On the 23-24 September, 60 speakers from international agribusinesses, NGOs, venture capital funds and technology innovators met for the second annual World Agri-Tech Investment Summit, Europe’s annual meeting place for the global agri-tech industry.
With a specific focus on the application of big data in agri-tech, and in-depth analysis of the market opportunity for biopesticides, seed treatment and drought-resilience, the 2014 summit brought together global leaders in resource-efficient agriculture with the world’s most innovative technology developers and the international clean-tech investment community.
Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer Cropscience, Dow Agrosciences, Land O’Lakes and IBM all shared their views on the most exciting opportunities for agri-tech investment, while 12 of the world’s most innovative technology companies in precision farming, robotics, seed breeding, agricultural biotech and water conservation showcased their solutions.
Lord Rupert de Mauley, Parliamentary Undersecretary, at DEFRA opened the summit with a Ministerial Welcome Address on the UK Agri-Tech Strategy, including the £70 million Agri-Tech Catalyst Fund
Vipula Shukla, Senior Program Officer, Discovery Research, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Denis Kyetere, Executive Director at the African Agricultural Technology Foundation in Kenya spoke on unlocking the potential of African Agriculture whilst John Hamer, Investment Director at Monsanto Growth Ventures and Deborah Magid, Director, Software Strategy, at IBM Venture Capital Group met with other leading investors at to understand how data science and technology are converging to produce some of the most exciting investment opportunities seen in recent years.
Prior to taking part in the discussion John Hamer explained “One can imagine a future where every aspect of land management and farming operations is informed through real-time data collection, analytics and decision support tools,” whilst Deborah Magid said ”We are in the very early stages of understanding how technology and the ability to harness Big Data could have global impact on the world’s food supply – the potential is tremendous,”
Due to the success of the summit, Rethink Events have just launched the World Agri-Tech Investment Summit in San Francisco on 3-4 March 2015 at Mission Bay Conference Center. To find out more contact jennie.moss@rethinkevents.com