Investment

With more than 40 years in the venture capital game, Andy Ziolkowski – the Managing Director of US-based food and agriculture-focused venture capital firm, Cultivian Sandbox and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Cultivian Ventures – knows a good investment when he sees one.

The individual resumes, portfolios and corporate triumphs of Kylie Frazer and Rachael Neumann are enough to make anyone feel dually inadequate and inspired – but together, they’re the team captains of Flying Fox Ventures, and everyone wants to be picked on their side. Meeting at an industry dinner just over three years ago, both agree it was professional love at first sight, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Australian aquaculture and biotech company, Pacific Biotechnologies, has developed a better way to farm prawns. Its Pacific Reef Fisheries operation earned Australia’s first Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification for responsible and sustainable prawn farming. Now, the opportunity exists for a new owner to expand this market-leading business and put locally grown sustainable prawns on more Australian dinner plates.

AgriFutures Australia Managing Director, John Harvey shares his vision for Australian agrifood tech innovation and why global collaboration is needed to continue driving commercialisation of homegrown R&D and global partnerships. Here he speaks with Australian agritech entrepreneur and BDO AgTech Lead, Michael Macolino, about evoke^AG. and new platform – grow^AG. to help accelerate the innovation pathway.

Sydney-based cultured proteins startup, Vow is pioneering a new food category with global production plans in sight – and COVID-19 is helping to accelerate biotech innovation.

The Startup Network is set to ensure Australian founders remain focused on farmers’ needs as they ride the digital driven agritech boom.