So said Arama Kukutai, co-founder and managing director of Finistere Ventures, in his keynote address at the ’10 billion mouths’ agritech conference in Tauranga last week. And Arama should know. He has just led the largest ever delegation of Silicon Valley venture capital investors to New Zealand. During their four days in the country, the delegation had the opportunity to [...]
Getting early stage New Zealand AgriTech businesses connected to the global market is an important goal for Sprout, New Zealand’s leading AgriTech accelerator. This week, that task has become a whole lot easier. Wharf42 & Sprout have signed a partnership agreement which will provide Sprout alumni businesses with access to Wharf42’s extensive Silicon Valley AgriTech network. Additionally, Wharf42 will become [...]
On 9th November, Plug and Play will be hosting the launch of its brand new Corporate Innovation Platform – AgriFood Tech. The announcement was first made by Seena Amidi back in April during the 2016 Silicon Valley AgTech Immersion Program visit to the Plug and Play Tech Center. It was one of the highlights of the Kiwi AgTech delegation’s week [...]
Once again, Wharf42 is working with Klaus and the team at Silicon Valley Forum to develop a major AgTech Immersion Program to Silicon Valley for Kiwi and other global AgTech companies. Mark the date: It will run from 3-7 April 2017. The format for next year’s program includes 3 days of meetings with the Silicon Valley and wider Northern California [...]
Since my return from April's Silicon Valley Forum AgTech Immersion Program & Conference, I have been talking to a number of Kiwi AgTech companies & investors in Silicon Valley about how we can attract inward investment for significant R&D here. I am not alone. Last year, the New Zealand Government announced a new national strategy to attract more overseas investment [...]
This is the 2nd panel discussion video post on the Wharf42 blog from the recent New Zealand AgTech delegation to Silicon Valley. Yesterday, I posted the panel discussion video on Robotics and Sustainable Agriculture featuring New Zealand's very own AgTech specialists Dan Bloomer & Geoff Furniss. During last month’s 3-Day AgTech Immersion Program in the region and 1-day SVForum AgTech [...]
During last week’s tour of Silicon Valley, the New Zealand AgTech delegation had the opportunity to visit the Plug and Play Tech Center, in Sunnyvale. I have, of course, a very close affinity with Plug and Play. It has been my Valley home for the past five years and I have seen its ecosystem grow up over this time. That [...]
Last week, I was hugely privileged to join 27 amazing Kiwi AgTech companies and sector entities participate in the 3-day Silicon Valley AgTech Immersion Program and 1-day SVForum AgTech Conference. It was a truly awesome and inspiring experience. Prior to the visit, I had posted an article to this blog about some of my expectations. It’s fair to say that [...]
Hey Silicon Valley! It’s great to be back! Jacqui and I touched down at San Francisco International yesterday. Today, we are reconnecting with friends and business partners from across the region. We are here to lead the vanguard of 30 Kiwi companies due to arrive in town over the next 72 hours for a week of intense AgTech engagement. So [...]
It’s great to see that the new WNT Ventures portal is now live. You can view it at www.wntventures.co.nz The launch comes towards the end of a fascinating first full year of operation. As a member of both the WNT Ventures General Partner Board and its Investment Committee, it has opened my eyes to some of the amazing research, IP [...]
