-strategy-the-winners-who-proved-that-how-you-treat-people-still-wins.
About InnerPlant
InnerPlant is a seed technology company developing novel traits that harness plant physiology and unlock actionable data at scale. The Company’s technology enables the earliest detection of pathogens and other stresses in key crops to make farming more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. By tapping into plants’ immune systems, InnerPlant engineers crops that emit optical signals detectable from as far away as space when under attack by pathogens, pests, or other stressors. InnerPlant’s first commercial product, CropVoice, was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. The company is backed by leading industry and venture partners, including John Deere, Systemiq Capital, and an alliance of North American farmers via Coutts Agro. For more information, visit innerplant.com
Media Contact:
John Heid
Crackle PR
404-421-8857
innerplant@cracklepr.co
About the Excellence in Customer Service Awards
The Excellence in Customer Service Awards recognize the companies, teams, and individuals who set the standard for what customer service can deliver when it is resourced, led, and measured with intention. Established by the Business Intelligence Group, the program evaluates performance across award categories, including Organization of the Year, Transformation of the Year, Technology of the Year, Team of the Year, Outsource Partner of the Year, Manager of the Year, Front-Line Pro of the Year, and Executive of the Year - spanning every major industry segment and organizational size. Judged by experienced business executives who provide detailed scoring and transparent feedback, the awards honor those who demonstrate that exceptional customer service is a measurable, repeatable, and commercially significant discipline.
About Business Intelligence Group
Business Intelligence Group (BIG) is an independent awards organization that has been recognizing outstanding achievement in business since 2012. Now in its 14th awards season, BIG operates more than 10 annual programs spanning innovation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, customer service, cloud computing, sustainability, sales and marketing, workplace culture, and women's leadership. Unlike popularity contests, BIG programs use professional judging panels and objective scoring benchmarks to identify organizations, products, and individuals making real, measurable impact. Winners receive a complete promotional toolkit - including blockchain-verified credentials, press release support, social media assets, and featured placement across BIG's global community of more than one million business professionals.
For more information, visit bintelligence.com
Media Contact:
Eliana Starbird
Chief Nominations Officer
Business Intelligence Group
+1 909-529-2737
contact@bintelligence.com
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Plants speak, and now with new technology, farmers listen, respond to treat disease
Watch and read the full story from KOLN-TV here:
GILTNER, Neb. (KOLN) - Hamilton County farmers are waiting on maybe one more rain before they hit the field to start planting, Brandon Hunnicutt said while we were out at his farm in Giltner. Weighing rain chances is just one of many decisions farmers have to make daily. Now, new technology from a California biotechnology company, Innerplant, is giving farmers real-time data to make decisions, specifically about treating fungal disease.
“Whenever I check in fields, whether I’ve done it personally, or we have somebody else do it, it’s like once a week,” Hunnicutt explained. “When you get that once a week, you’re missing six other days of data points.”
Hunnicutt used Innerplant’s CropVoice Program, and used a block of InnerSoy, which are genetically engineered soybean plants, to monitor for disease in his soybean fields last year.
Story continues here:
Her Fluorescent Crops Give a Voice to Plants—and Power to Farmers
Read the full article from Inc here:
It’s the year 2030 in the middle of a field in Perry, Iowa. At 85 degrees, it’s unseasonably hot for early May. Already, there are soybeans breaking through the soil in farmland as far as the eye can see. The plants are maturing under the watchful gaze of an unseen satellite miles above the Earth. It has detected a problem in the field. A farmer dispatches a drone, which zooms over to inspect a plant that looks just like any other. The drone knows otherwise, and emits a stream of fungicide, successfully staving off an infection that could have devastated acres of crops.
In actuality, it’s 2025 and about as perfect a day as you can expect for August in Iowa. There are roughly 50 people gathered in a shed, where InnerPlant co-founder and CEO Shely Aronov has just finished giving a presentation for one of the company’s many Field Days, when farmers and industry insiders gather to showcase new technologies, machinery, research, and growing techniques. This one’s focus is a futuristic depiction of what might be possible in five years if her company, Davis, California-based InnerPlant, has anything to say about it.
“Farmers obviously want to do the right thing for their plants. They want to treat only diseased plants, and we want them to use the least amount of products in their fields,” Aronov tells Inc. of her broader vision for InnerPlant. “It’s better for the environment. And really, there are no losers in this—except if you sell chemicals.”
