#Agrifood startups

The self-described ‘spaceship of the cultured meat industry,’ Australia’s Vow has become only the third company in the world to bring a cell-based meat product to market. Its cultured quail has received the green light from Singapore’s food regulator, whetting the appetite of the world’s culinary elite.
Vow Founder and CEO George Peppou explains how the company based in Alexandria, New South Wales, went from founding to first sales in just five years – an unrivalled achievement in a segment where many spaceships crash back to earth.

With more applications than ever before, it’ll be a nail-biting, whip cracking, nerve wracking time when the 2024 evoke^AG. Pitch in the Paddock Competition fires up next month at Beef2024. Get to know the eight visionaries and innovators who will be going head-to-head in Rockhampton, Queensland.

Water. Soil. Nutrients. Climate. All critical components of a successful farming enterprise. But is there any component more fundamental than trust; that fragile commodity which we take for granted when we’ve got it – but find impossible to ignore when it’s lost.
But what exactly is trust, and how can agrifood producers not only build trust – but protect it?

With all the ideas, money and power in the world, how does Australia use its exceptional edge to be a global leader in agricultural production and sustainability? Two leaders of the Australian agritech scene – Justin Webb and Olympia Yarger – share their thoughts in a colourful debate.

She is a renegade founder transforming food waste management one maggot at time. He is a Harvard and Oxford Scholar, and ex-international rower. But are their views on what it will take to accelerate the Australian agrifood tech and innovation landscape as different as their CVs?

Data and dollars are two key ingredients to build a robust agrifood tech and innovation landscape that creates meaningful change in food systems. But how can early-stage startups secure one without the other? Is this a chicken and egg scenario? Early stage agrifood tech venture capitalist and partner at The First Thirty, Antony Yousefian, muses on this dilemma.

In early-2023 CropX Technologies, a global developer of agronomic farm management solutions, had only a small number of remote employees in Australia. Now it has quadrupled in size and established an office location thanks to its recent acquisition of Green Brain, a prominent digital irrigation management solutions provider based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Eitan Dan tells us he’s a Gemini – and that means he loves change. Whether it’s a new career, a move halfway across the world, or a pivot in direction for farming technology. Eitan is the Managing Director of CropX New Zealand and has previously led mega projects in intelligence and for homeland security, as well as serving as a Lieutenant Colonel of Israel Defence Forces. He shares the highs for CropX since they exhibited in Startup Alley at AgriFutures evoke^AG. 2023, his thoughts ahead of appearing in the new Scaleup Station at evoke^AG. 2024, and why the little things matter – like farmers and their big fingers.

Western Australia is fast cementing itself as the launching pad of trailblazing “agripreneurs” - innovators spearheading state of the art technology redefining the agricultural landscape.

Agrifood tech startup and scaleup businesses are being given an opportunity to directly connect with potential investors and corporates, grow their networks, and expand their customer base at Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event, AgriFutures evoke^AG. 2024.

New Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven technology is optimising the supply chain for fresh and perishable products to deliver benefits to Australian growers and wholesalers. A new digital platform, developed by South Australian startup Optomni promises to reduce waste by up to 25 percent, maximising revenue and reducing the impact on the environment.

Pairtree Intelligence co-founder Hamish Munro is fast running out of voice as he responds to an avalanche of interest from the global launch of agtech innovation, Pairtree Pipes, at the evoke^AG. event in Adelaide last month.