Hypercell Technologies Wins 2024 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize
Champaign, Illinois (March 5, 2024) – Hypercell Technologies, a startup company developing new methods to control infectious diseases, has been named the 2024 Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize winner.
The award, generously funded by a family of University of Illinois alumni, rewards University of Illinois entrepreneurs focusing on agricultural innovations.
The Research Park and the Moore family presented the award to Hypercell’s CEO Bruno Jactel during the 2024 AgTech Innovation Summit at the Illinois Conference Center on Tuesday, March 5.
The company operates out of an office at EnterpriseWorks, the technology incubator in the Research Park.
Hypercell Technologies has developed novel biological solutions to control infectious diseases in production animals that cause major economic losses and present potential threats to human health. The Hypercell approach revolutionizes the control of infectious diseases by bringing two innovative technologies: rapid, easy-to-use molecular diagnostics on the farm and biotherapeutic treatments to reduce the spread of a virus. Hypercell believes the best chance to stop a future pandemic in humans is to proactively control viruses in animal reservoirs.
Dr. Alex Prokup, Senior Scientist at Hypercell says, “The first lab for Hypercell started here at the University in this incubator at EnterpriseWorks, and it’s really been a great experience for us. We have a lot of the University resources in terms of hiring our first lab technician, as well as getting supplies from the local store rooms and collaborating with some of the researchers on campus.”
The Edwin Moore Family Agriculture Innovation Prize’s goal is to encourage startup companies engaged in developing new innovative technologies that may lead to increased productivity and efficiency in farming, or to create new agricultural opportunities, including new processes, crops, and food production systems.
Hypercell’s story with regard to this award was also featured in a recent News-Gazette article.
Previous Edwin Moore Agriculture Innovation Fund Winners Include:
HarvestIQ, formerly known as Farmers Risk, 2023
Habiterre (formerly Aspiring Universe), 2020
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 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 over 100 companies employing students and full-time technology professionals. More information can be found on the Research Park website.