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Meet the Founder - Winealyse

It’s estimated that wineries around New Zealand spend around $80 million each year on testing. One start-up is looking to save costs and give winemakers more time to focus on winemaking and less time in the lab with its testing device. Winealyse is a venture developing a capillary microfluidic wine testing device for the improvement of wine quality. Meet the founder Daniel Mak. He is one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort IX intake....

Meet the Founder - SaproTech

The leather goods industry is worth around $400 billion. From handbags to clothing, the industry uses subsidiary products from the primary sector. It also contributes to our global emissions. But what if you could create a leather equivalent from fungi? That’s just what one New Zealand company, SaproTech, is setting out to do. Using the power of fungi, they are producing leather textiles produced from mycelium fibre. Meet the founder, Dr Keith Hudson. He along with his co-founders, are one of ...

Meet the Founder - Grain Crawler

Around 168 million tonnes of stored grain go to waste every year. That’s enough to feed 350 million people. In silo grain spoilage is a huge problem costing the industry $24 billion a year. And it’s not just the wastage that’s the problem. It’s the health and safety aspect for farmers as well. “Farmers going into silos when the grain is off can cause some big health issues, so having these realisations of wastage and health and safety issues is what really inspired me into action and c...

Meet the Founders - Delta Waterways

Councils and other industry bodies are under increasing pressure to improve their monitoring and reporting on the health of New Zealand’s many waterways. With many of our waterways being large and often remote, accurate data harvesting can be difficult and not always as effective or efficient as needed. Delta Waterways is hoping to change that. The company is developing a software tool for waterbody quality measurement and analysis SaaS platform using multispectral satellite imagery. Meet the ...

Kaitech by SeaSpire

80% of live fish stocks have been exhausted, but our global appetite for seafood is increasing. If fishing continues at the current rate, we face the chance of an ocean devoid of fish and the end of entire ecosystems. Enter, KaiTech by SeaSpire, a deep tech company, concerned about the stress on our marine ecosystems and looking to combat the problem through cutting-edge technology that produces bioprinted plant-based, edible scaffolds for seafood analogues. Meet the founders Varun Gadodia and S...

Genesmith by NeXtgen Agri

For many sheep farmers, a big challenge to their ability to optimise their production systems lies in not knowing which lambs are coming from which ewes, meaning they can’t accurately identify the most productive animals they should be breeding. It’s not a new problem, but it’s never been solved in a way that’s intuitive, cost-effective and practical for farmers, until now....

Health is the underlying theme for Sprout's newest Cohort IX

When you lift the lid on the nine companies selected for the latest Sprout cohort, you get an overwhelming sense of a shared purpose. All these companies are striving to achieve the same thing - the improved health of our people, flora & fauna. The diverse range of companies selected for Cohort IX really display the growth of the ag & foodtech ecosystem over the last 5 - 7 years. The technology is becoming more advanced and the solutions are becoming more innovative. From using mycelium as a lea...

Why entrepreneurs need to focus on their mental health and wellbeing

It's widely accepted that starting a venture from scratch can be risky, exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time. The challenges that face entrepreneurs are well documented, from raising capital, inconsistent income, establishing a brand, a customer base, the long hours - the list goes on. Entrepreneurs are often well-schooled on this side of entrepreneurial life. But what about the mental side of the business? After all, behind every start-up idea is a human being. An editorial piece in...

Is the age of free money over?

The answer is probably yes.In recent years, 'free' money has been abundant in the market due to unique microeconomic conditions. But the tides are turning with markets becoming unstable, inflation rising, and central banks attempting to stamp out this inflation. Meanwhile, companies that have ridden the wave and enjoyed the perks of inflated valuations and seemingly endless 'free' money will soon have to grapple with the consequences of the current economic climate. It's not all bad, especi...

MenuAid Raises $1M to Develop AI-Powered FoodTech Platform

MenuAid, a cloud-based food technology platform that is solving the “What's for dinner?” dilemma has received a $1M investment from Sprout, New Zealand’s specialist AgriTech and FoodTech seed-stage investor.  MenuAid provides highly personalised recipes and smart shopping lists on subscription, tapping into global consumer preferences for healthy and convenient home cooked meals, that are affordable and reduce food waste and packaging....

Can we reduce emissions and keep feeding the world?

20-30% of global emissions come from agricultural emissions. New Zealand's contribution to global emissions is 0.16%, and of that 0.08% comes from our agricultural activities. While many view this figure as a negative, it's not painting the whole picture.When looking at these figures, it's important to look at them from a global perspective and a per kilogram of product and nutritional perspective....

Meet the Founders - Bayuble

Sometimes big ideas come in small packages. Founded by three young women while still at high school, Bayuble was born out of the Young Enterprise Scheme and is all about solving the problem of plastic waste from fruit labels.Meet the founders Zoe Rookes, Maggie Peacock and Sarah Wixon. They are one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake....

