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Last Thursday, at Agritech Unleashed, Arama Kukutai, co-founder & Managing Director of Finistere Ventures, announced that his firm planned to open up an office in Palmerston North to help identify new and manage existing New Zealand agritech investments. The office is be led by Dean Tilyard, founder of the Sprout Accelerator.

It was a hugely important announcement. To understand that, you need to also understand some of the major global investors who were in the room when Arama made the announcement. They included:

• Mathew Pryor, Partner at Agthentic
• Mary Dimou, Business Development Director, Canopy Rivers
• Kirk Belsby, Partner at Finistere Ventures
• Michael Lavin, Managing Director at Germin8
• Alexey Rostapshov, Global Head of Digital Innovation, John Deere
• Richard O’Gorman, Director, Rabobank Food & Agriculture Innovation Fund
• Craig Boshier, General Manager, Yamaha Motor Ventures

Several of these funds have already invested into New Zealand agritech companies. Some are part of Farm2050, the global collective of venture funds. Others were in New Zealand to get a better understanding of the landscape for future investment into the sector.

I had joined the delegation in Auckland when they arrived on Tuesday and then co-hosted the delegation with New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) on Friday for a day’s workshop in Rotorua.

For me, Arama’s announcement on Thursday was just the start. Interest in New Zealand’s agritech sector is growing rapidly and Agritech New Zealand has been doing all it can to raise the visibility of the sector to offshore investors. Over the coming weeks, I expect details to be announced about significant additional venture funding capacity for our growth stage agritech companies.

It’s never been a more exciting time to be involved in New Zealand’s agritech sector. Check out our News section as we release details of these upcoming announcements.

This major initiative has been a joint venture between Agritech New Zealand and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE). Over the past six months, we have been organising workshops, preparing insights both onshore and offshore, and working with industry and government agency partners to identify our sector’s core strengths & values.

This video is just part of the story. It talks about ‘Powered by Place’ and our special kaitiaki; the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land. It talks about that real connection that connects farmers, growers and innovators with our environment.

It talks about New Zealand values and the role that our innovation and agri technology has to play. Not just to produce high quality food and fibre, but in a way that protects and sustains our environment. It’s a value that we want to share with the rest of the world.

Please feel free to share the video and provide us with your feedback. Our intention over the coming months is to continue to build out the story with case studies and other relevant collateral.

At Agritech Unleashed, I said to the many agritech companies attending the event that this was not our story; it was yours. As we build up our asset base of videos, images & stories, I would ask all New Zealand agritech companies to feel free to use these materials to promote your products, your services and your mission.

At Agritech New Zealand, we look forward to continuing to work with NZTE as the story builds. To Kenny & Neil, in particular, great work. The red carpet though has been rolled up and the bunting put away. It’s now time to kick on!

Agritech New Zealand is delighted to announce that Peter Beck, founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab, will be speaking at the Agritech Unleashed event at National Fieldays today.

Since founding the business in 2006, Peter has grown Rocket Lab to become a globally recognized industry leader in space and a billion-dollar company employing world-class engineers and technicians. Peter established Rocket Lab’s Electron orbital launch program in 2013. Peter also oversaw the development of the world’s first and only private orbital launch range, located on Māhia Peninsula. He played a crucial role in establishing international treaties and legislation to enable orbital launch capability from New Zealand. That capability was realized in January 2018 with Rocket Lab’s first orbital launch of the Electron rocket.

Peter will be speaking at the Bledisloe Function Centre at Mystery Creek during the Agritech Unleashed conference at 1.30pm. Peter is keynoting the session, ‘How the 2019 New Zealand Aerospace Challenge is supporting sustainable farming’. You can learn more about the session at https://agritechnz.org.nz/fieldays-2019/

Access to the session is free. We would however strongly recommend you turn up no later than 10 minutes before the session begins. Demand for seating will be high. This will be one fantastic session.

I look forward to seeing you there.

AgritechNZ chief executive Peter Wren-Hilton says New Zealand is taking a global lead on bringing cutting-edge technology to Kiwi farming and the Agritech Unleashed summit on June 13 is a crucial step toward that goal.

“This major project will bring together widespread knowledge and resources to advance the mission of Farm2050 so we can help feed the planet sustainably and affordably,” he says.

“With the need to feed the world’s population of 9.8 billion people by 2050, AgritechNZ is looking at ways New Zealand can scale up its food production to meet the growing global demand.

