Best Food and Agriculture Tech Companies in Kentucky, United States
The 44 best Food and Agriculture Tech companies in Kentucky, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: AppHarvest.
Our analysis of 81 Food and Agriculture Tech companies
$13.5b in tracked funding; 93% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Food and Agriculture Tech companies in Kentucky
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AppHarvest Platform utilizing high-tech indoor farming methods and robotics to produce non GMO fruits and vegetables | $150M | 72 mo ago | Public | Jonathan Webb Founder & CEO | 2014 | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+12 | 7 patents Patents concentrated in health & consumer products | — |
| 2 | Restik Comprehensive restaurant and cafe automation software with delivery and QR solutions | $12M | 39 mo ago | Series B | Edgar Klimov Co-Founder | 2016 | SentryTypeScriptGraphQL+16 | — | — |
| 3 | Smart Farm Farm monitoring system developer | $6M | 61 mo ago | Seed | Ryan Heringer Co-Founder | 2013 | — | — | — |
| 4 | Spiritless Platform offering non-alcoholic spirits | $4M | 36 mo ago | Series A | Lauren Chitwood Co-Founder & CEO | 2019 | Cart FunctionalityShopifyYouTube+45 | — | — |
| 5 | Kentucky Fresh Harvest Producer and supplier of fruits and vegetables | $4M | 55 mo ago | Series A | — | 2016 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Farmstand Onliner marketplace for farm products | $3M | 169 mo ago | Deadpooled | John Ford Co-Founder | 2011 | WordPress Block EditorWordPressSentry+32 | — | — |
| 7 | Thrive365 Online platform for meal planning and food scoring system | $3M | 63 mo ago | Acquired | — | 2012 | — | — | — |
| 8 | Alltech Animal nutrition and health solutions for a sustainable planet | $2M | 19 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 1998 | DrupalApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+33 | 459 patents Mycotoxin-binding feed additives and detoxification agents for animal nutrition safety | — |
| 9 | PlantBidUS Online platform for sourcing plants for nursery | $2M | 132 mo ago | Seed | Cameron Cantrelle Co-Founder & CEO | 2012 | — | — | — |
| 10 | Surna Cultivation Technologies Indoor agriculture equipment, engineering, and services for controlled environment facilities | $1M | 58 mo ago | Public | Brandy Keen Co-Founder | 2009 | WordPressMySQLPHP+30 | — | — |
| 11 | Parasight System Developer of solutions to detect parasite infection in horses | $868K | 10 mo ago | Seed | Eric Hauck Co-Founder & CEO | 2014 | Wix eCommerceWixSentry+13 | — | — |
| 12 | Lepidext Developer of biopesticides of corn earworm | $535K | 23 mo ago | Seed | Bruce Webb Founder & President | 2015 | — | 7 patents Engineered microbial agents for biological pest control | — |
Top 12 Food and Agriculture Tech companies in Kentucky
#1
Seed · Lexington, Kentucky · founded 2014 · 8 employees$868.4Kraised▾
Developer of solutions to detect parasite infection in horses. The company provides fluorescence imaging technology & automated software algorithm to identify & keep count of strongyles & ascarid eggs. Using imaging analysis technology, the parasite analyzes the sample & provides the results.
- Oct 2025Seed$895K
- May 2024Seed$50K
- Oct 2021Seed$300K
- Feb 2019Seed$650K
#2
Funding Raised · Lexington, Kentucky · founded 1998 · 1443 employees$2.3Mraised▾
Animal nutrition and health solutions for a sustainable planet. The company provides animal nutrition, health products, and feed supplements for various species, including dairy cows, beef cattle, poultry, pigs, aquaculture, equine, and pets. It offers programs and services focused on crop science, gut health, mycotoxin risk reduction, mineral nutrition optimization, and protein delivery. The company emphasizes sustainability, aiming to produce safe, nutritious food while caring for animals and the environment. It promotes collaboration and innovation within the agri-food sector to address global challenges related to nutrition, well-being, and resource preservation. The company also provides educational resources, news, and events to support its mission.
- Jan 2025Grant (prize money)$2.3M
#3
Seed · Lexington, Kentucky · founded 2015 · 5 employees$535.4Kraised▾
Lepidext is a developer of biopesticides for corn earworm. It infects and sterilizes the offspring of infected moths, vanishing subsequent generations. It is also safe for humans and does not contaminate the environment.
- Sep 2024Grant (prize money)$650K
- Jul 2023Grant (prize money)$175K
- Mar 2022Seed$700K
- Jan 2022Grant (prize money)$256K
#4
Public · Morehead, Kentucky · founded 2014 · 478 employees$150Mraised▾
Platform utilizing high-tech indoor farming methods and robotics to produce non GMO fruits and vegetables. It is a sustainable food company that develops and operates large-scale high-tech indoor farms in Appalachia, utilizing robotics and artificial intelligence to cultivate non-GMO fruits and vegetables. The company aims to create a climate-resilient food system and provide freshly grown American produce for national retailers.