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InnerPlant CEO Shely Aronov Named to 2026 Inc. Female Founders 500 List
Seed technology innovator and advocate for farmer voices recognized for second year in a row
DAVIS, Calif. (March 10, 2026) – InnerPlant, the seed technology company engineering crops that communicate their needs, today announced that CEO and co-founder Shely Aronov has been named for the second year in a row to the Inc. Female Founders 500 list, an annual list honoring the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States, whose bold ideas, resilience, and execution are shaping the future of their industries.
“Being honored by Inc for all the company has achieved over the last year, not just once, but two times, is incredible,” said Aronov. “We have some exciting plans in the pipeline for 2026 and beyond, and it’s thanks to our dedicated team, our retailers, and of course, our customers – farmers.”
InnerPlant engineers soybeans to emit optical signals when infected by pathogens, helping farmers make precise fungicide decisions, protect their yields, and ultimately save costs in a time when every bushel counts.
Each year, Inc. editors evaluate applications through a rigorous, multi-round selection process. Founders are assessed on both quantitative performance metrics, including revenue growth, funding, sales, and audience size, as well as qualitative factors such as innovation, social impact, and brand momentum. The final list represents entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable progress over the past year. Previous honorees have included such game-changing leaders as Billie Jean King, Sallie Krawcheck, Serena Williams, and Emma Grede — all of whom have transformed their industries and broken barriers along the way.
Honoree selection is also honed through the evaluation of the program’s advisory board, which includes Patty Arvielo, co-founder and CEO of New American Funding; Tiffany Dufu, president of the Tory Burch Foundation; Joy Mangano, co-founder and CEO of CleanBoss; Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder and CEO of GORGIE; Sheila Lirio Marcelo, co-founder and CEO of Ohai.ai and founder of Care.com; and Melissa Mash, co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover.
The 2026 Female Founders honorees collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in 2025 revenue and $12.2 billion in funding to date, underscoring the economic impact of women-led businesses across sectors
Coming off a momentous year for the company, Shely drove the company’s – and the world’s – first real-time detection of a fungal infection in a commercial soybean field via its CropVoice™ disease alert network and InnerSoy™ sensors. The company also recently announced new commercial partnerships with major agronomic providers such as CHS and SunAg.
InnerPlant has recently been recognized with awards such as Inc.'s 2025 Best in Business list and a 2026 BIG Innovation Awards’ Product Innovation Winner, alongside its previous recognition by Bloomberg and TIME Magazine.
InnerPlant, under Aronov’s leadership, is poised to scale tenfold across the Midwest in 2026.
"Each year, we are increasingly amazed by the extraordinary leaders on our Inc. Female Founders 500 list,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “The honorees on this year’s list include innovators in AI, beauty and wellness trendsetters winning devoted fans, and nonprofit leaders making a real impact in their communities. Together, they’re showing all of us what trailblazing female leadership looks like.”
To see the complete list of honorees, please visit: https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.
About Inc.
Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.
About InnerPlant
InnerPlant is a seed technology company developing novel traits that harness plant physiology and unlock actionable data at scale. The Company’s technology enables the earliest detection of pathogens and other stresses in key crops to make farming more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. By tapping into plants’ immune systems, InnerPlant engineers crops that emit optical signals detectable from as far away as space when under attack by pathogens, pests, or other stressors. InnerPlant’s first commercial product, CropVoice, was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. The company is backed by leading industry and venture partners, including John Deere, Systemiq Capital, and an alliance of North American farmers via Coutts Agro. For more information, visit innerplant.com
Media Contact:
John Heid
Crackle PR
404-421-8857
innerplant@cracklepr.com
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No more guessing games: Biosensing technology takes guesswork out of fungicide application
Read the full story from the Rapid City Journal here:
When your crops appear stressed, how can you decipher the root cause of the ailment?
Are they simply “under the weather” from scorching heat? Have insects burrowed into the stems, or are they making a salad bar of the foliage? Could this be the early stages of a viral, bacterial or fungal infection?
All this uncertainty can make a farmer more stressed than the plants themselves.
“Farming requires a lot of guesswork, particularly fungicide applications. There’s a lot of uncertainty about whether to apply, what to apply and when to apply fungicide,” said Sean Yokomizo, spokesman with InnerPlant.
