Where precision agriculture meets heritage grains: The WFF Youth Initiative and Penn State spark a cross-continental collaboration

One year after the launch of the WFF Youth Food Lab (YFL) North America at Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, the partnership is demonstrating how global collaboration can support young innovators in transforming agrifood systems.

A notable example is the collaboration between Millets Now, winner of the 2025 WFF Startup Innovation Awards (SIA) Equitable and Sustainable Nutrition Award, and wrkFarm, a precision agriculture and traceability startup founded at Penn State.

Based in India, Millets Now produces nutritious, affordable and climate-resilient foods using traditional Indian millets like sorghum and finger millet, sourced from more than 7 000 smallholder farmers. The company also supports rural livelihoods through farmer training and the integration of women into its value chains.

Through connections facilitated by the WFF network and the Youth Food Lab North America, Millets Now partnered with wrkFarm to pilot precision agriculture technologies within its millet supply chain.

Founded by Penn State MBA candidate Jashvinu Yeshwanth Raj, wrkFarm combines satellite imagery, ground sensor data and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered analytics to provide farmers with insights on crop and soil conditions, improving traceability and decision-making.

As part of the pilot, wrkFarm tested its sensor technology with 300 farmers supplying biofortified millets to Millets Now. The collaboration enabled wrkFarm to test and refine its solutions with smallholder farmers at scale, while providing farmers with improved tools for monitoring crop health and strengthening productivity and resilience.

Reflecting on the partnership, wrkFarm's founder noted that one of the greatest challenges for agricultural technology startups is ensuring that innovations remain accessible, affordable and relevant for smallholder farmers. Working through Millets Now's established farmer network helped bridge this gap by providing local trust, connections and on-the-ground support.

For Millets Now, the collaboration strengthened traceability systems, pest and disease monitoring, and post-harvest processes such as grain grading and sorting. According to founder Vidhya Parshuramkar, these improvements are helping farmers enhance productivity, improve crop quality and increase market readiness while strengthening transparency across the value chain.

Following six months of collaboration, the two startups plan to continue working together to advance technology-driven solutions that support smallholder farmers and strengthen the resilience of millet-based value chains in India.

The partnership illustrates the broader value of the WFF Startup Innovation Awards ecosystem. Beyond recognition, it creates opportunities for youth-led startups to build international partnerships, exchange knowledge and test innovative solutions in real-world settings. Through collaborations with institutions such as Penn State, the WFF Youth Initiative continues to support young entrepreneurs in developing scalable solutions for more sustainable, inclusive and resilient agrifood systems.