“Global food systems will need to transform at an unprecedented speed and scale so this event next week will seek to explore and confirm the power of innovation and technology to meet the greater demand on food production,” he says.

“We also have to take into account sustainability and climate change; healthy diets, meat alternatives and nutrition; market efficiency; and shaping a national strategy for the future of food.”

“Increasing scrutiny of environmental impact on farms has raised the need for remediation and analytics to meet increasing and stricter regulatory requirements. 

“Growth in the New Zealand dairy sector since the mid-1980s has seen nitrogen fertiliser use increase 10 times, while farm energy inputs doubled over the last 20 years and has led to a negative regulatory and public reaction to fertiliser over-use.’’

At Agritech Unleashed, leading global experts will be outlining the three-year agritech initiative and why New Zealand will be taking a lead role and how players in the nutrient sector in New Zealand can take part.

Among the heavyweight speakers are Sara Ahmed-Holman, of Eric Schmidt’s (former chief executive and chair of Google) investment vehicle, Innovation Endeavor.

Other international agritech specialists include Alexey Rostapshov, global head of Digital Innovation, John Deere and Michael Levin, founder and managing director of Germin8.

If New Zealand’s agritech community is serious about supporting farmers and growers address some of the major environmental impacts necessary to continue to secure the social license needed to operate, this initiative will go a long way down that path, Wren-Hilton says.

“As Farm2050’s first country partner, New Zealand has a pivotal role to play. We have advanced farming systems and deep domain knowledge.

“We produce some of the finest agricultural product in the world, yet our farmers and growers are well aware of the regulatory environment in which they now operate. Consumer concerns about environmental impact, and government regulation are all affecting sentiment within the primary sector,” he says.

The New Zealand tech sector is the country’s third largest and fastest growing export sector, worth over $6.3 billion in 2015 and employing more than six percent of the New Zealand workforce.

AgritechNZ is part of the NZ Tech Alliance.

For further information contact Peter Wren-Hilton on 21 791120 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188

• A preview of the New Zealand Agritech Story. This is a major project that Agritech New Zealand has been developing with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) over the past six months.
• A preview of the establishment of a New Zealand agritech venture fund. For New Zealand’s early stage agritech sector looking to scale, this has often been cited as the missing link.
• The formal New Zealand launch of Farm2050’s Nutrient Initiative. This three year initiative is designed to identify nutrient-related technologies that will not only increase plant yield, but also mitigate against negative environmental impact such as run-off. A critically important opportunity for New Zealand to lead the world in sustainable farming
• The NZ Aerospace Challenge 2019 is also addressing one of the biggest issues facing the agricultural sector – sustainability. Twenty companies are developing a product or service that detects, monitors or measures water or soil pollution using the very latest satellite and unmanned aircraft (UA) technology. Learn how New Zealand is leading the world in this space.
• The Government has launched an ‘All of Government’ Agritech Taskforce. At this session, the taskforce lead will focus on the initiatives under discussion and how they are being designed to support and scale New Zealand’s agritech sector.

Agritech Unleashed is brought to you by Agritech New Zealand, with the valued support of National Fieldays and the generous sponsorship of the Ministry for Primary Industries. Agritech Unleashed will provide visibility and insights into some of the major initiatives being planned for New Zealand’s agritech sector.

Supporting this initiative, some of the biggest names in global agritech are travelling to New Zealand to attend the event. Several have already agreed to take part in panel discussions, bringing global context to some of the opportunities and challenges being addressed by Agritech New Zealand. Agritech Unleashed is an invite only event. Details will be published on our website on Monday, including how to apply for a ticket.

Before then, the team are gearing up for Techweek19, 20–24 May. The intention behind Techweek is simple – to amplify New Zealand’s unique and inspiring innovation stories to the world. New Zealand’s tech and innovation sectors are growing rapidly and Techweek fosters growth by providing the national ecosystem with a week long opportunity for connection and cross-pollination.

Throughout New Zealand, a number of agritech events are taking place including the annual LandWISE conference in Havelock North. I will be travelling across the country supporting a number of Techweek19 events. They include an inaugural agritech workshop I will be leading in Wanganui, the ‘All You Can Eat’ event in New Plymouth, the launch of the PlantTech regional research centre in Tauranga, the Rezare agritech bootcamp in Hamilton and Techweek TV in Auckland. Check out some of the other great events below.

