The 38 innovative agrifood tech startups you need to know about now

As part of the evoke^AG. Startup Program, 38 startups from across the world will showcase their ideas, products and services in front of more than 1,300 delegates at evoke^AG., the Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event.

Held in Melbourne at the Royal Exhibition Building on 18-19 February 2020, the startups will demonstrate how technology and innovation are helping to address global challenges facing our agricultural industry.

In the mix of Startup Program finalists is a team addressing the 7% mortality rate in our beef industry through a multi-sensor ear tag, along with an advanced automated pollination system and a new on-farm test for bovine mastitis which could save our dairy industry millions of dollars each year through a reduction in antibiotic treatment.

AgriFutures Australia, Managing Director, John Harvey said the Startup Program is an incredible opportunity for startups and it’s also beneficial to the farmers and producers at the event.

“There will be an impressive display of the most game-changing technologies and solutions for agriculture. Farmers in the room will be able to speak directly with the innovators in our industry and find out how the technology presented to them will help on-farm.

“Agtech adoption across our industry is not happening at the rate it needs to. Opportunities like this where entrepreneurs are cross-pollinating with producers will help us overcome this challenge,” said Mr Harvey.

Investor Pitch and Startup Alley finalist, Olaf Bork from Mastaplex said he is looking forward to connecting with other entrepreneurs and igniting conversations with investors who are scanning the agtech space.

“It’s great exposure and hopefully it will lead to a range of new networks and opportunities,” said Mr Bork.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has come on board as the official evoke^AG. Startup Alley sponsor, and is excited to see the innovative companies and ideas on show at the event.

“AWS is committed to growing the quantity and quality of startups across Australia, and agriculture provides a fertile ground for this innovation. From smart farming to give us better food production and more efficient use of water, to robotics and drones that are alleviating the physical burden on our farmers, cloud technology is helping these startups not just succeed and grow, but make a real difference to the lives of people on the land and everyone relying on our food system,” said Rachael Neumann, Head of Startups in Australia and New Zealand at Amazon Web Services.

Founder and CEO of Smart Paddock Darren Wolchyn said the evoke^AG. Startup Program is important for addressing global challenges for our agriculture industry.

“Events such as evoke^AG. allows for the exposure for established and upcoming companies to display their solutions to an international crowd. When a new technology is proven to solve a problem for an Australian farmer, it is likely to solve the same problem for farmers in other parts of the world. We are looking to meet with other solution providers in the agriculture industry to explore collaborations or partnerships,” said Mr Wolchyn.

CEO and Co-Founder of Bee Innovative David Lyall echoed these sentiments.

“We are looking forward to meeting key industry figures, with a view of working together. evoke^AG. provides an amazing opportunity to network and gain a strong understanding of the challenges the agricultural sector is working to solve,” said Mr Lyall.

The following finalists and their respective streams are detailed below.

1. Startup Showcase

The Startup Showcase has two streams:

Local Ecosystem – this stream provides a platform for local (Australia, New Zealand and/or the Pacific Islands) startups to showcase their ideas in front of an international audience.
Finalists:

Go Micro, Sivam Krish, Adelaide, Australia

Bee Innovative, David Lyall, Branxton, Australia

Thinkbio, Lisa Anderson, Sydney, Australia

Escavox, Luke Wood, Sydney, Australia

thingc Robotics, Cameron Leeson, Melbourne, Australia

NextFarm, Sammi Stewart, Otago, New Zealand

Zetifi, Dan Winson, Wagga Wagga, Australia

BioScout, Lewis Collins, Sydney, Australia

International Scale-ups  – this stream provides a platform for international startups who are solving global problems facing the Australian agricultural sector and/or expanding their business into Australia.

Finalists:

Nectar, Marc-André Roberge, Montreal, Canada

Farmable, Lars Blikom, Oslo, Norway

Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture, Ori Inbar, Basmat Tivon, Israel

Arugga AI Farming, Iddo Geltner, Yokneam, Israel

2. Startup AlleyStartup Alley returns to evoke^AG. 2020 and 38 businesses will showcase their startups in exhibition style to all evoke^AG. delegates.

Finalists:

Pairtree, Hamish Munro, Orange, Australia

Agerris, Salah Sukkarieh, Sydney, Australia

Sparrows, Andrea Watson, Wellington, New Zealand

AgUnity, David Davies, Surfers Paradise, Australia

Smart Paddock, Darren Wolchyn, Melbourne, Australia

MALDI-ID, Sofie De Meyer, Perth, Australia

FarmLab, Sam Duncan, Armidale, Australia

NEXGEN Plants, Philippe Herve, Brisbane, Australia

Hillridge Technology, Dale Schilling, Sydney, Australia

SWAN Systems, Tim Hyde, Perth, Australia

Hive Haven, Ann and Jeff Ross, Beerburrum, Australia

NuPoint, Lance Nuttall, Blenheim, New Zealand

Has Algae, Tim Gardner, Brisbane, Australia

Ally’s Basket, Ally Tehan, Wheelers Hill, Australia

GoannaAg, Alicia Garden, Goondiwindi, Australia

Athena Irrigation, Fran Doerflinger, Tonsley, Australia

The Aeration Manager, Henk de Graaf, Perth, Australia

LIVEstock Pricing, Rob Kelly, Perth, Australia

AgKonect, Dr Pete Whittle, Toowong, Australia

LYRO Robotics, Juxi Leitner, Brisbane, Australia

3. Investor Pitch

This pitch is a standalone event on the eve of evoke^AG. 2020 aiming to facilitate curated conversations and connections between international and local investors, and Australian and New Zealand companies. Startups will pitch directly to an invitation-only investor audience over dinner.

Finalists:

RapidAim, Nancy Schellhorn, Brisbane, Australia

Safe Ag Systems, Katy Landt, Adelaide, Australia

Farmbot Australia, Andrew Coppin, Sydney, Australia

Mastaplex, Olaf Bork, Dunedin, New Zealand

SwarmFarm Robotics, Andrew Bate, Emerald, Australia

Visit https://evokeag.com/2020-startup-program/ to find out more about the evoke^AG. 2020 Startup Program.

evoke^AG. 2020 will take place in Melbourne at the iconic Royal Exhibition Building on 18-19 February 2020. Tickets are available online, with discounted group, student and primary producer delegate passes also available.

Contribute to the food, farm and future conversations by using our #evokeAG hashtag and follow evoke^AG. on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.