Mobile abattoir idea takes out inaugural SproutX competition
Farmgate MSU- a service designed to bring the slaughtering facility to the farm– has won judges and the audience over at an ag-tech 'Shark Tank' style event. Natasha Laging was there...SproutX, an agricultural technology accelerator program in Australia, has hosted its first ever pitch event last week featuring 11 start-up companies with innovative ideas to revolutionise the Australian agricultural industry.
At the event, participants had to pitch their business ideas to a panel of experts and a sizeable audience 'Shark Tank' style, with a winner chosen at the end of the night based on the judges' and audience's votes.
A unique mobile abattoir concept, named Farmgate MSU, was picked as the people's and judges' choice and took home a cool $500. Its aim is to disrupt the supply chain by bringing the abattoir to the farm gate, which could significantly cut down transportation costs for the farmer.
Farmgate MSU founder, Chris Balazs began his pitch on a personal note.
"I want to tell you a story about a young farmer with a problem," he says.
"This young farmer has a cattle production business in which he supplies his premium quality beef direct to consumers. The problem is - he has to put his cattle on the back of a truck and travel at 150km to the nearest abattoir.
"He knows this adds additional costs to his business, and worse, it decreases the quality of the meat he is providing which he has worked so hard to produce. We know this is a real problem because I’m that farmer.
"But like all good farmers that have got a problem, I’m bloody well going to do something about it!”
Farmgate MSU's value proposition attracted a huge response from the crowd and won on a ranking based on Team, Traction, Technology and Presentation.
While the concept of a mobile abattoir could impact workers in the meat industry, Balazs says the best part about a disruptive technology like this is that "there's a real demand from the sector".
"They had a very solid team of people from across the supply chain, great progress on their product and customer interest, a solid technology idea and a clear and concise presentation," says SproutX Accelerator Director, Andrew Lai.
The judging panel on the night comprises Artesian Capital COO, Tim Heasley; NAB’s Head of Agribusiness Development, Garry Gale; and lifetime farmer, Robert Trethewey.
Participants were certainly keen to win the money and each impressed with their grass-roots approach to innovation. After each presentation, the judges offered their criticism while the crowd was asked to vote for their favourite idea by tweeting using a unique hashtag.
The 11 start-ups who took part in the event have been carefully selected by SproutX through its Accelerator program and will all receive $40,000 in funding to further develop their concept in return for eight per cent equity in their businesses.
The companies will also receive expert mentoring; media exposure; distribution and networking opportunities with top ag organisations; and six months use of SproutX's office space in Melbourne.
Some other notable ideas presented on the night include:
- Bloombox Co - a start-up run by two trend specialists who sell flowers direct to consumer from growers on a subscription model. It claims to be the first in the floral vertical to reduce waste, improve profitability for growers and extend tips to buyers. The team has recognised that flowers are a fashion-driven lifestyle product and is targeting the female buyer, whom they believe will care about floral longevity.
- Applant created the 'aTree', the first human-pumped, hydroponic vertical farm for the home. aTree claims to use 95 per cent less water than traditional growing methods and can be placed in controlled areas where it can grow plants all year round. The opportunity for low-effort self-irrigation is appealing to urban dwellers, which is its target market.
- Farmapp has developed an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) software-based service that includes a combination of scouting and fumigation apps with sensors for automated pest management. They aim to reduce costs associated with the application of pesticides, increase soil productivity and contribute to improving the health of the planet. Users will also be able to access how the weather and pests are affecting their crops in real time.
- IoTAg Pty Ltd developed a smart cattle ear tag enabling farmers to track cattle movement and monitor key breeding-related events, as well as be alerted to illnesses and births in the stock. The long-range GPS tracking device is specific to pastoral markets and according to co-founder Matthew Petersen; "Is not just a Fitbit for cows."
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