Agritech leading the growing revolution
I have worked deeply with hundreds of Agritech/Agrifood innovators and at the intersection of growers/farmers, research, and enablers such as government, investment, funders and industry bodies. My rich source of knowledge and knowhow on the challenges and opportunities locally and globally supports the commercialisation path for scaling companies.
New Zealand Agritech sits at the cutting edge of farming and the global growing revolution. The science and innovation based solutions coming out of Aotearoa are changing the way the world farms and grows. New Zealand has a long innovation track record starting in 1882 with exporting frozen meat to the UK, ElectroNet fencing for livestock since the 1960s and more recently new kiwifruit and apple varietals and centre-pivot irrigation systems for water efficiency and crop productivity all launched from NZ.
My optimism around Agritech was kick-started when working alongside Peter Wren-Hilton in 2017. He was an early visionary for Agritech initiatives. Since then I have been part of a team within Callaghan who led Agritech delegations to Silicon Valley, helped to inspire others on the global opportunities and led key conversations that have developed into impactful industry initiatives. Those early NZ companies on the first trips to the US include Robotics Plus, AutoGrow (now part of Bluelab), Regen (now CropX), Biolumic, Halter, UBCO, and Figured (to name a few). From seeds of ideas and companies, grow mighty Kauri.