Meanwhile, interest from global players in New Zealand’s agritech sector continues to grow. Congratulations then to the Invert Robotics team who picked up $13 million of investment from a global syndicate of investors led by Finistere Ventures and Yamaha Motor Ventures last week. It was great to see existing New Zealand investors, including New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF), take part in this funding round. This follows similar recent multi million dollar investments into the likes of Biolumic, Robotics Plus and Halter. Expect more investment activity in this space in the coming months.

Beyond Techweek19 and Fieldays, the ‘All of Government’ Agritech Taskforce is ramping up its activity and we are fully engaged as an industry partner. Over the coming weeks the opportunity for our members to actively connect and help influence both policy and regulation settings will become more evident.

In the meantime, I very much hope you have the opportunity to attend some of the great agritech events during Techweek19. It truly is a great time to be involved in New Zealand’s agritech sector.

Ngā mihi

Peter Wren-Hilton
Executive Director
Agritech New Zealand

NEWS

Join Peter Wren-Hilton for Major New Zealand Agritech Initiatives in 2019 and how the Whanganui region can be involved on 20 May in Whanganui.

Watch Techweek TV:When Aerospace and AgriTech combines on 22 May. Plus Techweek TV: Automation in Agritech – where to from here? on 24 May.

Join the Waikato Ag Innovations Bootcamp, 23–24 May in Hamilton. Attend the PlantTech Research Institute: Official Interactive Launchon 23 May in Tauranga.

What will the AgriFood sector look like in the future? Register for All You Can Eat on 20 and 21 May in New Plymouth. Attend LandWISE 2019: Rethinking Best Practice on 22 May in Hawkes Bay.

Save the date for evokeAg, 18–19 February, 2020 in Melbourne. In case you missed this year’s event, watch the highlights of day one and day two.

Join Agritech New Zealand at the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit and Awards, 1–2 July in Wellington. 

Don’t forget, time is running out to sign up as ShadowTech 2019 mentor. We need more tech professionals throughout New Zealand to inspire girls to consider tech careers. Everything you need to know is here.

Entries for the Fieldays Innovation Awards close on 10 May. Entries for the 2019 AmCham-DHL Express Success and Innovation Awards close 31 May.

Join EdTechNZ and TechWomen on 13 June in Wellington, 20 June in Auckland and 26 June in Christchurch to discuss how to achieve diversity in the tech sector. Registrations opening soon.

Attend Automation for Business on 23 May in Auckland. The New Zealand Esri User Conference is 12–14 August in Auckland. The Canterbury Tech Summit is 12 September.

Join Agritech New Zealand today. We are a membership funded organisation. If you are not already a member, please consider joining us.

Have you been forwarded this newsletter? Receive your own copy each month, simply subscribe here.

Be part of Scale-Up New Zealand, a free online platform for New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem.

This is the first Agritech New Zealand newsletter since the terrible events in Christchurch on 15 March. Our thoughts and condolences go to everyone affected during these difficult times.

Looking ahead, Agritech New Zealand is a Channel Partner for this week’s BOMA Grow 2019 Agri Summit conference in Christchurch. I look forward to meeting some of the several hundred delegates expected to attend.

Looking ahead is the core message of this month’s newsletter. Three weeks ago, Agritech New Zealand hosted leading officials from Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and Callaghan Innovation at the first ‘All of Government’ Agritech Taskforce hui. The hui was held in Tauranga and followed meetings, late last year with Ministers Parker, O’Connor and Jones.

This is a significant initiative aimed at creating an agreed comprehensive strategy for agritech growth in New Zealand. The Taskforce, working in conjunction with Agritech New Zealand and industry partners, has identified some key initial areas of focus. These include:

1. Fuelling the growth of the ecosystem by:

• Identifying new channels to source venture capital investment
• Developing skills by creating an Agritech leaders’ skill development programme
• Leveraging existing and developing new International partnerships

2. Acting as One Agritech Team

• Industry, Government and research working together to create an agreed comprehensive strategy for agritech growth

3. Defining the Global Customer Opportunity and New Zealand’s Advantage

• Creating and promoting New Zealand’s unique agritech story
• Establishing New Zealand as a global thought leader in sustainability and agritech
• Defining global problems which match our vision for New Zealand’s impact for example, automation, clean water and nutrients
• Creating a transparent and comprehensive support system for companies looking to scale their business

The Taskforce is not a working group in waiting. Ministers want action and resource is being made available to make it happen. Over the coming weeks, I will be dedicating a significant amount of time travelling throughout New Zealand, meeting representatives from industry, research, Government and investment. As the various initial areas of focus are cemented, the outcome of these discussions will be shared with the Taskforce members.

