InnerPlant CEO Shely Aronov Named to 2026 Inc. Female Founders 500 List

InnerPlant, the seed technology company engineering crops that communicate their needs, today announced that CEO and co-founder Shely Aronov has been named for the second year in a row to the Inc. Female Founders 500 list. The annual list honors the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States, whose bold ideas, resilience, and execution are shaping the future of their industries.

“Being honored by Inc for all the company has achieved over the last year, not just once, but two times, is incredible,” said Aronov. “We have some exciting plans in the pipeline for 2026 and beyond, and it’s thanks to our dedicated team, our retailers, and of course, our customers – farmers.”

InnerPlant engineers soybeans to emit optical signals when infected by pathogens, helping farmers make precise fungicide decisions, protect their yields, and ultimately save costs in a time when every bushel counts.

Each year, Inc. editors evaluate applications through a rigorous, multi-round selection process. Founders are assessed on both quantitative performance metrics, including revenue growth, funding, sales, and audience size, as well as qualitative factors such as innovation, social impact, and brand momentum. The final list represents entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable progress over the past year. Previous honorees have included such game-changing leaders as Billie Jean King, Sallie Krawcheck, Serena Williams, and Emma Grede — all of whom have transformed their industries and broken barriers along the way.

Honoree selection is also honed through the evaluation of the program’s advisory board, which includes Patty Arvielo, co-founder and CEO of New American Funding; Tiffany Dufu, president of the Tory Burch Foundation; Joy Mangano, co-founder and CEO of CleanBoss; Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder and CEO of GORGIE; Sheila Lirio Marcelo, co-founder and CEO of Ohai.ai and founder of Care.com; and Melissa Mash, co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover.

The 2026 Female Founders honorees collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in 2025 revenue and $12.2 billion in funding to date, underscoring the economic impact of women-led businesses across sectors

Coming off a momentous year for the company, Shely drove the company’s – and the world’s – first real-time detection of a fungal infection in a commercial soybean field via its CropVoice™ disease alert network and InnerSoy™ sensors. The company also recently announced new commercial partnerships with major agronomic providers from the CropLife 100 list.

InnerPlant has recently been recognized with awards such as Inc.’s 2025 Best in Business list and a 2026 BIG Innovation Awards’ Product Innovation Winner, alongside its previous recognition by Bloomberg and TIME Magazine.

InnerPlant, under Aronov’s leadership, is poised to scale tenfold across the Midwest in 2026.

“Each year, we are increasingly amazed by the extraordinary leaders on our Inc. Female Founders 500 list,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “The honorees on this year’s list include innovators in AI, beauty and wellness trendsetters winning devoted fans, and nonprofit leaders making a real impact in their communities. Together, they’re showing all of us what trailblazing female leadership looks like.”

To see the complete list of honorees, please visit: https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.

About Inc.
Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

About InnerPlant
InnerPlant is a seed technology company developing novel traits that harness plant physiology and unlock actionable data at scale. The Company’s technology enables the earliest detection of pathogens and other stresses in key crops to make farming more efficient, sustainable, and resilient. By tapping into plants’ immune systems, InnerPlant engineers crops that emit optical signals detectable from as far away as space when under attack by pathogens, pests, or other stressors. InnerPlant’s first commercial product, CropVoice, was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. The company is backed by leading industry and venture partners, including John Deere, Systemiq Capital, and an alliance of North American farmers via Coutts Agro. For more information, visit innerplant.com

Media Contact:
John Heid Crackle PR 404-421-8857 innerplant@cracklepr.com

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