“Everybody wants to be on their radar screen,” said Donn Rubin, president and CEO of BioSTL, a local nonprofit that helps startup companies focused on agriculture and other areas of science and technology.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, in Creve Coeur, said the move is great news, and called the new organization “complementary” to its work.

Rubin said Gates Ag One is intended to be a global network, looking for partnerships with universities and stakeholders everywhere. He hoped such a reach would open doors for the area, adding the caveat that he does not know the details about what the organization’s ultimate footprint is expected to look like.

Jim Carrington, president of the Danforth Center, said Gates is looking to accelerate research and move applications from the lab to the field more quickly.

“Gates Ag One addresses a significant gap, and we look forward to working with them in the future,” Carrington said in a statement to the Post-Dispatch.