Agritech New Zealand members will have a key role to play. We will be establishing formal workshops for some of the key themes of the initiative. These will input directly into the creation of the agreed comprehensive strategy. Soon, I will be sending an invitation to members to contribute to and benefit from this activity.

Looking ahead, planning for Agritech New Zealand’s major Day Two event at National Fieldays is well under way. It will coincide with the formal launch of the New Zealand agritech story and provide a platform to share some of our major new initiatives.

Finally, congratulations to the five finalists for the 2019 NZTE Best Hi-Tech Solution for the Agritech Sector at this year’s NZ Hi-Tech Awards; Agricom, Aporo – Robotics Plus, BlueLab, Livestock Improvement Corporation and Robotic Log Scaler – Robotics Plus. Five great solutions that demonstrate the depth and breadth of New Zealand’s agritech community.

There has never been a time when so much focus has been placed on our sector. The world of agriculture is changing rapidly and the new urgency being stoked by the Taskforce provides our country’s agritech businesses with a great opportunity to take a global lead.

These are exciting times. I hope that you can, and want to be, part of our journey.

Ngā mihi

Peter Wren-Hilton
Executive Director
Agritech New Zealand

NEWS

Register for What Could Climate Change Mean for Farming in Canterbury event on 2 May at Blinc Innovation in Christchurch.Build your profile and visibility by entering the Fieldays Innovation Awards. Entries close on 1 May. Fieldays is 12-15 June in Hamilton.

Join Agritech New Zealand at thePrimary Industries New Zealand Summit and Awards, 1-2 July in Wellington. Includes changing consumer preferences, strategy review, climate change, geopolitical and trade outlooks. Register for updates.

Attend Techweek19’s official launch event on 20 May in Auckland or join the live webcast. Join Peter Wren-Hilton on 24 May for Techweek TV’s webcast panel discussion, Automation in Agritech – where to from here? Techweek TV also explores the use of IoT in Agritech, 5G, global waste, Blockchain and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

Hawkes Bay based apple harvesting robots have made international news. Palmerston North startup, BioLumic has attracted significant overseas investment for its plant growing technology. They have created the first ultraviolet ‘crop yield enhancement system’ and secured $5 million in financing.

Curious about AI? Video presentations from the recent AI-DAY are now online. If you are considering expansion in Asia, check out the Future Foods Asia 2019 conference on 3-4 June in Singapore. This year’s themes include smallholder solutions, rising middle class and food 4.0.

Sign up as a mentor and inspire girls into tech. ShadowTech is on 23 May in Gisborne, 7 June in Auckland, 11 June in Christchurch, 14 June in Palmerston North, 18 June in Dunedin and 27 June in Hamilton. Hack Tairawhiti 2.0 returns 17-19 May in Gisborne and is also looking for business mentors and design thinkers to help companies accelerate ideas with tech innovation.

Entries are now open for the 2019 AmCham-DHL Express Success and Innovation Awards for companies doing business with the USA.

Considering exports? New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s (NZTE) Export Essentials workshops will help you grow faster. Forthcoming dates include Auckland, Kerikeri, New Plymouth and Wellington.

Join EdTechNZ and TechWomen on 13 June in Wellington, 20 June in Auckland and 26 June in Christchurch to discuss how to achieve diversity in the tech sector. Registrations opening soon.

Learn more about Standards New Zealand (SNZ)and its role in the digital economy, including AgriTech, AI, Blockchain, IoT and other emerging tech.

Attend the T-Tech19 conference, 6-7 May in Christchurch. Attend Automation for Business on 23 May in Auckland. The New Zealand Esri User Conference is 12-14 August in Auckland. The Canterbury Tech Summit is 12 September. The 2019 NZ Cyber Security Summit is 15 October in Wellington.

Agritech New Zealand is a membership funded organisation. If you are not already a member, please consider joining us.

Have you been forwarded this newsletter? Receive your own copy each month, simply subscribe here.

Be part of Scale-Up New Zealand, a free online platform for New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem.

