Start-Up Arena: Pitches, Investor Match-Making and Mentoring

NEW FOR 2023! Start-ups are given pride of place with a whole dedicated floor and side program of pitching, investor match-making and mentoring sessions taking place in the Start-Up Arena.

12.00 – 12.30 PM

Pitches: Next Gen Crop Protection

Biological alternatives and new approaches to crop protection and breeding healthier plants are urgent priorities for the sector, hear from six entrepreneurs as they pitch their solutions that are re-imaging the future of plant health. Innovators have 4 minutes each to give you a snapshot of their solutions.

Presenters:
Giorgio Rocca, Co-Founder & CEO, BIOCENTIS
Ying Shao, Co-Founder & CEO, PLANTIK
Federico Ocampo, CSO, ELYTRON
Glen Slade, CEO, BIGSIS
Martina Drobna, Co-Founder & CMO, VITIPORT
Jiarui Li, CEO, INNATRIX

12.30 – 1.00 PM

Join Smart Agro Fund and three start-ups from their portfolio as they explore their investment strategy on building sustainable solutions across the agriculture sector.  

With:
Dganit Vered, CEO, SMART AGRO FUND
Iddo Geltner, CEO & Co-Founder, ARUGGA
Ido Margalit, Co-Founder & CEO, BETTERSEEDS
Raviv Kula, Co-Founder & CEO, FRUITSPEC

2.00 – 2.30 PM

SP Ventures take centre stage with their portfolio of fintech and ag marketplace innovators, to share more about the growing agtech innovation ecosystem in South America and showcase how the region is taking the lead in transforming agriculture’s financial services and greater transparency to the supply chain.

With:
Francisco Jardim, Managing Partner, SP VENTURES
Alan Glezer, Co-Founder & CFO, AGROLEND
Victor Bernardino, Co-Founder & CEO, CLICAMPO
Fabrizio Pezente, Co-Founder, TRAIVE
Hugo Garduño, Co-Founder, VERQOR

2.30 – 3.00 PM

Catalytic Capital: The Missing Piece to Project Deployment

Join Elemental for a fireside chat on how to successfully deploy high-impact pilots with their portfolio company Propagate and The Nature Conservancy. Propagate received funding with Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Co-Op (HUC) to partner in designing an interactive economic model for farmers to scale diversified agroforestry in Hawaiʻi. As part of this catalytic grant funding through Elemental, and by partnering closely with The Nature Conservancy, Propagate was able to unlock a portion of $64 million in federal grant money from the USDA’s Climate Smart Commodities, and close both it’s $10m Series A round and new project finance vehicle.

With:
Mitch Rubin, Director Of Innovation, ELEMENTAL EXCELERATOR
Renée Vassilos, Director of Agriculture Innovation, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
Ethan Steinberg, CEO & Co-Founder, PROPAGATE

3.00 – 3.30 PM

Growing Innovative Agri-FoodTech Start-Ups in Greater Sacramento

Join the Greater Sacramento Economic Council and three start up companies Advanced.Farm, Macro Oceans and MyFloraDNA for a panel discussion to hear about their experience of growing and scaling in Greater Sacramento and the resources and networks that the region has to offer innovators.

Host:
Janine Elliott, Associate Director, Venture Capitalist, UC DAVIS

With:
Kyle Cobb, Co-Founder, ADVANCED.FARM
Matthew Perkins, Founder & CEO, MACRO OCEANS
Angel Fernandez, Plant Geneticist, UC Berkeley, MYFLORADNA

3.30 – 4.00 PM

Join Plug and Play and four of their cohort to find out how their platform is facilitating pilots and new relationships across the agtech sector to advance and develop new applications in automation, analytics, sustainability and supply chain.

Hosts:
Mónica Homem, Director & John Mann, Venture Associate, PLUG AND PLAY TECH CENTER

With:
Diego Hoter, Co-Founder & CEO, UCROP.IT
Charles Smith, Founder & CEO, IMIO
Chris Johnson, CEO, AGRELLUS
Michael Lynch, Co-Founder & CEO, CHONEX

4.30 – 5.00 PM – MAIN STAGE

The Cooperative Ventures Innovation Challenge Finalists

Join Growmark and CHS in the main auditorium to hear thre finalist of this year’s innovation challenge: Leveraging Field-Level Data to Deliver Actionable Insights and Profitability for Farmers. Winner announced at 5.45pm!

Judges:
Heather Thompson, Director of Innovation, GROWMARK
Ben Van Straten, Director of Innovation & Sustainability, CHS

Finalists:
UKKO AGRO, PRECISION AI, AUTONOMOUS PIVOT

5.00 – 5.30 PM

Grow NY: Transformational AgTech in Upstate New York

Join Julie Suarez, CornellCal’s Associate Dean for Land-Grant affairs and Grow NY’s cohort to learn how New York is fostering innovative responses to adapt and mitigate risk to the food systems from climate, labor, and supply chain issues. New York is making big investments into ag tech startups, and how can startups and investors alike benefit from New York’s abundant R&D, education, agriculture, natural, and business resources?

