Three (different) F’s to take Australian agritech startups to the next level

Entrepreneurs might be familiar with the 3F’s of early-stage fundraising – family, friends and ‘fools or fans’ who believe in the vision.

Australian startups raised $187 million in 2023 across 29 deals*, and a new Guide to investing in Australian agritech compiled by AgriFutrures Australia grow^AG. outlines opportunities to boost that figure.

Leading agritech investors outline 3 F’s that could help both founders and funders alike.

RELATED: Australian agritech investment funding up 141% as sustainability remains the focus 

Facilitate partnerships that bring more than money to agritech

Mark Gustowski has worked for more than 20 years in innovative ecosystems and is Co-Founder of Mandalay Venture Partners, which invests in early stage agrifood technology.

“I think the best way to work with agritech is to actually sit and manage closely with the companies you invest in, supporting critical decision making to reduce risk and leverage knowledge,” he said.

“Our absolute expectation is being very hands on with the companies we invest in, taking board roles or to act (via our investments) as an extension to the executive team in the early stages, bringing our network globally to the table.”

Canadian venture capital firm Emmertech has investors from the agriculture industry, everything from fertiliser companies to grain handlers, distributers and even farmers.

Emmertech, Rob Russell explains that alongside equity, his fund adds value to founders by facilitating connections that can accelerate product development.

“For example, if you’re trying to develop a product and you need commercial partnerships or field trials, we facilitated that many times – it’s part of our value proposition and in excess of being just equity capital,” he said.

Flexible funding models to suit agritech’s needs

Builders Vision, an organization founded by American billionaire Lukas Walton, is a team of investors and philanthropists working to accelerate sustainable transitions across food & agriculture, energy, and oceans. Its Director of Investments, Sara Balawajder believes in a flexible and creative approach to agtech investment.

Her portfolio includes early-stage direct equity, creative debt financing, and anchoring fund managers to transition to a sustainable food system.

“We find that we can be very catalytic by acting first, doing the due diligence, letting other people follow our expertise in this space, and then really understanding the needs of our partners working with them to provide a capital source that works for their business model.”

She said milestone financing can also be an effective tool for investment.

Sara Balawajder, in action at evoke^AG. 2025

“We’ve done deals where we’ve agreed to a dollar amount up-front and set milestones with our founders. Once they hit those milestones, it unlocks X dollars, so they’re guaranteed the money as long as they meet the targets.”

Sara also argues that the average fund life of 10 years isn’t enough time for agritech.

“There’s one growing season a year, and you’re just not going to get enough time to prove scalability and product market fit. I think that most agritech VCs should actually be 12 to 15 years.”

As a partner at Main Sequence, a venture capital firm founded by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, Phil Morle invests in deep tech founders with a strong connection to research.

“At Main Sequence we now target about 50 per cent of company’s capital coming from non-dilutive sources and we find from an investor perspective that it de-risks things and softens the blow,” he said.

RELATED: AgFunder’s 2024 Global AgrifoodTech Investment Report 

New investment models, such as R&D organisations partnering with VC firms are providing new opportunities to take agtech innovation to market more quickly.

Grant programs by State Governments and Universities, along with R&D tax credits are also providing capital for early-stage founders.

But Mark would like to see more corporate engagement, along with investment from the superannuation sector.

“One of the things that is constantly talked about, and no one’s really been able to crack, is how do we get our really large super funds, which hold enormous amounts of capital, to have slightly larger allocations towards the agritech category,” Mark said.

Financial literacy for agritech founders

Promoting greater financial literacy amongst founders is what Rob thinks is the largest opportunity to take agritech to the next level.

“Not every company is a good fit for venture capital, not every company is right for debt,” Rob said.

“What are the structures, processes and frameworks that founders have at their disposal, so they don’t get sucked down the path of selling off too much equity or going down development pathways that aren’t going to be fruitful.”

Sara agrees that founders need to have ‘enough skin in the game’ and that their ownership levels make sense.

“The goal is to work with founders to determine reasonable valuations, ensuring alignment and that pricing is fair and in line with market standards. This helps them unlock capital in future rounds and meet revenue-based milestones.”

RELATED: VC-as-a-Service offers new avenues to commercialise agritech 

Phil Morle, Rob Russell, Mark Gustowski and Sara Balawajder, along with Dr. Nancy Schellhorn were part of a panel discussion, Australian agritech’s moment: Lead or lose the future at evoke^AG. 2025. Watch the recording here.

Sign up to hear more about the role of agrifood tech innovation in shaping a sustainable future and receive updates on evoke^AG. 2026.