Discussions and issues relating to New Zealand agritech will be on the agenda at events during Techweek next month.

Technology is transforming the way Kiwis grow and sell food as every piece of the supply chain is up for disruption.

“By 2050, the global population will demand 70 percent more food than is consumed today. Feeding these numbers nutritiously and sustainably will require substantial improvements to the global food system.

“We want to improve and increase our food production through better technology, such as robotics, and we will do that with more collaboration, innovation, and connected capital from overseas.

“Agritech could be destined to save the New Zealand economy because of the tremendous worldwide demand for food.

“There is growing evidence that the abundance of processed foods is the underlying cause of a global obesity epidemic which is also impacting New Zealand which is ranked third worst in the OECD for obesity.

“Combining two of New Zealand’s leading sectors, agriculture and technology, shows just how we can improve New Zealand farming, food production and health while also growing our exports. We are on the cusp of some massive and exciting tech changes in our lives.

“There are some amazing agritech developments in Silicon Valley such as Granular Software a farm operations startup that was recently purchased by DuPont for $US300 million, or the synthetic protein companies like Clara Foods for eggs, Memphis Meats for beef and Finless Foods for fish.”

In New Zealand, award-winning Tauranga company Robotics Plus has an automated apple packaging system that will be able to help US growers address labour shortages.

New Zealand is well positioned to meet increasing demands for specialty and healthy foods. Miro berries, a Maori owned and driven company, is deploying the latest agritech in New Zealand to build high value blueberry production to replicate our success in kiwifruit and meet domestic and global demand for the superfood.

New Zealand is one of the top 10 world’s biggest blueberry producers. About 700 ha of blueberry crops are grown in New Zealand with expectations the export industry could be worth more than $100 million in coming years.

Wren-Hilton says New Zealand is achieving good agritech export growth rates relative to other nations. Global agritech investment is expanding rapidly, with investment in agritech firms in 2018 was estimated at more than $US2.36 billion.

For further information contact Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188

Last week, I visited Hamilton, Palmerston North and Lincoln as part of the New Zealand Agritech Story workshop programme. We are organising these workshops with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) to gain insights into some of the sector’s perceptions of this country’s competitive agritech advantage. Simultaneously, the project team is gathering insights about New Zealand’s perceived position from significant global players. This activity culminates with the formal launch of the New Zealand Agritech story on Thursday 13 June at National Fieldays.

Building a compelling and cohesive New Zealand agritech story will provide the sector with huge value going forward, but it is not being developed in isolation.

The New Zealand Government Agritech Taskforce

This week, I am meeting senior officials from Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE), NZTE, Callaghan Innovation and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to discuss the programme of initiatives being developed by the new all of government agritech taskforce. Agritech New Zealand is working with the taskforce as its sector interface. Personally, I’m delighted that David Downs has been seconded from NZTE to MBIE to lead this taskforce. I’ve known David for a number of years and look forward to working with him as we collectively develop programmes that have real impact.

National Fieldays 2019

We are also delighted to be formally partnering with National Fieldays, with exclusive use of the Bledisloe Building on day two of this year’s event at Mystery Creek. We will launch three additional new initiatives at Fieldays. During the week, we will be hosting a number of international venture funds and agribusiness leaders looking to do business with New Zealand. It provides a unique opportunity to showcase our sector’s problem solving tech to a highly influential global audience.

International Agritech Missions

Last month, I joined over 100 Kiwi agritech professionals at the evokeAG conference in Melbourne. It was great to see New Zealand startup CertusBio win the Pitch Tent Investment Ready competition. Congratulations to Matthew and the team! evokeAG will be held in Melbourne next year and we are once again planning to attend. Read our conference review here.

In June, we are supporting a delegation attend the Forbes Live conference in Salinas, Northern California. In September, we are planning to support a delegation to attend the Irish Ploughing Championships. We are working with Callaghan Innovation and NZTE to help make this happen.

IoT in Agriculture April Event Series

Next month, we are co-hosting a series of workshops to discuss How the Future of AgriTech and BioTech will be enabled by IoT. Join us on 9 April in Christchurch, 10 April in Wellington and 11 April in Auckland. Our event partners are the New Zealand IoT Alliance and BIOTechNZ. Watch your inbox for your invitation landing soon.

From my desk, I see real momentum building. The increased engagement with Government is being matched by a significant increase in activity in the startup and early stage space. I can evidence this from the increasing number of enquiries we are receiving from offshore capital and an exponential increase in interest from potential agribusiness collaborators.