Meet the Founders - Axis7

By 2050 there is estimated to be an extra 2 billion mouths to feed. To support that we’ll need a 70% increase in crop production. The only problem is, we don’t have the labour to harvest what we currently produce. It’s a big problem and one that Kiwi business Axis7 is hoping to help solve with the help of robotics. Meet the founders Josh Barnett and Scott Harvey. They are one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake....

Meet the Founders - Welfare Concepts

Improving animal welfare standards in New Zealand has been a focal point for the primary industries for many years. Huge efforts and gains have been made in this space, and one Kiwi start-up company is hoping to improve animal welfare even further.Meet the founders of Welfare Concepts, Richard Emslie and Richard Olde Riekerink. They are one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake....

Meet the Founders - MenuAid

Meal kit services have become increasingly popular in recent years. In fact, the global industry is worth 10 billion dollars and growing 13% year on year. While it might seem like the silver bullet for the ‘what’s for dinner’ conundrum many households have,  it’s not always the case. Meal-kit delivery providers can be costly, unsustainable, inflexible and ultimately not really solving the problem. Enter MenuAid, a seamless menu planning platform that makes mealtimes easier with week...

Meet the Founders - BioGold

Pine pollen has been used traditionally for 3000+ of years as a superfood and herbal supplement, and one Kiwi company is forging a market for it here in New Zealand. The pine pollen market in China is worth almost $4 billion, but few people here are aware of its incredible properties. Meet the founder Carl Meyer of BioGold, one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake. After studying one of New Zealand’s largest industries, forestry, he ...

Meet the Founders - Aimer Development

Imagine having the potential to earn an extra $500 per hectare just by using artificial intelligence. This is what Jeremy Bryant, founder of Aimer Development, estimates the gain could be for farmers by using AI.  Aimer Development is one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake. Jeremy and his wife Michelle make up the duo behind the company building the first artificial general intelligence for farming. Jeremy is no stranger to util...

Meet the Founders - Viktual+

The dietary supplements market is expected to grow to $272 billion by 2028, and one Kiwi company is hoping to get in on the action. Victual is a word that means ‘food supplies and provisions’. It is the inspiration behind the name of supplement company Viktual+, one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake. Vikutal+ is the only wellbeing supplement that combines ancient Māori and Pasifika wisdom, New Zealand’s purest ingredients and...

Meet the Founders - Landkind

Major problems face agriculture like water usage, traceability, genetics and automation. To ensure the future of the industry, addressing these issues and consumer demands requires real-time in-depth data. And that's just what start-up Landkind is setting out to do. Meet the founder, Matt Flowerday and Software Business Manager, Greg Stevenson. They are one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake. The duo brings a robust understanding of ...

Meet the Founders - Terps & Co.

Lose the booze, but not the feels. That’s the tagline of Terps & Co, a non-alcoholic, plant-based beverage company that is on a mission to share the benefits of terps with the world. “Our challenge for ourselves is to give people a better version of their experience with alcohol, without taking away the things they love about it.” Meet the founders of Terps & Co. James Crow, Arjun Narayanan and Arjun Bhargava. They are one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Acceler...

Meet the Founders - Hatchery Hub

The global aquaculture industry is projected to grow 6% per year and is a sustainable option for growth within the seafood industry. With global food demand set to double by 2050, aquaculture has all the pieces of the puzzle to experience significant growth in the coming years if the industry can boost levels of innovation to support that growth. Enter the Hatchery Hub, one of the start-ups taking part in our three-month Sprout 2022 Accelerator in the Cohort VIII intake. Meet founder Dr Nikki Ha...

Meet the Founders - Loxley Innovation

Each year 52 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is produced by agricultural machinery. Our reliance on fossil fuels to grow and produce our food is significant, but it doesn't have to be.Meet Founder Duncan Aitken and head of operations Tony Tsai, the team behind Loxley Innovation, the Christchurch-based company looking to tap into the power of electricity to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to grow food by creating electric tractors. With backgrounds in software engineering and electronic...

Investing in your future

Has the New Year got you re-evaluating your career? With the ‘great resignation’ sweeping around the world - you’re not alone. Each New Year, thousands of people begin searching for new career opportunities, hoping to inch closer to their dream job, get a pay rise or, more importantly, find a job that gives them purpose. Add to that the rising spirit of entrepreneurship in New Zealand, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for opportunity, particularly in the AgTech and FoodTech ecosystem.&n...

Dairy tech startup ProTag raises $1m from Sprout for its smart cow sensors

Agtech start-up Protag has raised $1m from investment firm Sprout to fast track the development of its smart ear tag sensors, which transmit crucial health and location data to dairy farmers within seconds. Protag’s small internet-enabled device clips onto a cow’s ear, allowing farmers to continuously monitor the animal’s health, grazing and breeding habits. Machine learning is used to process data from the device’s temperature, movement, and location sensors, helping farmers map animal ...

From the ocean to organoleptic products, the 2022 Sprout Cohort VIII has it all.

The 2022 Cohort VIII has landed, and eleven companies have been selected to participate in the eighth Sprout Accelerator....