ACCEL-KS Profile: Brad Zwick innovation

As you’re probably well aware, we were awarded a grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce to support early-stage founders in Kansas. With that funding, we designed the ACCEL-KS Proof-of-Concept Grant, a program that provides up to $25,000 to help Kansas founders take their projects from idea to commercialization. Our program includes wraparound services with ecosystem partner support from across the region. We received far more applications than we expected, and after a rigorous review process, we selected 20 grant recipients. Now, we’re going to share more about the projects they’re working on. We asked each founder the same set of questions, and over the coming weeks, we’ll publish their answers.

Up next? Brad Zwick

Company name: Brad Zwick Innovation

Product name: In-Field, Storage and Logistics Solution

What gave you the idea for your product or startup?

Lots of analysis on what worked and what did not, from a start up, direct to farm fertilizer business I built 25 years ago. Disconnecting field operations from the supporting logistics was one of the most valuable outcomes of what we did. After going down many different paths, determined that creating a reusable, collapsible, bulk bag that is big enough to be cost effective, but not so big that the cost of handling equipment grew exponentially was the best solution.

What makes your product stand out?

Deere and Co. revolutionized cotton harvesting by combining a harvester and module builder into one unit (effectively became the only cotton harvester manufacturer as competitors costs were too high). I believe something similar can be achieved in grain harvesting, and if so, more opportunities exist to replicate the savings, especially around inputs being delivered to the field.

What have you learned so far on your journey?

Compared to the start up business I led in 1999, this opportunity has been more difficult to connect others to the value proposition. This opportunity also has more technical and manufacturing challenges than the first one.

How are the ACCEL-KS grant funds helping you reach the next stage of development?

Manufacturing a collapsible bag that can hold 200X more volume than it occupies when folded for storage and can carry 200X more weight in payload than it weighs empty is the most challenging aspect of the opportunity (at least that is my thinking now). The prototype bags I have constructed so far have provided a lot of learning, but I need to build a bag that is closer to what will actually be used in production to see if the assumptions made so far are accurate.

What kind of support do you need from the startup community?

A fresh set of eyes to look at the opportunity - see things I cannot. Ideas on how to drive cost per unit lower. Ideas from other industries that can solve problems encountered in this "new to the world" bagging system.

What is something interesting we should know about you or your project?

While I recognize there are many challenges in implementing this new system, the size of the market is big enough, I think it is worth pursuing. 900mm tons of dry, bulk grain/fertilizer/seed move to and from North American farm fields annually at a cost of around $30/ton, and I believe those costs can be reduced by $10 per ton through this new system. Outside the US/Canada, anywhere mechanized agriculture exits, I believe the same, or possibly even greater opportunity exists where infrastructure is not as developed.