Insights from Evoke Ag 2020

Following the success of the inaugural AgriFutures Evoke Ag in 2019, this year's event was attended with much anticipation by 1300 delegates from 22 countries. Solidifying its position as Asia Pacific’s largest Agrifood Tech event. 

Key Insights:

• AgTech startups have matured their business models. 

• Plant based protein and Regenerative Farming are entering the AgTech discussion.

• Farmers call bulls**t on AgTech buzzwords. 

• Evoke Ag is heading to Perth in 2021!

Startup Alley

Startups were literally given centre stage this year, with Plenary sessions providing a dedicated opportunity for local and international startups to pitch in-front of larger audiences, with their pitch decks broadcast on the biggest LCD screen I’ve ever seen!!.

The 38 AgTech startups were also given prime position in the center of Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, creating a hive of activity and networking across the two days. 

It was a competitive process for startups to be selected to participate in Evoke Ag, with 5 of the best chosen to pitch at the Investor Night on the eve of the event. I was fortunate to attend the evening and apart from an excellent night of networking, I came away with two key insights; 

• The business models and go to market strategies of AgTech startups have significantly matured over the past 12 months. The Startups, including Safe Ag Systems, Swarm Farm Robotics and FarmBot, each had mature products, being actively used on farm, delivering results and generating revenue. Their business models had gone beyond the simple monthly subscription model, to be more aligned to the outcomes which produce value for the farmer.

• There was a diverse range of investors at the event, many who I was surprised to see given their traditional investment mandates. However, after a few conversations it started to become clear that the AgTech eco-system was starting to find its business model and we are now 12 months further up the adoption curve. Whilst I didn’t get the sense they were writing cheques at Evoke Ag, I do expect to see a few of them deploying capital into AgTech over the course of 2020. 

I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I saw from AgTech startups at Evoke Ag, so I’ve decided to put that in a follow up blog post.

Honest Farmer feedback!

The increased interest from investors was complimented by heightened attendance from both corporate and family farmers. 

My conversations with farmers indicated that the adoption gap had closed slightly over the past 12 months, with IoT monitoring and crop health / NDVI imagery technologies providing practical returns on farm. 

However these advances were balanced out by frustration around data governance, depth of API’s, mounting SaaS subscription costs and the usual sprinkling of "Artificial Intelligence” promises. Most of the farmers I spoke to were around hanging around startup alley, showing genuine interest in the tech but also calling bulls**t on the buzz words, good to see them keeping the startups honest!

Connecting and Learning

One of the biggest benefits of Evoke Ag was once again the networking, with a diverse mix of professions, nationalities and interests. The event creates a unique atmosphere where strangers get chatting waiting for coffee, then end up sitting down to chat about their research, tech or venture fund for the next 45 minutes!

The content structure was slightly revised this year, with less breakout sessions but much more action orientated content. The conversations around data and capital from last year continued and deepened, with a strong focus on value for farmers and scalability for investors.

Two notable additions to the discussions were plant based proteins / meat and the potential of carbon sequestration through regenerative farming practices. Two topics which I expect to hear a lot more about through out 2020.

Ecosystem

With the AgTech ecosystem still in its formation stages, it was excellent to see so many support initiatives announced at Evoke Ag. 

• AgriTech Australia was launched at Evoke Ag, to facilitate the collaboration, impact and opportunities for the Australian AgTech ecosystem. With a board of key ecosystem stakeholders, AgriTech Australia intends to collaborate closely with its counterpart Agritech New Zealand to promote trans Tasman capabilities and attract global focus on AgTech innovation in the region. 

• Smart Farms were announced by the South Australian, Victorian and New South Wales Government's, to create the infrastructure required to validate AgTech. Many of the Smart Farms are existing agricultural research facilities which will broaden their scope to now provide AgTech testing capabilities, further deepening the bond between agricultural research and commercialisation. 

• Tenacious Ventures announced that they have raised over $20 Million for their new AgTech fund, with the first two investments signed and soon to be announced. 

• Evoke Ag 2021 will be held in Perth, Western Australia. The announcement at the end of day 1 took many by surprise, as Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building has become such a big part of the character of Evoke Ag. I look forward to attending the event and hope that its character isn't lost.

Finally, my geek out highlight of the conference was seeing the awesome Swarm Farm robot!!

See you at Evoke Ag in 2021!!