A total of 183 startups from 38 countries applied to be a part of The Pearse Lyons Accelerator, a late-stage, agri-tech accelerator run by Alltech and Dogpatch Labs. The accelerator will commence with 10 startups that have been chosen to take part in a mentorship program for agri-business innovators with a proven technology that is ready for market.

The accelerator is a 15-week, mentorship-driven program aimed at collaborative learning and seeking new business and/or partnership opportunities. The program will culminate with the startups presenting on the main stage at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, May 21–24, 2017.

Startup participants will receive access to Dr. Pearse Lyons. In addition, participants will receive free space for three months in Ireland’s leading startup hub, Dogpatch Labs, located in the heart of the Dublin Docklands, a €15,000 cash fund and mentoring covering a range of areas, from product development to strategy and international expansion. Additional benefits include software perks worth more than €300,000 from companies such as Google, Facebook, Softlayer and Amazon.

“We had a great selection week in Dublin, and I’m really impressed with the startups’ ideas, their engagement and the talent,” said Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer at Alltech. “We were especially looking for emerging technologies in agri-tech, such as drones, sensors, the internet of things and artificial intelligence, and I’m excited to see those are all represented within the 10 companies that were chosen.”