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

Use of cookies

The evokeAG. website uses cookies to enhance your experience and optimise site functionality.

Please refer to our Cookie Policy for more information on which cookies we use and how we collect and use your personal information through cookies

Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

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

They don’t need breaks, are small and nimble and come trained and ready to work.

The future of agriculture is autonomous and it’s robotic. Addressing this opportunity is SwarmFarm Robotics who develop high-accuracy fleets of robots and to date, have sold $1.1 million worth of machines and are committed to another $5.5million in orders. They are just one of 38 innovative startups who have been selected to showcase their agricultural technologies at evokeAG. February 2020.

As part of the evokeAG. Startup Program, 38 startups from across the world will showcase their ideas, products and services in front of more than 1,300 delegates at evokeAG., 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 evokeAG. 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 evokeAG. Startup Program is important for addressing global challenges for our agriculture industry.

“Events such as evokeAG. 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. evokeAG. 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 Alley

Startup Alley returns to evokeAG. 2020 and 38 businesses will showcase their startups in exhibition style to all evokeAG. 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 evokeAG. 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 evokeag.com/startups to find out more about the evokeAG. 2020 Startup Program.

evokeAG. 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 evokeAG. on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Media enquires:

Georgie Robertson
Director, The Regional PR Co.
[email protected]
0417 217 869

Read more news
Read more news

Read

Loam launches CarbonBuilder tech to tackle climate change

Between a growing global population and the effects of extreme weather events, food security and climate change are intrinsically linked.
One Aussie startup is putting agriculture at the centre of the fight against climate change, using microbial technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere and boosting soil quality for farmers – at the same time.

Farm
29 Mar 2023
4 min read

Turning data into better decision-making

There’s a wealth of innovative technology at a farmer’s fingertips, and plenty more on the way. But how do farmers make sense of all the data available generated from this technology and choose the right tools to run their businesses? What is holding farmers back from taking up this new technology and what does industry or government need to do to assist?

Farm
29 Mar 2023
5 min 30 second read

Expert panel shows opportunities for SynBio in Australian agrifood sector

Australian diners will soon have the option to tuck into a piece of meat grown from animal cells in a laboratory rather than a paddock. Synthetic biology, or SynBio, is also helping to engineer ingredients for plant-based proteins, design crops for fuel production, and the development of insecticides with the help of bespoke microbes.

Food
28 Mar 2023
5 min 30 second read

South Australia’s agritech hubs promote innovation and interaction

A thriving ecosystem of AgTech hubs featuring start-up advice for entrepreneurs, technology testbeds, and demonstration farms is ensuring South Australia builds a strong reputation as a global leader in AgTech. Off the back of evokeAG. 2023 Dr Ben Baghurst explains why South Australia is the “state of Innovation”.

Future
15 Mar 2023
3 min 30 seconds

Pairtree Pipes launched to streamline data flow

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 evokeAG. event in Adelaide last month.

Farm
14 Mar 2023
3 min read

Listen

Expert panel shows opportunities for SynBio in Australian agrifood sector

Australian diners will soon have the option to tuck into a piece of meat grown from animal cells in a laboratory rather than a paddock. Synthetic biology, or SynBio, is also helping to engineer ingredients for plant-based proteins, design crops for fuel production, and the development of insecticides with the help of bespoke microbes.

Food
28 Mar 2023
5 min 30 second read

Career agility with Dr Penny Schultz

In this evokeAG x Humans of Agriculture collaboration podcast, with Oli Le Lievre, Oli chats with Dr Penny Schulz, who never thought she'd end up working in ag. Now the owner of a beef and sheep farm in Field, in the Coorong region of South Australia, listen to Penny talk about the trajectory of her career, and how her home state is becoming the epicentre of agritech innovation.

Research
18 Feb 2023
34 mins

Collaboration and connection to tackle challenging on-farm connectivity

This week we bring you an episode with Dan Winson, Co-Founder and CEO of dynamic agritech company Zetifi. Dan and Zetifi have been part of the evokeAG story since the beginning, and have made the most of the opportunities and connections established through the evokeAG. community.

Tech
8 Feb 2023
21 min listen