NVG Welcomes Ukrainian Ag-Tech Founders for a Day of Learning and Connection

On Friday, May 22, the Napa Valley Grapegrowers had the privilege of hosting a remarkable group of visitors: a cohort of Ukrainian agri-tech startup founders participating in the UC Berkeley Agro Accelerator program. The afternoon, held at the iconic V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, was a working session designed to bridge two worlds: the deep-rooted agricultural tradition of Napa Valley and the innovative, technology-driven perspective of a new generation of global entrepreneurs.
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This was not a wine tourism stop. It was a genuine exchange between professionals who share a common commitment to advancing agriculture through science, innovation, and collaboration.

A Fitting Setting: Thank You, V. Sattui Winery

​We are deeply grateful to V. Sattui Winery for opening their stunning barrel cellar to our group. The warmth of the setting provided the ideal tone for an afternoon focused on craft, quality, and connection. V. Sattui has long been a beloved anchor of the Napa Valley wine community, and their generosity in hosting this event made the experience all the more special.

Why This Afternoon Mattered

The UC Berkeley Agro Accelerator brings together agri-tech companies that already have products and market traction, but are looking to scale, sharpen their investor readiness, and learn how demanding agricultural markets evaluate new technologies. The cohort represented a wide range of innovation areas including precision agriculture, IoT hardware, livestock management, greenhouse automation, and farm data platforms.
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Napa Valley was chosen as the closing experience of their two-week California program for good reason. Our region represents a global standard of excellence in high-value agriculture, and offers a compelling case study in how a sophisticated farming community evaluates, adopts, and integrates new technologies over time. The afternoon was designed to help the founders reflect on the human side of ag-tech adoption: how trust is built with growers, why some solutions succeed while others struggle to gain traction, and what it takes to become a genuine partner to farmers rather than just a vendor.

Speakers and Program Highlights

The workshop opened with a welcome and introduction to the Napa Valley grower ecosystem from Caleb Mosley, Executive Director of NVG, who provided context on the organization's role in supporting growers, and personal anecdotes highlighting the ongoing evolution of ag-tech in the valley.

Will Thomas, Phenolic Viticulturist and Founder of Integrated Phenolics, then presented on the intersection of grape science and practical farm management. Integrated Phenolics provides research-grade phenolic analysis services to growers and winemakers, offering detailed insight into the compounds that shape grape and wine quality. Their services include berry phenolics panels measuring tannin and anthocyanin levels at the individual berry level, as well as wine phenolics panels and an innovative HPLC-based tannin activity analysis that characterizes how tannins shape mouthfeel and texture. Will's presentation illustrated how science-based tools, when designed around what growers actually need to know, can become an indispensable part of vineyard decision-making.

Eric Ferguson, Growth Consultant for Numanac, introduced the group to a very different kind of ag-tech: a voice-first farm management platform built for the field. Numanac allows farmers, consultants, and agricultural enterprises to capture field data naturally, simply by speaking, without the burden of paperwork or rigid data entry interfaces. The platform supports logging in more than 180 languages, automatically tags entries with weather and location data, and features an AI copilot named Alma that can retrieve records, generate reports, and provide context-aware recommendations. For a cohort of founders thinking hard about how to build tools that farmers will actually use, Numanac offered a compelling model for meeting users where they are.
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The formal workshop closed with an open Q&A and cross-conversation between the speakers and startup founders, which generated some of the afternoon's most substantive discussion.

Wine Reception and Dinner

​Following the workshop, members of NVG's Grower Services Committee, a group of experienced vineyard managers and viticulturists, joined the startup cohort for a networking session and wine reception. This informal mingling gave founders the rare opportunity to hear directly from the kinds of growers they may one day be pitching to: what they look for in a new technology, what has not worked in the past, and what genuine partnership looks like in practice.

Looking Ahead: More Capacity to Educate

Events like this one reflect NVG's ongoing commitment to education, outreach, and connecting our grower community with the broader world of agricultural innovation. As our reach grows, so does our need for the right infrastructure to support it.

We are thrilled to share that NVG is on the verge of breaking ground on the Napa Valley Center for Grape Growing and Farmworker Education, located in the heart of Oakville. Once complete, the Center will significantly expand NVG's ability to host programs like this one, bringing growers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and community members together in a purpose-built space dedicated to the future of Napa Valley agriculture.

​Since launching the Oakville Capital Campaign, NVG has raised over $12 million and is currently at approximately 92% of its fundraising goal, with a target of reaching 100% by summer 2026. If you would like to learn more or support the campaign, visit centerfornapagrowers.org.

Thank You 

A sincere thank you to V. Sattui Winery for their generous hospitality, to the UC Berkeley Agro Accelerator team and Chemonics International for the partnership that made this afternoon possible, and to the Ukrainian founders who brought curiosity, openness, and a genuine spirit of learning to everything they engaged with.

We also thank NVG's Grower Services Committee for their time and candor, and to Will Thomas and Eric Ferguson for sharing their work with such clarity and enthusiasm.
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These are the kinds of connections that remind us why the work of building a strong, collaborative agricultural community matters, not just for Napa Valley, but for growers and innovators around the world.