A total of 40 local and international start-up businesses are set to take part in Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event AgriFutures evokeAG as members of the 2024 Startup Program cohort.
Hailing from across Australia, as well as from New Zealand, Canada, and the United States, the participants were selected for having created innovative solutions that address complex global challenges, from waste management and sustainable production to decarbonisation, as well as driving positive change to Australian food systems.
The AgriFutures evokeAG Startup Program provides an opportunity for agrifood tech and innovation businesses to directly connect with potential investors and corporates from across the world, grow their networks, and expand their customer base.
AgriFutures General Manager for Global Innovation Networks, Harriet Mellish, stated that when it comes to innovation and technology in the agrifood sector, Australia is on the edge of immense opportunity and this cohort reflects that.
“The businesses selected for the Startup Program demonstrate exceptional technology that will help revolutionise the sector, have strong market potential, and a clear vision for the future and growth opportunities for the business,” Mellish said. “From sustainable wine packaging to an advanced whole-farm economic decision tool and a technology to turn rice straw waste into bio-asphalt, the innovations and opportunities they hold for the future of Australia’s food system are immense.
“The Startup Program will also connect producers with technology that will help to push their productivity, help investors and corporates find a competitive edge by partnering with some of the most exciting agrifood tech start-ups in the region, and highlight technologies and innovations to address some of the most pressing challenges as the world teeters on the edge of ecological, environmental and economic uncertainty,” Mellish added.
Since its inception in 2019, the evokeAG Startup Program has helped drive investment to, and growth of, more than 80 Australian and global agrifood tech start-ups.
The 2024 cohort will also be exhibiting in the event’s Startup Alley to showcase their agrifood tech innovation, with 10 of them due to be selected by AgriFutures to demonstrate their technology to conference-goers at evokeAG 2024 on the demo stage. A small contingent of Australian and New Zealand start-ups and scale-ups will also have the opportunity to present to potential customers and investors at the event’s Culinary Capital Dinner on the eve of the event.
“We are very excited and proud to be bringing this impressive cohort to Perth in 2024,” Mellish said. “There aren’t many programs of this kind that connect future industry leaders in the agrifood tech innovation space, directly to global investors and customers that will help them grow, refine, and further market their business.”
