AgroSpine.AI: Building the Future of Farm Intelligence from the University of Memphis

AgroSpine.AI was born from a simple but powerful belief: farmers are the cornerstone of the nation, and they deserve smarter, science-backed tools to improve productivity, sustainability, and resilience.

Founded at the University of Memphis, AgroSpine.AI is an early-stage Agtech venture focused on improving animal nutrition and farm outcomes by integrating biological innovation with AI-driven, data-informed farm intelligence tools. The mission is to bridge the gap between applied biological research and real-world farming, turning complex science into practical, scalable solutions that work at the farm level.

Saran Chandrasekharan Unnithan’s, a current UofM graduate student, own journey into building AgroSpine.AI is intentionally interdisciplinary. With an undergraduate background in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s in Engineering Management, he has spent years working across operations, analytics, and systems thinking. The tipping point came, when he became increasingly drawn to biology reading over 50 research articles (leveraging AI) just on microbes and their cross-domain interactions on animal gut health, not as an isolated science, but as a system that, when combined with technology and AI, can unlock transformative outcomes for agriculture. AgroSpine.AI represents that intersection: biology, engineering, and intelligent systems working together for farmers.

A key part of shaping this vision has been the guidance and support of Whitney Hardy, Director of the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship. Her mentorship has helped refine AgroSpine.AI from an early concept into a structured venture, challenging assumptions, sharpening the value proposition, and grounding the idea in real-world impact and commercialization thinking. Through the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship, he has been encouraged to build this venture intentionally from within the University of Memphis ecosystem, leveraging its research culture, entrepreneurial resources, and collaborative spirit.

As AgroSpine.AI moves into its next phase, he is actively looking for a co-founder, particularly someone with interests or experience in applied biology, microbiology, or biochemistry, who wants to take ownership of biological product development - from research and validation to field deployment. This is not an advisory role, but an opportunity to help build something meaningful from the ground up, rooted in science and driven by impact.

AgroSpine.ai is more than a startup idea: it’s a commitment to building responsible innovation for agriculture, starting right here at the University of Memphis, and growing outward to serve farmers at scale.

Interested in learning more about AgroSpine.ai? Email Saran Chandrasekharan Unnithan at schndrsk@memphis.edu.