Bringing AgriFood Tech back to _SOUTHSTART with Pollinate.
Back in 2019 and 2021, I partnered with my friends at _SOUTHSTART to have a conversation about building an AgriFood tech ecosystem in Australia, leveraging Southstart as the platform for some incredible founders to share their vision.
Over these two events we heard from founders like George Peppou from Vow, Olympia Yarger of GOTERRA, Andrew Bate of SwarmFarm Robotics, Emma Weston of AgriDigital, Michael Fox of Fable Food Co, Justin Webb of AgriWebb and Guy Hudson of Loam. Each of whom were just launching their startups, but have since gone on to build incredible global AgriFood tech companies and become leaders in our ecosystem.
In hindsight, I wish I wrote each of them an investment cheque as they stepped off the stage!
Sarah Nolet (Tenacious Ventures), Olympia Yarger (GoTerra) Emma Weston (AgriDigital) Justin Webb (AgriWebb) at Southstart in 2021.
A lot has evolved since 2021, so it's time to have another conversation about AgriFood tech in Australia.
To make this happen, the South Australian AgriTech Meetup Group has partnered with Southstart to bring you Pollinate, on March 6th at Lloyd Brothers Winery.
Pollinate will bring some of these founders back to South Australia including Olympia Yarger, George Peppou and Emma Weston to share how they have built their companies, navigated challenges and grown as entrepreneurs over the past few years, giving inspiration and perspective to aspiring founders.
Building on these founders' insights, we'll facilitate a broader discussion about developing a national strategy for AgriFood tech in Australia. In partnership with AusAgritech, this session will bring together founders and ecosystem stakeholders to review findings from the recent Australian AgriTech Association sector survey and identify drivers for positive change.
During a delicious lunch prepared by Kane Pollard of Topiary, we'll explore the intersection of agriculture and energy, focusing on farm electrification. This session features presentations from Karin Stark, founder of the Renewables in Agriculture conference, and Jordy Kitschke, Founder of Flux , who will share how they are developing solar-powered weed control for broad acre farming.
George Peppou from Vow and Michael Fox from Fable Foods in conversation with Michael Macolino
Our final conversation will explore the transformative potential of bio-manufacturing, to produce inputs for agriculture and food itself. This conversation will be led by Main Sequence Partner Phil Morle , who will be joined by Vow Founder George Peppou and Cauldron Ferm Chief of Staff Nicolas Castellazzi to explore how we commercialise, fund and scale a vibrant bio-manufacturing industry in Australia.
Our day will conclude in traditional Southstart style at nearby Chalk Hill Winery to enjoy music, food and wine with incredible humans before heading back on the bus to Adelaide city.
Pollinate is limited to 80 tickets and is being curated by Myself, Oli Madgett and Julia Miller together with the team at Southstart as an opportunity to have a real and unscripted conversation about growing a scalable and sustainable AgriFood tech ecosystem in Australia.
The group of amazing AgriFood tech humans who joined me in South Australia for Southstart in 2021
Each of the founders joining us in South Australia for Pollinate have an incredible story to tell and a vision for the future. I invite you and other AgriFood tech leaders to be part of this important discussion at Southstart Pollinate.
Further details and tickets are available on this link.
Southstart Pollinate is made possible thanks to the generous support of AgriFutures Australia the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the awesome team of humans at _SOUTHSTART
