Twelve Victorian startups, aspiring agtech founders and researchers who are taking on some of the biggest issues facing agriculture today have been accepted into the latest round of AgTech Seeds.
AgTech Seeds is a business accelerator program run by Rocket Seeder and program partner Cruxes Innovation, with support from LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria.
This round’s founders and researchers from across Victoria are developing solutions to major issues in agriculture, including offering intelligent and automated alternative energy options, developing storage pods for almond growers to streamline harvest and processing systems, creating a central trading platform for wine grapes, and developing vertical farms to revolutionise the way fresh vegetables are bought and stored.
As part of the AgTech Seeds program, the twelve teams will spend the next three months accelerating their innovations and covering topics including customer discovery, value proposition development and business models, as well as how to form startup teams, refine communications and raise funds.
Harveston founder Andrew Fisher, who is developing a process and certain components that will revolutionise the harvesting and storage of almonds globally, said he was excited to take part in the AgTech Seeds program.
“I was very happy to get into the program because you don’t know what you don’t know,” he said.
“I’m experienced in business, but it’s been a long time since I started a startup and things change. In the program, you get access to the latest knowledge.”
Harveston’s product will allow growers to harvest directly into a storage pod and, using controlled air flows, dry and store their product (in husk almond) until they are able to send it for processing. With developments in harvesting technology, their product would store processed products (in shell almond) for drying and conditioning directly off the harvester.
“Our goal is to help agriculture reduce post-harvest losses,” Fisher said.
“Every year millions and millions of tons of grains, nuts and seeds are lost through a variety of means and the formation of molds and other nasties that degrade the product. In the almond industry, in particular, they can degrade because the almonds get wet before they can get covered.
“The almond industry has very little developed technology in safe storage. Our product will help farmers to harvest at a time that’s most opportune for them, put the product into storage, run the system and know that they won’t get a degradation in quality as long as they keep checking that the system is actually working.”
Devon Soutar and his father Stephen, who established Alternate Energy Innovations, developing intelligent and automated energy solutions that give farmers and irrigators control of their costs, time and resources, will also participate in the AgTech Seeds program.
“Ultimately, we want to create a more sustainable energy grid, and we hope the AgTech Seeds program will fast-track our business model development to the point where we can deliver our product out, to scale,” Soutar said.
This is the second group of innovators and researchers to take part in AgTech Seeds.
Rocket Seeder Managing Director Emma Coath said she was extremely pleased to see the second group of entrepreneurs and researchers start their AgTech Seeds journey.
“These teams are at different stages of development,” Coath said.
“Some are right at the beginning in the concept development stage, while others are operational with customers but are looking for next-stage development and funding.
“It’s crucial that, as leaders in the agriculture and food production industry, we continue to add to the pipeline of startups being supported to develop locally grown solutions to issues in global agriculture affecting Victorian farmers.”
Applications have already opened for AgTech Seeds Round Three.
Growing Farmers: A D2C subscription service delivering seedlings direct to door empowering time and information-poor people to engage in growing food at home
JRX Aerial Services: Aerial spraying, spreading, and crop surveying using RPAs
Harveston: Developing storage pods for almond growers to streamline harvest and processing systems
FARMap: Mapping, paddock, and livestock management app
Alternate Energy Innovations (AEI): Looking to develop intelligent and automated energy solutions that give farmers/irrigators control of their costs, time and resources
Fifth Harvest: Grows food in inner cities areas by deploying tech-driven, hyper-local, commercial-scale vertical farms, helping our food system reach net zero by 2035
Viti-X: A marketplace connecting grape growers with winemakers
Dr Nicola Thomas: Interested in developing her idea that explores how soaking seeds in fertiliser prior to planting increases crop germination rates, yield and profits for farmers
ST Genetics Australia: A unique software that displays in-depth herd data, simplified for ease of use and ultimately identifies potential genetic gain
Urth.io: Soil carbon and biodiversity trading and validation platform
Greens4goodFarms: Seeks to bring aquaponics to our local market using commercially viable strategies to grow nutritious vegetables using the most sustainable agriculture systems available
Plant Factory Group: an indoor Vertical Farming business, which will revolutionise the way consumers buy and store fresh vegetables. They are a technology company that will supply chemical-free, quality “Living Vegetables”
