Australia invests $12m in domestic agtech ecosystem

The Victoria Agriculture Ministry is touting the package as a “game-changer” for the industry, citing plans to invest a range of advanced applications, including robotics, virtual fencing, biotechnology and internet-of-things (IoT). It follows a A$12 million government commitment to an on-farm IoT project in the state last year.

“Victoria is the agtech hub of Australia, and with this investment, we are looking at being a world leader,” Jaala Pulford, the state’s minister for agriculture, said in a statement. “Our farmers deserve the very best tools to get the job done and digital innovation is at the heart of this.”

Last year, the Victorian government added A$1 million to a A$10 million fundraise by SproutX, an agtech vehicle managed by Artesian Venture Partners. However, private agtech sector investors have expressed disappointment in government participation at a national level despite notable technical contribution from federal research agencies such as CSIRO.

Much of the momentum in the sector to date has been driven by foreign capital channels such as US-based investors Finistere Ventures and AgFunder. New Zealand players including BioPacific Partners and Powerhouse Ventures have also been instrumental in supporting the ecosystem, with the latter backing on-farm analytics specialist CropLogic ahead of a Sydney IPO last year. 

According to KPMG, Australia’s agriculture industry could be worth A$100 billion by 2030 due to rising global demand for food. Meanwhile, AgFunder estimates that the amount of venture capital aimed at Australian agtech has increased from around $4.5 million in 2015 to more than $24 million as of the first half of 2017. About $1.5 billion of venture capital was said to be mobilized for agtech investment globally as of 2016.

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• Topics
• Australasia
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• Agriculture