Planting innovative ideas for a brighter farming future

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Farmers could soon be monitoring their cattle using GPS trackers, checking electric fences via their mobile phone and increasing crop production with a special plastic mulch. These are just some of the global innovative ideas to be presented in the Pitch Tent at evokeAG, the inaugural international agrifood technology event to be held in Melbourne on 19-20 February 2019.

Hosted by AgriFutures Australia, the aim is of the event is to highlight, discuss and debate exciting developments surrounding the future of our food and how it will be produced.

An expert panel of judges selected 14 finalists for evokeAG Pitch Tent. The successful startups will have the opportunity to project their ideas onto a global path to success whilst simultaneously tackling problems faced by primary producers within farming.

Among the final entrepreneurs is a grasshopper farmer from Israel, an aeronautical engineer specialising in drones from Sydney and a New Zealand-based wine maturation startup. Each finalist will receive mentorship to further develop their concepts and finesse their final pitch prior to evokeAG.

Agritech New Zealand, Executive Director, Peter Wren-Hilton said the calibre of Pitch Tent applicants far exceeded expectations in terms of the incredible innovation exemplified by startups from around the world.

“The finalists were ultimately selected for their cutting-edge technologies, dynamic business models and bold efforts in creating a sustainable agrifood tech system. It was a privilege to be part of the judging process and I look forward to seeing these entrepreneurs launch and scale their ideas in order to create real and meaningful solutions for the planet,” said Mr Wren-Hilton.

The primary producer and agrifood startup finalists will soon have the opportunity to pitch their ideas on stage at evokeAG to an international audience including investors, corporate decision-makers and industry influencers. Each idea will be assessed by an expert panel of judges for a chance to share in a total prize pool of $35,000 plus in-kind prizes.

The following finalists and their respective streams are detailed below.

Investment Ready: This stream is our showcase pitch. Participants will be high quality and looking to scale globally. Finalists in this stream are in market and post seed funding stage and are vying for the $20,000 prize plus in-kind prizes:

  • Dr Anastasia Volkova | FluroSat | Sydney | NSW
  • Mr Dror Tamir | Hargol Food Tech | Israel
  • Dr Matthew Jones | Certus Bio | Lincoln | New Zealand
  • Mr Jonathan Boswell | Wine Grenade | Avondale | New Zealand
  • Mr Robert Trenchard | Hydrox Technologies | Sumner Park | QLD

Seed Funding: This stream is for those entrepreneurs seeking seed funding/partnership to commercialise their idea. The winner in this stream will take home $10,000 plus in-kind prizes:

  • Mr Vlatko Materic | Hot Lime Labs | Gracefield | New Zealand
  • Mr Darren Wolchyn | Smart Paddock | Sandringham | VIC
  • Mr Sam Duncan | Farm Lab | Armidale | NSW
  • Ms Lisa McFadyen | Secure Impact | Condobolin | NSW
  • Mr Scott Glover | Agri Ace | Merriwa | NSW

Producer Problem: This stream is for primary producers to pitch their industry problem to the audience and judges. These finalists are competing for $5,000 plus in-kind prizes:

  • Mr Danny Le Feuvre | Australian Bee Services | Androssan | SA
  • Mrs Anneleise Dolphin | NG AM Dolphin | Mt Cooper | SA
  • Mrs Sally Strelitz | P & S Strelitz | Armidale | NSW
  • Ms Natalie Engel | Sunlight Grazing | Rolleston | QLD

AgriFutures Australia, Managing Director, John Harvey said he had been impressed by the diversity of applicants keen to take part in the event.

“Pitch Tent is a valuable platform for startups to present their vision and strategy in front of an international audience and we hope to fast-track the most impressive and dynamic ideas onto a global market. Just as important are those who have identified producer problems as together we could come up with a solution and transform farming,’’ said Mr Harvey.

evokeAG will take place in Melbourne at the iconic Royal Exhibition Building on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 February 2019.

For full details of the evokeAG 2019 program including key national and international speakers and to purchase tickets online, please head to www.evokeag.com

For more information regarding the Pitch Tent finalists please visit: https://evokeag.com/pitchtent/

Follow us: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @evokeAG and Instagram @evoke_ag #evokeAG

evokeAG 2019 is proud to partner with the following organisations:
Platinum: Elders
Gold: Westpac and Visy
Silver: Yamaha
Strategic: Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and Agriculture Victoria.

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