Nitricity is an agtech startup that produces nitrogen fertilizer using only air, water, and renewable electricity. The company's proprietary technology creates nitric acid and calcium nitrate fertilizers on-site at farms, eliminating reliance on fossil fuels and costly transportation. Nitricity has proven its process through multiple commercial-scale farming pilots and aims to have its climate-smart fertilizers commercially available within 2 years, initially focusing on specialty crops in the Western U.S.

Co-founders Nicolas Pinkowski (CEO) and Dr. Joshua McEnaney (CTO) started Nitricity in 2018 as graduate students at Stanford University. The company has raised $27 million to date, including a recent $20 million Series A led by Khosla Ventures and Fine Structure Ventures. Nitricity is using the funds to scale up from prototypes to larger pilot systems capable of producing tonnage volumes of fertilizer. Early adopters include Chipotle, which invested in late 2023, and ingredients company Olam Food Ingredients, which is conducting field trials.

Nitricity offers employees the opportunity to transform the $133 billion fertilizer industry and help farmers feed the world more sustainably. The company's mission-driven culture and backing from top agtech investors provide significant growth opportunities. However, Nitricity will need to achieve low-cost production at scale and expand beyond its initial regional focus—a serious challenge—to fully realize its potential. The company also faces risks from the highly regulated nature of the fertilizer industry and potential competition from established players.