For Agritech New Zealand and our members, this is certainly a great time to be involved in New Zealand agritech.

Ngā mihi

Peter Wren-Hilton
Executive Director
Agritech New Zealand

NZ HI-TECH AWARDS: Attend the finalist announcements

AI FORUM: Join AI-Day this month!

NEWS

Join Leveraging Blockchain for your Digital Identity on tomorrow in Wellington and 21 March in Auckland. Attend Central District Fieldays, this week in Feilding. Save the date for Fieldays, 12-15 June in Hamilton.

Secure your seat at Grow 2019 on 10-11 April in Christchurch. Early bird tickets close on Friday. Join Peter-Wren Hilton at MobileTECH 2019 on 3-4 April in Rotorua, showcasing agricultural, horticultural and forestry tech.

Considering expansion in Asia? Check out details of the Future Foods Asia 2019 conference on 3-4 June in Singapore. This year’s themes include smallholder solutions, rising middle class and food 4.0.

AI-DAY is 27 and 28 March, in Auckland. Check out this preview featured in Idealog. Register to attend now! Following the conference there is also a workshop series on 3 and 4 April. Workshop passes are available here.

Be part of Scale-Up New Zealand, a free online platform for New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem. Everything you need to know is here.

World changing ideas are born in New Zealand! Meet the UpStarters and learn more about New Zealand’s tech and innovation story.

Register for the New Zealand Digital Skills Hui on 27 March in Wellington. Curious about Blockchain? BlockchainNZ is the newest member of the Tech Alliance. Stay informed about this emerging tech and subscribe to their newsletter for regular updates.

Create connections, increase knowledge and support the growth of women in tech. Apply for TechWomen’s 2019 Mentoring Circles programme in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Registrations for mentors and mentees close 15 March.

Finalists for the 2019 Hi-Tech Awards will be announced on 27 March and winners awarded on 24 May in Auckland, during Techweek19. Lightning Lab Tourism and the Edmund Hillary Fellowship are now accepting applications.

Agritech New Zealand is a membership funded organisation. If you are not already a member, please consider joining us. Have you been forwarded this newsletter? Receive your own copy each month, simply subscribe here.

Thinking of getting involved in Techweek19?  Event submissions close soon.

Learn more and register to be part of Scale-Up New Zealand.

Yesterday, I joined more than half of the New Zealand delegates attending the evokeAG agritech conference in Melbourne next week.  Working with Callaghan Innovation and NZTE, we have established a four day immersion programme which includes farm visits and meetings with key players in the Australian agritech sector.  Learn more about the event here.

All of Government Agritech Taskforce Update

Last week, I met a number of senior Government agency representatives in Wellington. This follows on from several Ministerial meetings towards the end of last year and a decision by Ministers to develop an all of Government taskforce to support the growth of the agritech sector. Agritech New Zealand is acting as the interface between this taskforce and industry. I have further meetings over the coming weeks and will report back on developments.

Launching the Farm2050 Disruptive Nutrient Technology Initiative

Last month, I also met a number of Farm2050 partners in San Diego to discuss the upcoming Farm2050 global Disruptive Nutrient Technology Initiative. New Zealand is taking a lead role in this initiative as first country partner of Farm2050.  You can learn more in my blog update here.

We plan to schedule a series of workshops across the country in April and May. The aim is to provide local companies with an opportunity to engage directly with some of the world’s largest agribusinesses including Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva and Nutrien. The focus of the initiative is to identify nutrient technologies that improve plant absorption efficiency and create reductions in environmental impact such as run-off. A number of Farm2050’s venture partners are also engaging directly with this initiative. More details to come.

National Fieldays 2019

Talking of global partners, we are in the process of finalising an agreement with National Fieldays to host a major innovation event at Mystery Creek in June.  We will be hosting a series of sessions in the Bledisloe Building on day two of Fieldays, Thursday 13 June. This will include the formal launch of the New Zealand agritech story as well as providing a platform for our sector to showcase our tech to an international audience. A number of Farm2050’s global partners are expected to attend and several major announcements impacting the future of the sector are expected.

It’s been an exciting start to the year with a number of new initiatives either underway or in review. If you have not already signed up as a member of Agritech New Zealand, I would urge you to do so.

