The Beating Heart of Breakthrough Tech & Investment

The Start-Up Arena brings together 55+ pioneering early- and growth-stage start-ups with the agri-food sector’s most active and influential investors for two days of discovery, deal-making, and collaboration.

The Innovation Stage will host rapid-fire pitches, case studies, and NEW! Start-Up Academy sessions, showcasing cutting-edge technology, diverse funding mechanisms and innovative investment approaches, and robust go-to-market channels.

Spanning an entire floor, this high-energy hub will host 1,700 senior agri-food decision-makers looking to exchange ideas and explore new partnerships to push the boundaries of agri-tech and deeptech – strengthening resilience and security across the global food system.

 

  • The Innovation Stage
  • Watch live pitches
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10:45
  1. Start-Up Arena
    30 mins
    • Start-Up Arena Networking Break
11:15
  1. Start-Up Arena
    60 mins
    • Start-Up Academy

    In an agri‑food landscape defined by tight capital markets, micro‑M&A activity, start‑up mergers, and shifting public support, this interactive session explores how founders can assemble a viable capital stack for agri‑tech scale‑up. The discussion will focus on how government programs, venture capital, and alternative financing mechanisms can be strategically blended.

    • How is government funding evolving, and how can founders combine these non-dilutive sources with venture capital and non‑traditional mechanisms to build a resilient capital stack?
    • What real‑world examples are emerging? Which new agri‑tech programs are rolling out, how are they being paired with other funding streams, and what impacts might they have on the agri‑food innovation ecosystem?
    • What role is corporate venture capital playing in today’s agri‑tech market, and how are corporates evaluating opportunities, strategic fit, and risk to invest in, acquire, and partner with start-ups?
    • In a rapid‑fire format, we will break down the different elements of the evolving capital stack and pinpoint which funding combinations are most viable in today’s constrained market. 
12:35
  1. Start-Up Arena
    60 mins
    • Start-Up Arena Networking Break
13:35
  1. Start-Up Arena
    40 mins
    • Start-Up Pitching Sessions
    Join a high-energy, rapid-fire pitching session of the industry's most exciting entrepreneurs. The companies in this group are united by their use of cutting‑edge biotechnology across inputs and genetics to improve crop protection and plant performance. They develop innovative biocontrol, biostimulant and bionutrition agents, as well as next‑gen breeding tools and gene‑editing platforms.  Others supply enabling biomanufacturing infrastructure that transforms lab‑scale biotech innovations into commercial products.
14:25
  1. Start-Up Arena
    40 mins
    • Start-Up Pitching Sessions
    Join a high-energy, rapid-fire pitching session of the industry's most exciting entrepreneurs. This group captures start-ups building the digital backbone of modern agriculture through advanced sensing, automation, AI modeling, and robotics. Their shared focus is enabling smarter, faster, and more precise decision‑making across farms by combining real‑time data streams with intelligent analytics to  operate more efficiently, reduce risk, and increase productivity.
15:05
  1. Start-Up Arena
    30 mins
    • Start-Up Arena Networking Break
15:35
  1. Start-Up Arena
    25 mins
    • Scale-Up Case Studies
    These growth‑stage innovators are advancing high‑impact technologies across agri-tech and biotech to build ecosystem resilience. Their work spans cutting‑edge AI and precision tools, soil‑health solutions, biologicals, and genetic innovations. Together, they represent a cohort translating deep science into scalable, market‑ready solutions that enhance agri-food productivity and resilience.
16:05
  1. Start-Up Arena
    30 mins
    • Start-Up Academy
    Many ag‑tech start-ups don’t struggle because their product falls short – they struggle because they misunderstand how information, influence, and adoption move through agriculture. This session will unpack the five most common myths that stall early-stage growth and provide practical, actionable tips and solutions to help start-ups build credibility, reach the right audience, and accelerate adoption in a complex agricultural landscape.
16:35
  1. Start-Up Arena
    40 mins
    • Start-Up Pitching Sessions
    Join a high-energy, rapid-fire pitching session of the industry's most exciting entrepreneurs. Start-ups in this group focus on strengthening the sustainability and resilience of global food systems through precision and monitoring technologies, circular‑economy innovations, and resource‑efficiency solutions. Together, these innovators are building a climate-smart, productive, and future‑proofed food ecosystem.
10:15
  1. Start-Up Arena
    30 mins
    • Start-Up Arena Networking Break
10:45
  1. Start-Up Arena
    25 mins
    • Scale-Up Case Studies
    These growth‑stage innovators are advancing high‑impact technologies across agri-tech and biotech to build ecosystem resilience. Their work spans cutting‑edge AI and precision tools, soil‑health solutions, biologicals, and genetic innovations. Together, they represent a cohort translating deep science into scalable, market‑ready solutions that enhance agri-food productivity and resilience.
11:15
  1. Start-Up Arena
    15 mins
    • Investment Report
    A look at the latest investment trends with AgFunder.
11:35
  1. Start-Up Arena
    40 mins
    • Start-Up Pitching Sessions
    Join a high‑energy, rapid‑fire pitching session showcasing some of agriculture’s most exciting entrepreneurs as they pitch potentially transformative innovations in agri‑tech and biotech - from biologicals and genetics to AI‑powered predictive systems and precision solutions. Discover how these next‑gen technologies are re‑shaping crop health and protection, breeding and gene-editing, robotics and automation, and data intelligence.
12:45
  1. Start-Up Arena
    60 mins
    • Start-Up Arena Networking Break
13:45
  1. Start-Up Arena
    10 mins
    • Start-Up Pitching Sessions
Join the Start-Up Arena

Get your business in front of active investors at World Agri-Tech in San Francisco.