Yesterday, Jacqui and I had a great meeting (& thanks for the lunch!) with the visiting Innovate UK Global Business Innovation Programme (Agri-Tech) team in Hamilton yesterday. It was good to learn about each of the delegates’ businesses and key focus areas. There’s undoubtedly a real opportunity for some partnerships and deal-making to be done in New Zealand.
In-market visits such as this offer huge value to the participants. The follow-up however is the critical piece. It was one of my own focus areas of conversation with some of the team. Two weeks provides you with a taster. To properly evaluate any real export market potential however requires a different and more nuanced approach.
We discussed the Australia – UK agritech accelerator programmes which provide a more in-depth understanding of the market opportunity. I also talked a bit about Platform10 which Wharf42 and Western Growers will be launching in California next week. Building Global Partner Networks can provide both startup and scaleup companies with the opportunity to accelerate their knowledge and understanding of offshore market potential.
The current UK delegation tour in NZ looks like a great introduction to our agrifood and agrifoodtech ecosystem. I hope the discussions help develop a more collaborative framework which both countries can build on.