Recognizing the need for prescriptive seed treatment and the rapid adoption of biologicals, Inflexion Point Technologies was formed in 2014 with a mission to help solve multiple complex challenges shared among farmers, seed companies and food companies to ensure the productivity and sustainability of agriculture. Leveraging their experience and know-how as multi-generational farmers and commercial seed company executives, our founders created the first on-planter technology as a multi-use application delivery system – POP-ST.
Located in Iowa’s agriculture corridor, Inflexion Point Technologies is poised to become a fast-growing ag tech company.
Our Team
Steve Smith, CEO and Co-Founder
Steve Smith serves as IPT’s chief executive officer, bringing more than a decade of agriculture industry experience. Currently he directs the company’s overall strategic direction, including investor and partner development. Prior to founding IPT, he was the lead legal negotiator for DuPont Pioneer on numerous multimillion-dollar trait licenses and other agricultural deals. In addition, Steve was part of an executive negotiation and trait strategy team, where he worked closely with Pioneer’s executive leadership team. He started his career as a patent litigator for Weil, Gotshal & Manges, in their Silicon Valley office where his clients included Cisco Systems and Oracle. Steve moved home to Iowa and joined the McKee Voorhees & Sease law firm, where he developed a licensing department and was a member of the firm.
Nick Iwig, President and Co-Founder
Nick Iwig serves as IPT’s President, bringing extensive experience in agricultural production, sales, marketing, and project management coupled with his extensive time working directly with farmers. He leads IPT’s business and product development efforts as well as relationships with seed and equipment companies. Nick has served in leadership, management and sales roles at Ag Innovation, Incotec, DuPont Pioneer and Wyffels Hybrids While at DuPont Pioneer, he lead Strategic Marketing for North America Soybeans where he was involved in longer-term strategies working closely with the Global Product Strategy Team and North American Operational Marketing and Business Units. In each role, Nick has effectively led teams to exceed sale and business goals. He started his career as a Maltster for Anheuser-Busch, where he led a team that developed and deployed an industry-first in malting technology.
Chris Storey, General Counsel
Chris Storey serves as IPT’s General Counsel, bringing more than 20 years of legal expertise. Chris supports IPT's legal, regulatory, financial and administrative services, as well as some seed treatment partners. After graduating from NYU Law, he practiced in New York City at Weil, Gotshal & Manges doing corporate and finance work. He subsequently shifted to Silicon Valley and focused his practice on startups and venture capital financings. During that period, he provided support to start-ups from garage to exit event, including multiple rounds of investment and product launches. He moved to Iowa in 2022 to support IPT, and in addition to his duties there works as an attorney for Midwest-based law firm Fredrikson & Byron.
Stacy Unruh, VP of Engineering
Stacy Unruh has been an agricultural engineer for over 30 years in addition to co-owning a farm with his brother near Hutch, Kansas. After graduating from the Colorado School of Mines with a mechanical engineering degree, he returned to his native Kansas and worked for several different agricultural technology and manufacturing companies before co-founded Seed Research Equipment Solutions in 2001. He led the design for SRES’ innovative research planters and software solutions, eventually becoming the President and sole owner for several years before selling the business in 2021. His intimate knowledge of planters and the needs of farmers ensure that IPT’s products work for the farmer in the field.