New Zealand’s agritech sector is entering a new phase of growth, marked by significant capital raises and a maturing ecosystem focused on scaling globally. This momentum will be on display at Agritech Unleashed Auckland on Thursday 16 April, bringing together founders, investors, and industry leaders for a candid conversation on what it really takes to build, fund and scale agritech companies.
“New Zealand agritech is backing itself. The scale of recent capital raises from companies like Halter, Hectre, Agovor, Scanabull and Scentian Bio shows we’ve moved from promising to proven. But what excites me just as much is what’s happening around those headlines: a community of competitors choosing to share what they know, because a confident sector can afford to be honest and we all grow faster when we do,” says Brendan O’Connell, Chief Executive of AgriTech New Zealand.
Agritech Unleashed Auckland will feature founders and investors involved in recent capital raises sharing the unvarnished story of how they approached growth, investment and scale. The event opens with a keynote exploring a defining question for the sector: what does New Zealand agritech look like when it produces both workhorses and unicorns, and what does each path genuinely demand?
Alongside capital-raising stories, established agritech companies, including Levno, Trev, Farm Focus and Figured will share hard-earned lessons from years of building, failing, adapting and enduring. The kind of insights that rarely make it into funding announcement headlines.
Agritech Unleashed will also bring innovators into direct dialogue with some of New Zealand’s largest primary sector organisations. Teams from Fonterra, Ravensdown, Silver Fern Farms and Zespri are expected to attend, adding the perspective of scale and deep farmer and grower relationships to the conversation on technology adoption, value creation and sector impact.
“For these organisations, agritech is not a peripheral interest, it is a value lever across their operations, supply chains, and the farming and growing communities they serve. Their presence at Agritech Unleashed reflects a sector that is maturing into something more integrated, more strategic, and more consequential.”
“What makes New Zealand agritech distinctive isn’t just its capability, it’s its character. We’re seeing businesses that compete hard but build together. They’re rivals in some respects, but willing to share what’s working and be honest about what they’ve learned because they know the whole sector moves faster when they do. The strategies and the numbers matter, but it keeps coming back to the people, and we’re genuinely fortunate to have founders and leaders who pair world-class capability with a real generosity of spirit. That combination is rare, and it’s what makes this momentum feel sustainable.”
The afternoon programme continues Agritech New Zealand’s practical, sector-building work designed to strengthen the sector’s foundations for scale. View the full agenda here.
“This is what a sector backing itself looks like. Not just individual companies winning, but the whole ecosystem lifting. The confidence is real, and it’s contagious,” says Brendan O’Connell.
Agritech Unleashed continues in Tauranga on 25 August and Dunedin on 12 November, bringing the same spirit of open exchange and collective ambition to agritech communities across the country.