As funding in Australian agrifood tech innovation grows, so do the alternatives for startups. The most recent is the AgriFutures AgXelerate Program, which is inviting a various slate of innovators to use – and also you is perhaps one among them.
The AgriFutures AgXelerate Program has opened up functions for agrifood tech entrepreneurs and startups interested by tackling main business challenges, from environmental sustainability to meals manufacturing.
This system will give chosen firms the prospect to take part in a sequence of in-person farm area journeys and workshops, in addition to a capability constructing program tailor-made to every explicit firm’s particular business and wishes.
As its title suggests, AgriFutures AgXelerate is all about accelerating tech-based options for key agricultural precedence areas in Australia and globally.
“We wished to see if we are able to increase the bar in our personal [AgriFutures Levied & Emerging] industries,” says Dallas Pearce, supervisor of AgriFutures Australia’s evokeAG. slate of packages and occasions. “A number of the time, these applied sciences are being developed on reflection. Whereas this time, we’re figuring out these issues, and now we’re searching for the options for these challenges.
“There’s lots of applied sciences which were constructed for different sectors, however that golden alternative is how can we have a look at different industries and switch these options into agriculture.”
What’s the AgriFutures AgXelerate Program?
This system has developed from the AgriFutures evokeAG Startup Community, which ran efficiently for 2 years. Rising from that program, AgriFutures AgXelerate is designed to establish how cutting-edge applied sciences could be tailor-made to be used throughout particular agricultural industries (extra on that within the subsequent part).
Functions are open to early-stage Australian and worldwide agrifood tech entrepreneurs and innovators seeking to increase their networks and capabilities, says Dallas. “This program gives the chance to essentially get on the bottom with producers and immerse your self within the agrifood tech sector,” Dallas provides.
There are three elements to this system:
• Half one begins in August 2023 with a workshop program curated to every startup, adopted by the farm area journeys to fulfill producers.
• Half two is an internet capacity-building program that features classes with business specialists and mentors to information agrifood startups in areas like funding, enterprise fashions and adoption.
• Half three will take individuals on extra area journeys and workshops, capped off with a “golden ticket” to the agritech occasion of the yr, evokeAG 2024, in Perth on February 20 to 21, 2024, to showcase their innovation to potential clients and traders within the occasion’s Startup Alley. This yr’s occasion attracted a file 1600 individuals together with researchers, founders, traders, authorities and corporates.
There will likely be two cohorts, focusing on startups at completely different phases of technological readiness, with tailor-made assist and steerage to every group. When this system is accomplished, individuals will likely be given the prospect to submit proposals for funding alternatives of as much as $25,000. This will likely be used for on-farm trials to assist startups validate and refine their improvements.
What points will the AgriFutures AgXelerate program handle?
As a part of the eligibility for this system, AgriFutures invitations startups with an curiosity of their precedence areas, also referred to as ‘levied and rising industries’, together with:
• Hen meat
• Export fodder
• Ginger
• Honey bee and pollination
• Pasture seeds
• Marron
• Rice
• Thoroughbred Horses
• Kangaroo
• Buffalo
• Goat Fibre
• Deer
• Tea Tree Oil
• Industrial Hemp
• Bugs
• Seaweed
• Sesame
• Marron
For those who’re taking a look at that listing pondering “I’m not a tea tree oil skilled” or “My startup has nothing to do with seaweed”, assume once more.
“There’s a wealth and depth of data in different industries that with tailoring to producers wants can doubtlessly present options inside these industries,” Dallas says.
Dallas cites an instance from a earlier program the place a mining startup pivoted to options for water monitoring and farm liquids, from fertiliser tanks to gas tanks to irrigation. That startup is Gasbot is in mining world, Agbot within the farming world.
“We’re solely searching for know-how that can profit our levied and rising industries,” Dallas emphasises. “However in saying that I might like to see what we’ve seen from Gasbot and taking a look at in different sectors, whether or not it’s mining or whether or not it’s MedTech or FinTech and the way that may be tailor-made to go well with the agricultural sector.”
Whereas there are distinctive challenges inside every business, there are common points most face round environmental sustainability, animal welfare, productiveness, biosecurity and useful resource use effectivity. Options for these issues might be proper beneath our noses, proper now.
Dallas concludes: “We used to speak about that the what’s the way forward for know-how appear to be or what’s the way forward for farming appear to be. However the future is now, and that is the best time to be an agrifood tech startup in Australia.
“It’s a good time to be taking a look at transferring your know-how and innovation into different industries. We’ve obtained such a depth of assist for agrifood tech startups right here in Australia now and extra so than we’ve ever had.”
Functions shut at 5pm AEST on Monday, 24 July 2023. Apply now at agricutures.com.au/agxelerate.
This text is dropped at you by Startup Day by day in partnership with AgriFutures.
Picture: Equipped