Nine leading AgriTech scale-ups will enter the Vietnam market, through the Aus4Innovation development assistance programme, initiated by the Australian government
The scale-ups have been selected to join the GRAFT Challenge Vietnam, a first-of-its-kind ‘land and launch’ programme, which aims to give promising innovators from around the world, necessary support to scale into Vietnam with effective solutions for AgriFood challenges.
The GRAFT team evaluated applications from across 16 countries, including the USA, Israel, Australia, India, and Thailand, before selecting the finalists.
Applicant scale-ups pitched solutions for integrated IoT solutions, to improve water quality in local aquaculture systems, microbial solutions for environment friendly crop health management, and microclimate monitoring and control systems for safer and more energy-efficient piggeries, among others.
All of the scale-ups that applied, were either post-revenue or had previously graduated from a top global accelerator programmes, with nearly 50% of the scale-ups in the final cohort being female-led companies.
“The caliber of this year's applicants exceeded even our already-high expectations. The market-ready solutions and capabilities carried by our inaugural cohort will help many of Vietnam's AgriFood industry leaders to solve some of their toughest challenges,” said Justin Ahmed, GRAFT programme lead.
GRAFT Challenge Vietnam convened industry working groups of Vietnamese agribusiness corporates, to identify the unique challenges that face Vietnam’s crops and plantations, aquaculture, and livestock industries.
“The strength of the GRAFT Challenge Vietnam 2021 scale-up cohort gives the Australian government even more confidence in this public-private partnership and its potential to kickstart a wave of innovation in Vietnam’s agriculture sector,” said Tom Wood, programme director of Aus4Innovation.
The selected scale-up will begin GRAFT’s 15-week programme of tailored support, during which a network of in-market experts will provide bespoke consultation, to help the scale-ups validate their technologies. This phase of the programme will culminate with the scale-ups presenting their solutions to Vietnamese agricultural corporations, at an intensive week-long roadshow.
The scale-ups in the GRAFT Challenge Vietnam 2021 Cohort are:
AgNext Technologies (India): Agnext builds trust and transparency in the agriculture value chain with an AI-driven SaaS platform that digitalises food quality assessments. The company’s mission is to improve food quality for billions around the world.
CropIn (India): CropIn provides decision-making support and traceability tools to reduce risk and maximise per-unit value. CropIn’s tools are purpose-built for entities in every corner of the agri ecosystem, including seed producers, contract farmers, processors, and government and financial institutions.
EveryPig (USA): EveryPig’s first-of-its-kind software programme for pork combines real-time digital health monitoring, telehealth, and treatment tracking to help pork farmers easily optimise their operations. EveryPig’s solution, launched three years ago, has also been adopted by agricultural management companies and veterinarians.
Hillridge Technology (Australia): Hillridge Technology provides a data-based solution, powered by proprietary algorithms, to digitally calculate and issue parametric micro insurance to smallholder farmers and enable them to recover from the impacts of poor weather. The company, founded in Australia, is working to ease the insurance claims process for crop and livestock farmers
JalaTech (Indonesia): JalaTech offers a precision, data-powered shrimp farm management platform that improves feed efficiency and health outcomes. JalaTech is used by thousands of shrimp farms across Indonesia and Southeast Asia, including Fresh Studio, Skretting, and Solvay.
Koltiva (Indonesia): Koltiva, a leading agriculture system specialist, offers tailored IT solutions and services to improve project management along agriculture supply chains. Koltiva’s solutions have been used by clients in 28 countries so far.
ListenField (Thailand): ListenField built a patent-backed precision ag tech platform that leverages data analytics to help farmers cut operational costs, improve productivity, and reduce carbon footprints. The company’s ambition is to transform agriculture for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Sufresca (Israel): Sufresca developed bio-based, easy-to-apply edible coatings that extend the shelf-life of fresh products for weeks under ambient conditions. The company, founded by three professors from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wants to limit food waste and reduce plastic packaging.
Tepbac (Vietnam): Tepbac has built an aquaculture farm management platform featuring IoT solutions that improves operational efficiency, water quality control, and traceability for enterprises in Vietnam. The Tepbac platform has been used on more than 1,500 farms, putting the company well on its way to disrupting the Vietnam seafood.
