Agriculture’s one of the most challenging businesses to manage and operate, according to Ian Harley, company co-founder and CEO, and not just because it’s a delicate dance with Mother Nature. “I was out on a farm visit last week, visiting one of our grower-investors,” Harley recalls. “This person is handling multiple entities in different states; he’s dealing with crop insurance; he’s dealing with landlord-tenant arrangements. And he’s obviously dealing with the marketing of his crop.” By integrating accounting, payroll, field operations, and agronomy into a single platform, perpetually accessible from any connected device, Traction aims to consolidate information and provide real-time insights.

In doing so, Traction has grown healthily since its founding in 2020, now counting 15 full-time employees and a few more on contract. Harley envisions doubling that number in the next year or so, and credits the IEDC and Elevate Ventures, as well as from the DeKalb Chamber, with supporting Traction’s evolution to date. It’s been in part through the Chamber’s networking events, he notes, that the Traction team has been able to share ideas and mentorship with other local tech companies—a boon to the company’s success.

“Every sale to a customer is a delight for us,” Ian reports, and the feeling seems mutual. The 4.9-star rating at trusted business software review site Capterra touts the breadth of the software’s capability as well as the team’s responsive support.

Farming itself may not be getting easier, but Harley is optimistic. “As long as you listen to your customers and pay attention to their challenges, and try to develop supportive technology for them, you can build a successful company. And that’s the goal of Traction.”