Six agrifood startups selected for AgriFutures evokeAG. 2022 Startup Network
From long-range hydrogen-fuelled drones to novel food waste solutions, the AgriFutures evokeAG. 2022 Startup Network cohort has been named – and boasts six cutting-edge agrifood startups ready to drive impact across the supply chain.
Delivered in collaboration with AgriStart, the AgriFutures evokeAG. Startup Network Program is designed to build the capability of Australian startups and facilitate the adoption of new technologies on farm.
AgriStart’s Managing Director, Dr Natasha Teakle said it was exciting to receive such a diverse range of applications from innovative Australian businesses for the program.
The evokeAG. 2022 Startup Network participants include:
Natasha said the evokeAG. 2022 Startup Network cohort will benefit from more face-to-face contact than ever before. The value-packed program will begin in Sydney with a kick-off bootcamp, an investor pitch dinner, and innovation tours to Cicada Innovations, University of Sydney Advanced Manufacturing lab and Stone and Chalk, and end with pitch and technology adoption workshops in regional NSW.
“While last year’s program was mostly online due to the pandemic, all of the 2021 winners have gone on to grow their businesses through investment, customer growth and improved adoption,” she explained.
Each of the startups will receive mentorship from industry experts and be matched with grower mentors, coupled with a range of online masterclasses working on topics such as product market fit, demonstrating value to producers and reviewing business models.
The program’s standout feature, it is entirely curated based on the founders’ needs, with bespoke advisory and curated pitching opportunities matched to each of their goals and target audience.
Perth-based Thomas Tadrowski, Founder of Hytern, which is leading a strategic tripartite alliance, is looking forward to developing his company’s prototype hydrogen fuel-cell long distance drone, already tested in Europe, to enable flights of 250km with a 10kg payload.
“Autonomous operation of long-distance drones has to be the goal for the future, for applications like delivering of postal and medical services to remote mining, rural and indigenous communities and monitoring Australia’s coastline for biosecurity and surf lifesaving,” said Thomas.
“With its remote and communications challenges, Australia is absolutely the right place to do this. We’ve also done some work with precision agriculture and the response was a resounding ‘yes’. The evokeAG. Startup Network will enable us to find the right people to go to the next level and give us connectivity to all sorts of other skills and potential investors.”
Philip Livingston, Brisbane-based Founder of the GasBot remote monitoring system, said the Queensland-designed tech has received a great response in Europe and is getting good traction in Latin America, assisted by its initial success in monitoring supply levels in LPG assets.
“It’s really exciting to be selected for the evokeAG. Startup Network, especially since all our tech is designed and manufactured in Queensland, so the jobs stay here,” said Philip.
From its launch in 2019, Gasbot pitched to oil and gas firms targeting LPG asset to cloud monitoring and won Origin LPG as a founding investor. As of April 2022, Gasbot is monitoring in excess of 20,000 assets in twelve countries, and has been the founding tech for the development of the Agbot unit.
“We launched Agbot, which measures on-farm liquids, after multiple successful field trials and 360-degree meetings with growers, cattle producers and tech integrators, and the price is significantly lower than any current asset to cloud product currently in the market,” said Philip.
“We provide the connective tissue that allows processes to be automated, which is particularly important in this time of COVID-19 when employers can’t afford to be spending hours with people doing manual labour like bore runs.”
With such promising solutions in the pipeline, Natasha concluded, “Our ultimate goal is to encourage greater adoption of novel agritech that will support a thriving agriculture and food industry in Australia.”
Learn more about the AgriFutures evokeAG. 2022 Startup Network cohort here. If you’re an early-adopter grower interested in participating in the evokeAG. Startup Network as a grower mentor, please express your interest here.
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