For further details of the benefits on offer and the opportunity to take part in some of the major initiatives planned, please visit https://agritechnz.org.nz/join/.

Ngā mihi

Peter Wren-Hilton
Executive Director
Agritech New Zealand

NZ HI-TECH AWARDS – Entries close 4 March!

AIForum – Join AI-Day on 28 March

NEWS

Attend AgriFutures evokeAG, 19-20 February in Melbourne.   See the latest on-farm technologies and hear from experts about automation and robotics in future farming.  Discover the future of waste as an emerging supply chain and more.

Peter Wren-Hilton, Agritech New Zealand’s Executive Director is presenting on the future of the agritech sector in New Zealand at MobileTECH 2019, 3-4 April in Rotorua.   Early bird tickets are available until 22 February.

Create connections in the AI and FinTech ecosystems. Join us on 14 February in Wellington, 21 February in Auckland and 27 February in Christchurch. Tech Alliance members receive two tickets for the price of one for Wellington and Christchurch.  Register today only with the promo code: TA2FOR25

Attend Central District Fieldays, 14-16 March in Feilding.  Save the date for Fieldays, 12-15 June in Hamilton. Lightning Lab Tourism and the Edmund Hillary Fellowship are now accepting applications.

What does the future of New Zealand’s public sector look like?  Register to attend the Future Government Summit, 26-27 February, 2019 and help create a roadmap for the future.

Considering entering the 2019 Hi-Tech Awards?  Here’s six reasons why you should enter.  Entries close 4 March and finalists will be announced on 27 March.  Save the date for the Gala Dinner, 24 May in Auckland, during Techweek19.

In local news,  learn more about New Zealand’s world first IoT farming trial. Plus, more on the new global initiative into emerging nutrient technologies.

World changing ideas are born in New Zealand!  Meet the UpStartersand learn more about New Zealand’s tech and innovation story. Watch videos and download the showcase booklet.

Register for the TechMarketers 2019 Conference on 28 February in Auckland, or forward to your Marketing colleagues. Email now to get your NZ Tech community discount code.

Agritech New Zealand is a membership funded organisation.  If you are not already a member, please consider joining us.  Have you been forwarded this newsletter? Receive your own copy each month, simply subscribe here.  

Thinking of getting involved in Techweek19?  Event submissions are now open.

We are not doing this alone. We are working with our existing members, the New Zealand government and external partners to facilitate better access to:

• Offshore markets
• International partnerships
• Global capital

We are also launching a series of new initiatives through 2019 in which New Zealand will be taking a global lead. These are designed to address some of the key challenges that are impacting on the primary sector, both at home and abroad: Labour (the lack of); increasing the production of nutritious food; improving sustainable farming practices; better management of environmental and water control. All set against a backdrop of changing weather patterns, evolving land use and a growing consumer awareness of the importance of provenance around how we grow food, its source & its impact on the land.

Members of Agritech New Zealand will be able to take part in the working groups established to address these challenges. We will in turn be working with New Zealand government’s new inter-agency taskforce designed to support the growth of the agritech sector. As a member of the Agritech New Zealand, your business will be able to benefit from these initiatives.

As a corporate member, you will have access to New Zealand’s agritech start-up ecosystem, learning more about how their often disruptive technology and business models can positively support your business. As a start-up member, the converse applies. Access to New Zealand’s more established agribusinesses will potentially help scale your emerging business.

Better access to global capital is key for most businesses. By providing channels to that capital, Agritech New Zealand, together with its partners in Farm2050, can provide that access. To support this offshore visibility, Agritech New Zealand will be representing New Zealand’s agritech sector at a number of major international agritech-focused conferences this year, providing direct insights into New Zealand’s agritech landscape and the opportunity it provides for offshore engagement and investment.

If you want to play a key role in helping develop New Zealand’s rapidly growing agritech ecosystem, you can sign up and join Agritech New Zealand today. As we publicise these new initiatives, the opportunity to connect and engage with that community and our offshore partners will significantly benefit both our individual members and the country’s wider agritech ecosystem.

Agritech New Zealand’s key purpose is that ‘by working together, we can unleash New Zealand’s agri-technology expertise, globally’. To join this community today, you can view and sign up via Agritech New Zealand’s online membership application form here. Alternatively, you can contact me directly at my email address: peter.wren-hilton@agritechnz.org.nz

The team looks forward to working with you through 2019.