Founded in 2018, InnerPlant is eliminating guesswork around fungicide application through its biosensing capability that is rooted in the plant’s physiology. The technology has been developed by teams of biologists and physiologists in the company’s laboratories at Davis, California.
By combining biosensors with satellite telecommunications, they are enabling plants to communicate when they are under attack of a foliar fungal pathogen.
Story continues here:
CropVoice by InnerPlant Wins 2026 BIG Innovation Award
The world’s first real-time detection platform for crop fungal infection recognized as a top product innovation
DAVIS, Calif. (Jan. 15, 2026) – InnerPlant, the seed technology company engineering crops that communicate their needs, was named a Product Innovation Winner in the 2026 BIG Innovation Awards, a global recognition program honoring companies, products, and leaders who are transforming industries through applied innovation, intelligent platforms, and measurable real-world impact.
CropVoice™ by InnerPlant is listed among the most innovative products in this year’s BIG Innovation Awards and has also been selected as a Top 10 Innovator in the Small Business category.
“With uncertainty rife in the agriculture sector right now, farmers need innovation to help them take the guesswork out of their operations and improve their efficiency and bottom lines,” said Shely Aronov, CEO and co-founder of InnerPlant. “This new year is another exciting opportunity for us to make a positive impact for farmers and showcase what the CropVoice platform can really do.”
In 2025, CropVoice was launched commercially across 50,000 acres as the first real-time wild disease detection platform for farmers and the agriculture industry. The platform’s backing from key investors like John Deere, Systemiq Capital, and farmer alliances has paved the way for significant expansion in 2026 – starting with a tenfold-acre scale across the Midwest.
"The 2026 BIG Innovation Awards winners show that true innovation is no longer about chasing the latest buzzwords," said Russ Fordyce, Chief Recognition Officer at the Business Intelligence Group. "It’s about building intelligent platforms, automating workflows with purpose, and making trust, privacy, and resilience the foundation of every breakthrough. These organizations and leaders are not just keeping pace with change, they are shaping the future of global business."
InnerPlant joins 159 winners recognized for their contributions to innovation across health, financial services, logistics, manufacturing, and enterprise technology. The 2026 BIG Innovation Awards winners reveal a clear trend: innovation is no longer about just having AI, it’s about how you use it. Winners are building platforms, automating workflows, and focusing on trust, privacy, and security as core to their mission.
Over the last year, InnerPlant has been recognized in Inc.’s Best in Business list and as a BloombergNEF Pioneer for Climate Innovation in Agriculture. Meanwhile, Shely Aronov was recognized as a High-Impact Woman in the U.S. by Seed World and among Inc.’s Female Founders 500s.
For more information about the BIG Innovation Awards and to view the full list of winners, visit www.bintelligence.com/posts/2026-big-innovation-awards-159-trailblazers-prove-where-innovation-is-really-happening.
About InnerPlant
InnerPlant is a seed technology company developing novel traits that harness plant physiology and unlock actionable data at scale. The Company’s technology enables the earliest detection of pathogens and other stresses in key crops to make farming more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. By tapping into plants’ immune systems, InnerPlant engineers crops that emit optical signals detectable from as far away as space when under attack by pathogens, pests, or other stressors. InnerPlant’s first commercial product, CropVoice, was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. The company is backed by leading industry and venture partners, including John Deere, Systemiq Capital, and an alliance of North American farmers via Coutts Agro. For more information, visit innerplant.com
Media Contact:
John Heid
Crackle PR
404-421-8857
innerplant@cracklepr.com
About Business Intelligence Group
The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in business. Unlike many recognition programs, these awards are evaluated by business leaders and practitioners who reward programs, products, and people that deliver real, quantifiable excellence rather than marketing narratives.
Media Contact:
Eliana Starbird
Chief Nominations Officer
Business Intelligence Group
+1 909-529-2737
contact@bintelligence.com
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Crop disease monitoring company Innerplantreadies to 10x soybean acres in 2026
Read the full story from AgTech Navigator here:
InnerPlant will expand the number of acres its CropVoice service covers in the new year — increasing from 50,000 in 2025 to 500,000 acres in 2026 — as the California biotech company expands its insight capabilities, providing soybean farmers more tools to combat fungal diseases.
