{"id":42387,"date":"2023-10-20T15:20:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/australias-first-national-agtech-innovation-hub-launches-with-a-10-million-startup-fund-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:20:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:20:49","slug":"australias-first-national-agtech-innovation-hub-launches-with-a-10-million-startup-fund-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/australias-first-national-agtech-innovation-hub-launches-with-a-10-million-startup-fund-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s first national agtech innovation hub launches with a $10 million startup fund – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SproutX<\/div>\n

The National Farmers\u2019 Federation and Findex have teamed up to launch Australia\u2019s first national agtech innovation hub with a dedicated $10 million VC fund to support early-stage startups.<\/p>\n

SproutX has received a $1 million grant from the Victoria government to grow the idea, along with backing from the likes of Findex and Ruralco, and will also host a co-working space for up to 100 entrepreneurs and will run two accelerator programs.<\/p>\n

SproutX general manager Sam Trethewey says Australia’s agricultural sector is set to reach $100 billion by 2030, and provides a wealth of opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia\u2019s agricultural sector is really one of the only pillars that can double in the next 15 to 20 years,\u201d Trethewey tells StartupSmart. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be extremely efficient, we don\u2019t have any more land, we don\u2019t have any more water so we have to add more with innovative ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trethewey, who is a third generation farmer, says the program will aim to drive positive change for the wider sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bringing farmers back into the conversation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe old technology push model of innovation won\u2019t cut it in agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

With today\u2019s climate conditions, Trethewey says farmers need strong solutions to optimise efficiency and develop better capabilities like better monitoring of \u201cmicro climates\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYears ago, we\u2019d have a local weather report, now you have weather stations on farms, even a 1000 acre farm, which is not very big, will have a number of different micro climates,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Australia, we\u2019re going to see a lot of startups develop models in tech to enable farmers to better forecast weather and manage planting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really fine-tuning management decision-making \u201c<\/p>\n

SproutX programs for early-stage startups<\/h3>\n

From early next year SproutX will run a pre-accelerator that will take 100 participants through a six-week program incorporating lean startup principles like market validation and financial modelling.<\/p>\n

The pre-accelerator can be done remotely and seeks to spark new ideas in food, fibre and agribusiness, Trethewey says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome all kinds of people and ideas,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The ideal candidate] would be someone who has a pre-revenue startup idea, who is very driven, who is an entrepreneur and who is very passionate about creating change in Australian agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trethewey says the organisation is currently locking down the \u201cbest names in startups\u201d to mentor and lecture the course.<\/p>\n

On completion, graduates will get a $1000 cash grant plus access to in-kind services to further their ventures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they hit those milestones and they put the effort in, they\u2019ll have access to the resources after,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The cream of the crop will then be invited into SproutX’s full accelerator where participants building agtech solutions focusing on IoT, farm management, remote sensors, robotics, biological control, biomaterials and agricultural marketplaces will be supported through its $10 million fund.<\/p>\n

Early-stage startups already working on these areas can apply to go straight in, and applications will be open until the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Since prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced SproutX in December last year, Trethewey says they have received over 600 enquiries from entrepreneurs, farmers and investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doors are opening,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Trethewey says SproutX will bring to life the critical solutions needed to help farmers optimise functions and build capabilities for a more sustainable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to be driving commercial outcomes into the farm gate,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have time or energy to spend in Australia on nice-to-haves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, <\/em>LinkedIn and SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Farmers\u2019 Federation and Findex have teamed up to launch Australia\u2019s first national agtech innovation hub with a dedicated $10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,18,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42387"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}