Agritech New Zealand is excited to introduce Arama Kukutai to a New Zealand audience.
Arama should of course need no formal introduction. Arama is of Ngati Maniapoto, Tainui and Te Aupouri descent on his father’s side and spent his formative years in South Taranaki’s dairy sector. Last month it was announced that he led a $6.5m investment round into Palmerston North-based Biolumic. Arama is the keynote speaker at the ‘10 billion mouths’ event next month.
Arama Kukutai – keynote speaker at 10 billion mouths
As more detailed background, Arama is a co-founder and Partner at Finistere Ventures, a pioneer in the Agriculture and Food technology sector. Finistere was started in 2005 with Dr. Jerry Caulder and is currently investing from its second fund. Finistere is one of the leading AgTech focused venture funds and partnered with industry leaders including Nutrien, Bayer, Pepsico, Graincorp and International Farming Corporation. Arama has been a company founder and entrepreneur in the Agribusiness sector for over 20 years.
He served as Executive Chairman of PKW Farms, a successful agribusiness and diversified investment entity involved in dairy farming and aquaculture activities in New Zealand, Asia and Australia. Arama also led the New Zealand government’s Trade & Investment agency in North America, following which he emigrated to the USA. He has led the creation of Finistere’s global network in AgTech which includes offices in Tel Aviv, San Diego and Silicon Valley, and Dublin, Ireland in partnership with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund. Arama serves on the boards as a Director or Observer of Finistere portfolio companies AgGenetics, Biolumic, Crop Pro Insurance, CropX, Hi Fidelity Genetics, Plenty, Taranis and Zeakal.
Arama is an active member of the AgTech investing community and regular presenter at leading industry events.
It is great that Arama is attending and keynoting at Techweek18’s headline agritech event, ’10 billion mouths’. He will be joined by Finistere Ventures co-founder and partner, Spencer Maughan on the visit.
If you want to purchase a ticket to meet Arama, Spencer and a host of other global agritech thought leaders, you can purchase one right now through the Techweek18 website.