Aspiring Universe Corporation Awarded 2020 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize

Category : Recognition & Awards
Posted on: March 5, 2020

Champaign, Illinois (March 5, 2020) – Aspiring Universe Corporation, a company that provides in-depth intelligence and cost-effective assessments of farmland, is the recipient of the 2020 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize. The award, generously funded by University of Illinois alumni and their families, rewards University of Illinois entrepreneurs focusing on agricultural innovations.

Ed Moore and Penny DeYoung, members of the Moore family, presented the award to Aspiring Universe Corporation founder Kaiyu Guan during the Agriculture Technology Innovation Summit on March 4 in Champaign.

Aspiring Universe’s technology takes a modern approach to risk management integrating artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and financial risk models to create customized risk modeling assessments for farm-related businesses. The company occupies an office at EnterpriseWorks, the technology incubator in the Research Park.

Guan is a Blue Waters Assistant Professor in ecohydrology and remote sensing in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The Edwin Moore Agriculture Innovation Fund was established in 2016 with a generous gift to EnterpriseWorks, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s technology incubator. Its goal is to encourage startup companies engaged in development of new innovative technologies that may lead to increased productivity and/or efficiency in farming, or to create new agricultural opportunities, including new processes, new crops, and new food production systems.

Previous winners include, TellTail (2019), EarthSense (2018) and Soil Diagnostics (2017).

In addition to the prize given at the AgTech Innovation Summit, a second Edwin Moore Agriculture Innovation Fund award is at stake as part of the Cozad New Venture Competition, the university’s signature competition for student startups. It will be awarded in April.

For more information about Aspiring Universe Corporation, visit their website here.

About the Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize

The award honors the legacy of Edwin E. Moore (1924), who graduated from the University of Illinois College of Agriculture and began farming in Will County. Throughout his agricultural career, he and wife, Iva, used innovative farming practices for both crop production and livestock management. Two of their four children became farmers, Edwin and Thomas (1953, College of Agriculture), and continued use of innovative farm practices. Subsequent generations of Edwin Moore’s family have continued to pursue farming and ag related careers capturing the same innovative spirit.

About the Research Park at the University of Illinois

The Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a technology hub for startup companies and corporate research and development operations. Within the Research Park there are 120 companies employing students and full-time technology professionals. More information at researchpark.illinois.edu. Find the Research Park on Twitter at @UIResearchPark.