- Aug 2020Post IPO$28M
- Jan 2020Series A$11M
- Mar 2019Series A$82M
- Feb 2018Seed—
#5
Series B · Greenup, Kentucky · founded 2016$11.9Mraised▾
Comprehensive restaurant and cafe automation software with delivery and QR solutions. It is a cloud-based SaaS platform offering a suite of tools for restaurants, cafes, bars, and other food service businesses. The software provides solutions for order management, kitchen automation, online delivery, QR menu generation, customer relationship management (CRM), loyalty programs, inventory management, sales analytics, and staff management. It supports online payments, integrates with POS terminals, and offers mobile apps for staff. The platform aims to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experience through features like online ordering, table management, and digital menus. It offers subscription-based pricing with a free trial and provides customer support via multiple channels.
- May 2023Series B$11.9M
- Feb 2022Series A—
- Feb 2021Seed—
#6
Series A · Louisville, Kentucky · founded 2019 · 58 employees$4Mraised▾
Platform offering non-alcoholic spirits. The company offers distilled non-alcoholic spirit crafted to complement the bourbon cocktails. It comes in 750 ml bottles and contains 0.5% alcohol.
- Aug 2023Series A$4M
#7
Seed · Nicholasville, Kentucky · founded 2013 · 5 employees$5.5Mraised▾
Smart Farm is a Nicholasville Kentucky based smart farming company, Company website claims that it provides farmers valuable, real-time, actionable information regarding the status of equipment and crops. Smart Farm’s large area 900 MHz wireless network and its intuitive, analytics-based user interface allow farmers to remotely monitor and analyze soil conditions. In parallel, farmers can monitor and control field-based equipment, such as irrigation pumps and grain silos.
- Jul 2021Seed$50K
- Mar 2020Seed$831.8K
- Nov 2018Seed$1.3M
- Mar 2018Seed$1.1M
#8
Series A · Danville, Kentucky · founded 2016 · 9 employees$3.6Mraised▾
Producer and supplier of fruits and vegetables. It produces and sells cherry tomatoes and bell peppers. Users can buy products via the online platform.
- Jan 2022Grant (prize money)$20K
- Sep 2016Series A$3.6M
#9
Acquired · Louisville, Kentucky · founded 2012 · 23 employees$2.8Mraised▾
Thrive365 is an app to plan one's meal based on the food score. The platform covers prepared foods, grocery store ingredients, and restaurant menu items for a comprehensive approach to food choices. The app is designed for people who are in the pre-diabetes stage. Its food scoring system is patented and backed with $10M in R&D. Thrive365 has partnered with Fitbit, Pilotlite ventures, Diabetes Daily, Telcare & Nutritionix.
- May 2021Series A$6.8M
- Jan 2021Seed$2.5M
- Jun 2019Seed$835.6K
#10
Public · Louisville, Kentucky · founded 2009 · 39 employees$1.2Mraised▾
Indoor agriculture equipment, engineering, and services for controlled environment facilities. The company designs, engineers, and manufactures environmental control and air sanitation systems. They provide energy and resource-efficient technology solutions tailored for controlled agriculture environments. Services include architectural design, MEP engineering, installation support, and preventative maintenance. They offer a comprehensive suite of products, including HVAC systems, dehumidifiers, controls & automation, water treatment solutions, benches & racks, and LED lights. The company supports commercial growers in creating cultivation facilities, streamlining planning and buildout processes. They focus on delivering customized solutions to meet specific goals, offering expertise in controlled climate systems and vertical farming. The company provides a one-stop-shop for equipment and services in controlled environment agriculture.
- Oct 2021Post IPO$3M
- Jun 2018Post IPO$1.2M
- Dec 2017Post IPO$1.8M
- Oct 2015Post IPO$1.2M
#11
Deadpooled · Lexington, Kentucky · founded 2011$3Mraised▾
Farmstand is an online marketplace for farm products. It allows users to discover nearby vendors, producers of farm products and order online for home delivery. Also, allows them to share posts regarding the vendors, products, and their deals.
- Jul 2012Seed—
#12
Seed · Madisonville, Kentucky · founded 2012 · 12 employees$1.7Mraised▾
Online platform for sourcing plants for nursery. It provides searchable and up-to-date online inventory of hundreds of wholesale growers. It allows buyers to develop accurate material cost quotes, submit RFPs, and source submit plant orders to hundreds of wholesale growers nationwide.
- Aug 2015Seed$411K
- Sep 2014Seed$901.4K
- Dec 2013Seed$365.5K
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Food and Agriculture Tech coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Food Tech in Kentucky is moving
A read on the academic research around Food Tech in Kentucky — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 42 papers.
- University of Kentucky34
- Kentucky State University5
- Western Kentucky University3
- Transparency (behavior)1
- Traceability1
- Augmented reality1
- Food safety1
- Quality (philosophy)1
- Food safety5
- Certification4
- Food security3
- Sustainability2
- Supply chain2
- Food security5
- Food safety4
- Production (economics)2
- Product (mathematics)2
- Food systems2
Common questions
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.