What UC Davis does

UC Davis is a public research university founded in 1905 as the University Farm of UC Berkeley and elevated to general-campus status within the University of California system in 1968. The Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI) is the university's primary research and outreach unit for food and farming sustainability, bringing together more than 70 faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and undergraduate researchers. ASI's core offerings include the 23-acre Student Farm (encompassing Market Garden, Ecological Garden, Fresh Focus food access program, Kids in the Garden, and SCOPE plant breeding), the INFAS national network of 25 institutions across 20 states, and the 100-year Century Experiment at Russell Ranch measuring long-term impacts of agricultural practices.

The institution operates advanced research infrastructure including the $50 million, 34,000-square-foot Resnick Center for Agricultural Innovation featuring robotics, sensors, data science, and AI; the Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester (READ) processing 20 tons of food waste daily; and three filed-pending patent applications covering AI-guided protein design for rare earth element extraction, Fast Joule Heating silica processing, and wheat gluten gene deletion. UC Davis also runs the Aggie Venture Accelerator (providing up to $250,000 in investment via partnership with The March Group) and the Food & Health Angels angel network ($100,000–$5,000,000 per deal), supporting early-stage life science and foodtech startups.

Revenue sources include federal and state research grants (e.g., $15.8 million NIH grant, $3 million ARPA-E award, $2 million Bezos Earth Fund grant, a proposed $12 billion California state bond), tuition, wine sales (which generated $100,000 for student scholarships last year), CSA subscriptions ($31/week non-student, $28/week student), and accelerator and angel investment flows. Distribution channels span direct sales (farmstand, CSA, dining halls), startup accelerator cohorts, the INFAS research network, and an Aggie Square Innovation Hub partnership. The startup ecosystem has supported 300+ companies that collectively raised over $4 billion in the past decade, with corporate partnerships including Nestlé, Mars, OFI, Cornell, Homerun Resources, and the National Grape Research Alliance.

Name

UC Davis

Legal name

University of California, Davis

Website

https://asi.ucdavis.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1905

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute operates as a research and outreach unit within UC Davis, running the 23-acre Student Farm, the INFAS national network, the Century Experiment, and accelerators supporting life science and foodtech startups across California and globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research and Higher Education Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Land-Grant Public Research Universities (EDAHAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Carbon, Sustainability & Farm Certification Support (Agro-Environmental Advisory) (AFACABAL)

Keywords

• Agricultural research services
• Sustainable agriculture education
• Higher education programs
• Food systems sustainability
• Agricultural innovation research

Headquarters

HQ city

Davis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Research Funding: UC Davis receives significant federal and state funding for scientific research. The University of California is pushing for a $12 billion state bond to fund scientific research at California universities. Multiple NIH grants including $15.8M for brain aging study.
2. Tuition and Enrollment: University revenue from student tuition and enrollment fees for educational services
3. Wine Sales Revenue: UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology generates revenue from wine sales, with last year's sales generating $100,000 for student scholarships
4. Startup Accelerator Investments: Aggie Venture Accelerator Fund provides up to $250,000 investment through venture capital partnership with The March Group
5. Angel Investment Network: Food & Health Angels (FH Angels) provides $100,000 to $5 million per deal through pooled special purpose vehicles for foodtech startups

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UC Davis, through the Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI), is a public land-grant research university delivering undergraduate and graduate education, applied agricultural research, and community outreach programs focused on sustainable agriculture and food systems. It operates educational facilities including the 23-acre Student Farm, the 100-year Century Experiment long-term research plot, the INFAS national research network, the Aggie Venture Accelerator for life science startups, and the Food & Health Angels investment network for foodtech ventures.

Product overview

UC Davis operates as a land-grant university with a diverse portfolio of agricultural and life science programs. Its primary offerings include the Student Farm (a 23-acre educational farm for sustainable agriculture), INFAS (a national network for food system sustainability), and The Century Experiment (long-term agricultural research). The institution also operates the Aggie Venture Accelerator and Food & Health Angels for startup support. Educational sub-products include the Market Garden (7-acre organic production), Ecological Garden (teaching garden), Fresh Focus (food access program), Kids in the Garden (youth education), SCOPE (plant breeding education), and Student Harvest Produce CSA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Student Farm: 23-acre community farm for sustainable food systems education and experiential learning
• INFAS (Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability)
• Century Experiment

Products and services

• Student Farm A 23-acre educational farm where UC Davis students learn, practice, and model ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable agriculture and food systems through hands-on experience, internships, courses, and volunteer opportunities.
• INFAS (Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability) A national network connecting food system scholars, educators, and action-researcher activists across 25 institutions in 20 states to build food system resilience, sustainability, and equity through collaborative research, publications, and annual summits.
• The Century Experiment A 100-year long-term agricultural sustainability experiment conducted on 72 one-acre plots at Russell Ranch, measuring long-term impacts of crop rotation, farming systems, and inputs on sustainability.
• Market Garden A seven-acre organic vegetable production plot where students manage planting, maintenance, harvest, and sales of fresh produce through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares.
• Student Harvest Produce CSA A 100-member Community Supported Agriculture subscription program offering weekly baskets of seasonal produce from the Market Garden to students, faculty, and community members.
• Aggie Venture Accelerator A four-month cohort-based accelerator supporting early-stage life science startups with mentorship, structured programming, and up to $250,000 in investment through partnership with The March Group.
• Food & Health Angels (FH Angels) An angel investment network providing $100,000 to $5 million per deal for foodtech startups focused on metabolic health and precision nutrition, backed by food industry veterans including former CSOs at Mars and General Mills.

