NSW Ag-tech startups bound for India

8 Aug 2019

Five ag-tech startups from NSW have been selected to travel to India in October with the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) to promote their technology in the world’s fastest growing economy.

DPI Group Director Business Development & Innovation, Bruce Finney, said the India Ag-tech Exchange 2019 is an immersion program run by DPI’s innovation centre the GATE.

The exchange aims to explore the opportunities available to embed startup technology from NSW in India's agricultural industry.

“The selected companies will visit four Indian cities and more than 20 companies over 13 days with introductions to venture capital, governments, agricultural companies and Indian start-ups,” Mr Finney said.

“This exposure will help these startups to develop on a global scale and to better understand market opportunities and constraints.”

“They will also learn what Indian technologies can be used in NSW to increase agricultural benefits, and identify actions that may positively impact NSW agriculture profitability via market development.”

The selected startups in the 2019 program include:

• Solution Blue - developing sustainable agriculture systems like bug farming and aquaponics for a smarter farming future
• Agtrix - trusted supply chain systems for the agricultural industry from harvest management to onbound logistics
• Agriscan - electronic ID tags to allow farmers to move from mob-based averages to individual animal management; readers can read multiple animals simultaneously
• Flurosat - the world's most scalable, predictive agronomic analytics engine
• Collaborative Process Unit - allows early detection of pest or disease infestation and damage using advanced sensors, software and data analytics

Mr Finney said the India Ag-Tech Exchange program will help develop successful and ongoing relationships between DPI and Indian hubs, to facilitate bilateral exchanges of agricultural technologies.

“As part of the exchange, NSW Treasury - India and DPI will also provide in-country support for an Ag-tech expert to attend the Gate Demo Day in September,” Mr Finney said.

“By building relationships with rapidly growing Indian ag-tech hubs, we will ultimately improve the productivity and profitability of NSW agribusiness.”

Media contact: Suzie Robinson (02) 6391 3686