Bazooka, a non-thermal plasma air disinfection system developed by KiposTech, creates “clean air bubbles” in an animal’s breathing zone. According to co-founder Raj Singh, this knocks down airborne pathogens, dust and ammonia exactly where animals inhale.
“Air quality is a profitability lever,” says co-founder Hema Ravindran. “Cleaner air creates healthier pigs, steadier gains and fewer surprises.”
KiposTech, a startup with operations in Pennsylvania and Delaware, is one of four finalists in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge competing at the National Farm Bureau Convention on Jan. 11, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. The grand prize winner will receive $100,000 to help fund their business endeavors. The runner-up will win $25,000.
They recently received a $300,000 EDGE 2.0 Grant from Delaware Governor Matt Meyer and the Delaware Division of Small Business on Nov. 12.
The company is currently running pilot projects in poultry farms across Pennsylvania and with the University of Delaware. Their goal is to show that the same air-cleaning benefits apply to swine production as well, and they plan to begin those trials within the next year. By the end of 2026, they aim to make this system available for producers across poultry and swine.
“Across all livestock sectors, one problem stood out: air inside barns is the biggest blind spot in biosecurity,” Ravindran says.
Paired with KiposEye, their AI-driven air-quality monitoring platform, producers get real-time alerts and barn-level visibility into air health, stress events and ventilation performance, Singh explains.
“This isn’t a filter or a fan component,” Singh points out. “It’s active air biosecurity. Bazooka doesn’t just measure air. It fixes it. It actively cleans the pigs’ breathing zone, not the ceiling, not ducts, not a corner sensor, right where disease spreads.”
Pork producers battle constant pressure from porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, influenza, Mycoplasma, dust load and ammonia spikes, Ravindran adds.
“These problems hit pigs hard and cut into performance and profits,” she says. “Bazooka cleans the air pigs actually breathe, creating safer ‘clean air bubbles’ around each group.”
Ravindran says producers benefit from less pathogen movement through barns, stronger respiratory health, better feed intake and growth curves, fewer pulls and treatment days, a healthier environment for employees and more predictable close-outs.
Singh and Ravindran say it’s an honor to be chosen as a finalist in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge.
“We built KiposTech because producers deserve better tools to protect their herds,” she says. “Being named a finalist confirms that the industry sees the same need and is ready for new solutions in air biosecurity. This recognition energizes us to keep pushing forward and working closely with producers to make barns healthier, safer and more resilient.”
This is the 12th year of the Ag Innovation Challenge, which was the first national business competition focused exclusively on rural entrepreneurs launching agriculture- and food-related businesses. Farm Bureau is offering $145,000 in start-up funds throughout the course of the competition.