Quantifiable outcome

• Arrests for any offense dropped 55% while ERPOs were active and 63% in six months after expiration
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor, flagship and core.

• West Virginia University, Penn State, University of Kentucky, Lehigh UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 June 2026Research grant partners alongside UC Davis for $154 million DOE rare earth elements extraction from industrial waste streams including coal waste and acid mine drainage.
• Aggie Square Innovation HubflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 April 2026Innovation hub developed by Wexford Science & Technology and anchored by UC Davis on Sacramento campus, housing research programs including Wang Lab developing gene editing therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
• Nestlé, OFI, MarscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 April 2026Major CPG companies partnering with UC Davis to access startups in metabolic health and precision nutrition space, driving demand for Food & Health Angels innovation pipeline.
• National Grape Research AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2026UC Davis leads Drought-Tolerant Rootstock Development initiative as part of NGRA's 2026 strategic roadmap, one of three major research initiatives focused on long-term vineyard resilience.
• Future Food-Tech ConferenceminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 16 March 2026UC Davis Robert Mondavi Institute included as facility tour destination for Future Food-Tech San Francisco 2026 conference focusing on AI in food, supply chain stability, and biotechnology scaling.
• Cornell UniversityflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2026iTerra collaborating with UC Davis, Cornell, and Rutgers to validate non-chemical weed control using pulsed power technology at scale, with large parcel testing beginning Q2 2026.
• Homerun Resources Inc.flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026Collaboration to produce fused silica glass from silica sand using Fast Joule Heating process at bench scale, demonstrating direct conversion without chemical reagents for photonics and semiconductor applications.
• UC Santa Cruz, NOAA Fisheries, California State ParksminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Collaboration on bird flu monitoring and response at Año Nuevo State Park following first detection of H5N1 in marine mammals in California.
• California Dairy Innovation Center PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 February 2026Partnership with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Fresno State, Chapman University, California Milk Advisory Board, Dairy Management Inc., and USDA's Pacific Coast Coalition for dairy short course training programs.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Purdue University: Purdue's College of Agriculture is a leading land-grant program with strong agricultural engineering, data science, and digital agriculture capabilities overlapping UC Davis's Resnick Center focus; both compete for USDA, NSF, and industry research dollars.
• Iowa State University: Iowa State is a land-grant university with a top-ranked College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; it competes directly with UC Davis for federal ag-research funding, hosts parallel extension programs, and operates comparable research farms and sustainability initiatives.
• Texas A&M University: Texas A&M is one of the largest land-grant universities with extensive agricultural and life sciences research infrastructure, including Texas A&M AgriLife Research; it competes with UC Davis for federal funding, agtech talent, and industry-sponsored research projects.
• North Carolina State University: NC State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is a strong land-grant peer with comparable plant breeding, sustainable agriculture, and food science programs; it competes with UC Davis for federal grants and industry-sponsored research in agtech and life sciences.
• University of Florida (UF/IFAS): The University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a major land-grant agricultural research enterprise operating across multiple Florida stations; it competes with UC Davis for federal grants, faculty, and ag industry partnerships across crops, sustainability, and food systems.
• Cornell University: Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is a fellow land-grant institution with comparable applied agricultural research, plant breeding, and food science programs. Cornell collaborates directly with UC Davis on the Farm Robotics Challenge and shares the land-grant public research university archetype most closely.
• Penn State University: Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences operates a comparable land-grant research and extension model with similar crops, sustainability, and food systems research; Penn State is also a research partner on the ARPA-E rare earth extraction program alongside UC Davis.

Broad incumbents

• University of California, Berkeley: UC Berkeley is the sister UC campus and UC Davis's original parent institution (the University Farm); it competes for UC system funding, faculty, and agtech spinouts while also partnering with UC Davis through the broader UC research and innovation ecosystem.

Regional players

• Wageningen University & Research: Wageningen is the leading European agricultural and food sciences university and a global benchmark for land-grant-style applied agricultural research; while based in the Netherlands, it operates as an international peer and indirect competitor for talent, grants, and ag industry thought leadership.

Emerging players

• MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): MIT's Media Lab, CSAIL, and Department of Biological Engineering increasingly intersect with agtech, foodtech, and sustainable agriculture research; while not a traditional agricultural school, MIT's deep-tech and AI capabilities make it an emerging peer for cross-disciplinary agricultural innovation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/ucdavis

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UC Davis