Launched in 2018, InnerPlant developed genetically engineered seeds that emit a fluorescent light (i.e., sensors) that can indicate if crop disease is present, GarySchaefer, chief commercial officer at InnerPlant, told AgTechNavigator.
The agtech company gathers disease data through strategic plots spread across the U.S., including in South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois, and provides disease scouting reports to farmers through its CropVoice service, Schaefer said.
Story continues here:
Living Sensors Turn Soybeans into Fungal Disease Detectives
Read the full story from Farm Journal's Ag Web here:
For Aidan Kleinschmit, trying to get the upper hand over white mold disease in soybeans used to involve a frustrating amount of guesswork.
White mold can lurk in soybean fields undetected for weeks, causing significant damage before any visible symptoms appear. Kleinschmit says his annual struggle with the disease turned a corner this past season when he decided to trial the use of CropVoice from InnerPlant.
“I remember they sent out an alert on a Saturday night about white mold being detected, and by Monday we had decided we were going to treat,” recounts Kleinschmit, who farms in northeast Nebraska with his dad and brother.
“That put us way ahead of the white mold, because by the time you see it, some damage is done,” Kleinschmit adds. “You might get disease suppression from a fungicide at that point, but you’re going to have some yield loss.”
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InnerPlant Named to Inc.’s 2025 Best in Business List
The seed technology that created the world’s first real-time detection of crop fungal infection honored among most innovative companies
DAVIS, Calif. (December 2, 2025) – InnerPlant, the seed technology company engineering crops that communicate their needs, has been named to the Inc. 2025 Best in Business list in the Best in Innovation, Small and Mighty (10–49 Employees) category. Inc.’s annual Best in Business Awards celebrates the exceptional achievements and contributions of companies that have made a profound impact on their industries
2025 has been a milestone year for InnerPlant, highlighted by the world’s first real-time detection of a fungal infection in a commercial soybean field through the company’s CropVoice™ disease alert network and InnerSoy™ sensors, which currently covers 50,000 acres across the Midwest and is on track to scale tenfold in 2026.
The recognition honors companies that, through exceptional execution, have achieved significant milestones and core business wins, like customer expansion, key product launches, increased market share, and industry-defining accomplishments. Companies from a wide range of industries – such as technology, health care, finance, and retail – have been recognized for their success and their positive influence on the business world.
The full list can be found on Inc.com and in the upcoming winter print edition of Inc. magazine.
“This acknowledgment affirms the work our team and our partners have done to bring a completely new layer of intelligence to agriculture,” said Shely Aronov, CEO and co-founder of InnerPlant. “CropVoice proves what becomes possible when we listen to the plants themselves. Detecting infection early enough for farmers to take action is a turning point for crop protection, and the response from growers and retailers shows how quickly this technology can scale.”
Aronov herself has been named as a 2025 High-Impact Woman in U.S. Seed by SeedWorld and included among Inc.'s 2025 Female Founders 500 list, and InnerPlant was recognized by Bloomberg as a BloombergNEF (BNEF) Pioneer earlier this year.
Inc.’s Best in Business Awards are open to companies of all sizes and types, in all industries and locations. Public, private, nonprofit, subsidiary, U.S.-based, and international companies are all encouraged to apply. Inc. editors and reporters hand-review every application and select Best in Business honorees that, in each of the award categories, have had an outstanding influence on their communities, their industries, the environment, or society as a whole.
“Each Best in Business honoree achieved a breakthrough moment this year. Some unveiled groundbreaking innovations while others launched savvy marketing campaigns or strategically implemented AI in their companies,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “No matter what their business win looked like, their projects and initiatives had a sizable impact on their company and even on their industry at large, making them worthy of this honor.”
For more information or to see the complete list, please visit inc.com/best-in-business.
About InnerPlantInnerPlant is a seed technology company developing novel traits that harness plant physiology and unlock actionable data at scale. The Company’s technology enables the earliest detection of pathogens and other stresses in key crops to make farming more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. By tapping into plants’ immune systems, InnerPlant engineers crops that emit optical signals detectable from as far away as space when under attack by pathogens, pests, or other stressors. InnerPlant’s first commercial product, CropVoice, was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. The company is backed by leading industry and venture partners, including John Deere, Systemiq Capital, and an alliance of North American farmers via Coutts Agro. For more information, visit innerplant.com
About Inc.
Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.
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