FrostDefense Awarded 2022 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize
Champaign, Illinois (March 10, 2022) – FrostDefense Envirotech Inc., a startup company developing technological solutions to prevent frost damage at vineyards, is the recipient of the 2022 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize.
The award, generously funded by a family of University of Illinois alumni, rewards University of Illinois entrepreneurs focusing on agricultural innovations.
The Research Park together with the Moore family presented the award to FrostDefense founder Manfredo Seufferheld and vice president Gabriel Burks during the 2022 AgTech Innovation Summit at the Colonnades Club at Memorial Stadium.
The company’s scientists work out of a lab and office at EnterpriseWorks, the technology incubator in the Research Park.
FrostDefense Envirotech Inc. is a National Science Foundation-funded startup company. The team develops innovative, environmentally friendly, and low-cost technological solutions to prevent frost damage for vineyards. They also work to make labor management and mechanized farm operations more efficient. Its predictive analytic system is the foundation for continued innovation in creating tools and services to support decision-making to adapt to growing practices and sustainability.
The Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize’s goal is to encourage startup companies engaged in the 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 Edwin Moore Agriculture Innovation Fund winners include:
Epivara, 2021
Habiterre (formerly Aspiring Universe), 2020
TellTail, 2019
EarthSense, 2018
Soil Diagnostics, 2017
For more information about Frost Defense, visit its website here.
About the Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize
The Edwin Moore Agriculture Innovation Fund was established in 2016 with a generous gift to EnterpriseWorks, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s technology incubator. 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 his 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.