Australia's SproutX closes $8m agritech fund

LP support includes domestic superannuation fund Hostplus, which committed A$85 million to an Artesian fund earlier this year, a portion of which has in turn been deployed to the SproutX vehicle. Sproutx plans to take 8% stakes in 10 Australian agritech start-ups for A$40,000 each.

Mentorship and workspace resources will be provided during a six-month program at the accelerator’s Melbourne facilities. Select companies will have access to potential product distortion partners and follow-on investments of up to A$1 million. Further backing from Artesian could include deployments as large as A$5 million.

"Australia has a competitive advantage in agriculture, including brand recognition, world-leading research, diverse climatic regions and a history of agricultural innovation," Tim Heasley, Artesian’s chief operating officer said, according to local media. "Australia is perfectly positioned to benefit from growing demand from Asian markets. Global food demand is forecast to increase 70% by 2050, and the growing middle class of China and India will consume both a greater amount and greater variety of food.”

Founded last year as a collaboration between financial services company Findex and the National Farmers Federation, SproutX brands itself as Australia’s first agtech focused accelerator program. Its investment strategy prioritizes early business traction indicators, including pre-sales, consumer interest and letters of intent. 

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