Agtech - So What?

Zack Armen, formerly a senior associate at venture development firm Flagship Pioneering, is currently Director of Business Development at  INcredible Foods

In this episode, Zack takes us through his journey from finance, through MIT, and into Agtech.

In this episode, you'll hear from Matthew on:

* The journey from Silicon Valley entrepreneur to working with researchers and industry to launch an agtech startup in Australia that was eventually acquired

* The importance of failure in any startup's story, and why a celebrating failures is so critical

* Tips for current and aspiring agtech entrepreneurs on service models, international expansion, customer breadth vs depth, and scaling hardware operations

* Opportunities for producer-led innovation and producer + entrepreneur collaborations

The importance of adopting a global perspective on agtech, and acknowledgement that agtech, though highly related to our food and fiber production systems, is a distinct industry with billions of dollars of potential

* Acquisition myths...and what happens after an exit!

We are just about to launch BushTech season 2!

Episodes should start hitting your feeds this week

Airlie Trescowthick, originally from a sheep and cattle property in NSW, is the Founder of Farm Table an online platform that brings together industry knowledge and connects farmers in a way never seen before.

On this episode, Airlie talks about the launch of the Farm Table, her journey into the intersection of technology and agriculture, and the challenges of hiring a team and building great software.

In this episode, we interview Nick Addison, CTO at AgriDigital. Nick is a recognised blockchain industry leader within Australia, where he is regular speaker and educator. We discuss (at an admittedly noisy café- sorry!), blockchain 101: what is a blockchain in its simplest form, and what does it mean for Agriculture now and in the future.

On this week's episode we welcome Sam Trethewey, General Manager of Sprout X and one of the key people involved in building Australia's agtech ecosystem. SproutX, owned by Findex and the National Farmers Federation, is Australia's first agtech accelerator. They also feature a pre-accelerator, co-working space, and other resources to support innovation in agriculture across Australia.

This week's episode comes to you from the Sydeny Agtech meetup, featuring Kevin Baum, CEO of AgriWebb. AgriWebb, based in Sydney, provides livestock and farm management software. A regular on the agtech scene with lots of successes behind them, AgriWebb has grown to a team of 17, raised over $8M, and won multiple iAwards.

Professor Salah Sukkarieh also known as Dr. Robot, is revolutionizing the agriculture industry. 'Revolutionize' is not a word to be used lightly, but Salah and his team of 80 researchers at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics indeed do it justice.

In this episode, Salah takes us through the robots he and his team are building, as well as what technological advances may mean for the future of education, food, regional communities, and the environment.

Olympia Yarger farms maggots. And crickets. And mealworms. Her company, Goterra, is using technology to create a new and protein-focused farming industry...based on insects!

The lastest Sydney Agtech meeting up  featured investor, entrepreneur, and startup scientist Phil Morle. Phil is a veteran in the entrepreneurship landscape in Australia, and comes with an impressive resume: Phil founded Pollenizer, Australia’s first Silicon Valley style incubator; is a Director at the Food Agility CRC; and is a Partner in the soon-to-be-launched Main Sequence Ventures, a $200M fund supported by the federal government ($70M), CSIRO ($30M), and the private sector (TBC).