Agri-food tech accelerator SparkLabs Cultiv8 is turning its attention to cleantech startups in a new program to fund and develop them. The SparkLabs Cultiv8 CleanTech Accelerator has selected 10 startups for its initial cohort backed by Malcolm Nutt and Jonathon Quigley’s VC fund Cultiv8 Funds Management. Since its launch in 2017, the SparkLabs accelerator program… Read more »
Danielle Morton, the Founder of agtech startup Zondii, is no stranger to doing things differently. “As a regional female founder I knew I would be an outlier on the path to big city investment,” she said. In support of this sentiment, according to research done by SBE Australia and Deloitte Access Economics she was fortunate to… Read more »
The Western Australian government has lured the AgriFutures evokeAG to Perth in 2024 following its sell out success in Adelaide earlier this year. The two day tech conference focused on agrifood will take place in the WA capital on February 20-21 next year at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. It had been scheduled for… Read more »
Applications for SparkLabs Cultiv8’s cleantech accelerator are open for another fortnight, with space for 10 startups ready to transform the future of agri-food tech. The global Sparklabs Group invests in early-stage companies and each startup will receive up to A$100,000 in seed funding. Apply here – but get cracking because they close on April 17. … Read more »
New Zealand agtech startup, which developed a GPS-enabled solar collar that “guides” cows around pastures using sound and vibrations, has raised NZ$85 million (A$79.5m) in a Series C. The round was led by US VC Bessemer Venture Partners with existing backers Blackbird, Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures and DCVC. Mechanical engineer Craig… Read more »
CSIRO-backed fintech DAS (Digital Agriculture Services) has raised $3 million in interim funding in a round led by the VC arm of Canadian communications giant TELUS. TELUS Ventures was supported by existing investors, which include CSIRO, Startmate and several high net worths – and ahead of a broader US series later this year. The business… Read more »
The Victorian government is offering $1.3 million in new funding to the agtech startup sector through LaunchVic. The funding including $1 million under the AgTech Grants Program, which will offer individual grant funding of $50,000 to 20 emerging agtech startups. The program is a partnership between Agriculture Victoria and the state’s startup agency LaunchVic. On top… Read more »
Farming automation management startup SwarmFarm Robotics has raised $12 million in a Series A to address agriculture’s worker shortage. The round was led by Canadian agtech fund Emmertech, from Conexus Venture Capital, supported by Brisbane VC Tribe Global Ventures and South Australia’s Access Capital. Existing investors Tenacious Ventures and GrainInnovate, the Grains Research and Development Corporation… Read more »
Decarbonisation startup Loam, which uses microbes to sequester carbon in farm soils, has raised $105 million in a Series B. The latest raise comes 20 months after its $40 million Series A – and brings the total raised to $150 million Loam’s Series B was co-led by US climate-focused VC Lowercarbon Capital and former Macquarie… Read more »
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has made his first investment in an Australian startup, backing Perth-based climate tech venture Rumin8 in a US$12 million (A$17m) second phase of its Seed round. The raise was led by the Gates-founded VC firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), with participation from fellow billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest via their agri-food… Read more »
Stock theft – more organised crime than Jolly Swagman – costs Australian farmers more than $100 million a year. But a Melbourne software startup is hoping to address rustling, and other problems with livestock identification with a unique facial recognition system for animals. Z Ware has developed cattle recognition technology, called Stoktake, to not only… Read more »
After a two-year hiatus, Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event is back and it’s bigger than ever. This February, AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ Down to Earth will bring together leading global thinkers and local innovators to connect, collaborate, and rewrite the future of agrifood tech. Over two dynamic days (February 21 and 22), farmers, founders, researchers, investors and more… Read more »
Telsta has made its second agtech investment this week, after leading a $12 million round into farm communications startup Zenifi, also tipping $2 million in remote monitoring scale-up Farmbot Monitoring Solutions. The telco previously invested $1 million in October last year in Farmbot’s $2.7 million Series A. The startup had flagged a Series B in… Read more »
A regional NSW startup that’s extending the range of wi-fi on farms has raised $12 million in a Series A. Telstra, and GrainCorp through is recently launched $30 million GrainCorp Ventures fund, led the round in Wagga Wagga-based Zetifi, with support from existing investors including Cultiv8 Funds Management, the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s (GRDC) GrainInnovate fund, and Artesian. The fresh… Read more »
Queensland agtech startup DataFarming has raised $500,000 in a pre-Series A round led by Sydney VC Investible. Cofounded in 2017 by serial entrepreneurs Tim and Peta Neale, DataFarming help unlock the value of farm data for agronomists and farmers. The business services more than 120,000 paddocks across 28,000 farming enterprises – 40% market penetration in… Read more »
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