Nave Analytics CEO Focuses on Sustainability, Irrigation Efficiency
Jessi (Knutson) Korinek ’11 recalls BVU research fellowship and advice from Dr. James Hampton
Jessi (Knutson) Korinek ’11 remembers receiving advice from Dr. James Hampton, then Professor of Biology at Buena Vista University, as she was finishing a summer research fellowship that involved culturing plant tissue to stem cells then trying to insert bioluminescent genes into the plant genome, essentially trying to make plants glow in the dark.
“Dr. Hampton told me, ‘Jessi, you need to focus on plants, not humans,’” she recalls.
A biology major, Korinek felt pulled toward a career in optometry. But fate had different plans that, frankly, agreed with Dr. Hampton.
“I decided during an eighth-grade career exploration project that I was going to be an optometrist,” Korinek says. “I was going to be an eye doctor and have my own practice. When optometry did not work out, I was lost for a while. Matt and I decided to move back to Nebraska, where he was from, which is when I started working in agriculture, mostly because there was a lot of opportunity in the industry there.”
Korinek is now a Co-founder and CEO of Nave Analytics, an ag-tech startup that developed a patented, scalable technology that uses remote sensing to monitor soil moisture without having to employ additional sensors in each field. The company’s technology provides near real-time insights into soil moisture, crop water use and risks like drought and leaching.
“We give farmers and agronomists more information to be able to make better decisions,” she says. “We want to apply irrigation only when a crop actually needs it.”
While much of what Nave Analytics does occurs in Nebraska, the firm works with dealers and farmers around the US. Nave Analytics also has additional projects in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and Europe. Because Nave uses satellite data, it allows Korinek and her team to work wherever there is irrigation.
“I’m still a minority as a woman in the world of ag startups, but there has been a lot of emphasis on supporting women who are company founders and leaders. I’ve been in this space long enough that I can see a significant change as women continue to emerge.”
-Jessi (Knutson) Korinek ’11
A business management major, Korinek, along with two Co-founders, started Nave Analytics in 2021, which represents the second startup venture for Korinek, albeit her first as a Founder. After working at a Monsanto research farm in Nebraska, Korinek landed at HydroBio, a startup eventually acquired by Climate, a subsidiary of Monsanto. She was only the sixth employee ever hired at HydroBio, so she knows what it’s like being on the ground floor as a business builds.
“I have the experience of Monsanto and Bayer, which are huge corporations,” she says. “And then I’ve earned experience at two startups, both doing irrigation management using remote-sensing data.”
While the corporate side of the ag industry tipped heavily toward men in leadership positions, the entrepreneurial side in agriculture features more women.
“When I was at national conferences years ago in agribusiness, there was never a line for the women’s restroom,” she says with a laugh. “I’m still a minority as a woman in the world of ag startups, but there has been a lot of emphasis on supporting women who are company founders and leaders. I’ve been in this space long enough that I can see a significant change as women continue to emerge.”
Jessi and her husband, Matt Korinek ’10, an entrepreneurship major at BVU, reside on a ranch near North Platte, Neb. They have two sons, Eli and Bowen. The family had resided in Kearney, Neb., for seven years, then relocated this summer as they begin the transition process of taking over the family’s cattle operation.
Being on the ranch helps complete a circle for the Korineks as they raise their sons on a ranch, working with cattle (often on horses) and row crops, all of which depend on water for survival, the very focus of Jessi Korinek’s career for more than a decade. The detail has her thinking back to her affable BVU advisor, Dr. Hampton.
“I’ve been meaning to reach out to Dr. Hampton to tell him he was right: I needed to focus on plants,” she says.