With:
Julie C. Suarez, Associate Dean, Land-Grant Affairs, CORNELL CALS
Mikhail Hutton, CEO, CANDIDUS, USA
Warren Lee, Commercial Director, PROAGNI, AUSTRALIA
Jenny Lemieux, Co-Founder & CEO, Vivid Machines, CANADA
Juan Guzman, CEO, CAPRO-X, USA
Gabriel Wilmouth, COO, ASCRIBE BIOSCIENCES, USA
Anshul Porwal, CEO, NEUPEAK ROBOTICS, CANADA

5.30 – 5.45 PM
Fostering AgTech Innovation To Scale In California

Host: Gabe Youtsey, CIO, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESURCES

With:
Walt Duflock, Vice President of Innovation, WESTERN GROWERS
Seana Day, Partner, BETTER FOOD VENTURES

11.00 – 11.30 AM

Pitches: Carbon, Plant & Soil Health

Kicking off day two in the start-up arena, we hear from five innovators tackling soil and plant health & carbon management.

With:

Raul Cano, Founder & CEO, ANCIENT ORGANICS
Greg Thompson, CEO, INTRINSYX BIO
Andee Wallace, Co-founder & CEO, ROBIGO
Mary Fernandes, President & Co-Founder, SOLIS AGROSCIENCES
Murray MacKinnon, CEO, SULTECH
Aadith Moorthy, CEO, BOOMITRA

11.30 – 12.00 PM

Join the Canadian Technology Accelerator and nine of their startups in San Francisco for rapid fire pitching and explore how Canada is positioning itself as a powerhouse for innovation and supporting startups to commercialize and scale across the region.

With: Emily Raab, Michele Kuxhaus & Christina Connelly, Trade Commissioners, CONSULATES GENERAL OF CANADA IN SAN FRANCISCO, LA AND MINNEAPOLIS 
Jordan MacKenzie, Co-Founder & CEO, BIOFORM TECHNOLOGIES
Behdad Bahrami, Co-Founder & CEO, EDGECOM ENERGY
Mark Lepp, Founder & CEO, GRAINFOX
Doug Laird, COO, LIVESTOCK WATER RECYCLING
Anshul Porwal, CEO & Co-founder, NEUPEAK ROBOTICS
Teric Greenan, COO, NEXUS ROBOTICS
Sean Thompson, Co-Founder & CEO, PSIGRYPH
Michael Cully, Founder & CEO, SUSTERRE
Mike Boudreau, President & CEO, TECHBREW ROBOTICS

12.00 – 12.30 PM

Pitches: Crop Management & Traceability

Five start-ups will pitch their technology that addresses challenges for food waste, crop management and traceability.

With:
Anthony Zografos, Founder & CEO, AKORN TECHNOLOGY
Vinay Nair, Co-Founder & CEO, KHETI BUDDY
David Singer, Co-Founder & VP of Sales, INDEX BIOSYSTEMS
Dotan Eshet, CEO, TREETOSCOPE
Dan White, CEO, CLEAN CROP TECHNOLOGIES

12.30 – 1.00 PM

Taking Corporate Cash – Join Yara Growth Ventures and its portfolio for a candid discussion on how startups are working with corporate venture units. 

With:
Jamie Bacher, CEO, BOOST BIOMES
Craig Rupp, CEO, SABANTO
Aadith Moorthy, CEO, BOOMITRA
Alan Glezer, Co-Founder & CFO, AGROLEND

2:00-2:30 PM

Join Nebraska’s statewide program, The Combine to uncover how the region is strengthening high growth start-up companies in region’s largest industry. Assisting high growth businesses and entrepreneurs across the state through in person and virtual coaching and mentoring to support entrepreneurs from prototype development, commercialization through to funding and investment.

With:
Ben Williamson, Principal & General Counsel, THE COMBINE
Billy Hagstrom, CEO & Co-Founder, BLUESTEM BIOSCIENCES
Chris Thompson, Partner, EVP, AMERICAN EDGE GRAIN
Mitch Minarick, Founder, RURAL ENERGY PARTNERS

2.30 – 3:00 PM

Join APEX Brasil and eight start-up companies to uncover how Brazil is positioning itself as a global hub for AgTech, and supporting homegrown talent and opportunities for investment.

Host:
Emanuel Figueira, Manager, APEXBRASIL

With:
Rafael Quintella, Managing Director North America, AGROTOOLS
Eduardo Goerl, Founder, ARPAC
Tulio Marcos Nunes, Chief Innovation Officer, DECOY SMART
Alexandre Monteiro Chequim, CEO, DIGIFARMZ SMART AGRICULTURE
Alexandre Borges Silva, CEO, GRAO DIRETO
Geraldo Maia, CEO, PINK FARMS
Andrei Grespan, CEO, TARVOS
Eimi Arikawa, Director General, UM GRAU E MEIO