We tell the stories of innovators at the intersection of agriculture and technology to answer the question: what really is agtech and why should you care?
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"Envision this podcast as a meticulously researched audio biography, unveiling the extraordinary lives, stories and decisions of the most remarkable individuals and companies." Thanks to you, we rank in the top ten podcast shows globally for the past 2 years running, with listeners in 27 countries. Established in 2020. With Founder & Host Vidit Agarwal, re-imagine the traditional high flyer and celebrate the world's best and most relatable role models, and their journeys from their sunrise ( ...
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Investing in Regenerative Agriculture Supply Chains with Calla Rose Ostrander
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When it comes to leveraging capital to fund climate action in agriculture, few ideas get as much play as regenerative agriculture. The idea of production that can not only be sustained but that can actively help renew resources has captured imaginations within the sector and without, giving life to events like the Regenerative Food Systems Investme…
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#177 Hostplus CIO Sam Sicilia in a rare public interview: Italian roots & theorotical physics to managing $100B+ Retirement Fund, Hostplus!
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We're joined by Sam Sicilia in a very rare public interview appearance. Sam is the Chief Investment Officer for the multi-billion dollar superannuation Fund (Retirement savings) Hostplus, often referred to as a 'giant' in the industry with around 1.7 million members and over $100b funds under management. Hostplus were pioneers in laying the foundat…
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When Kansas Drys up… in 2050 with Dan Northrup
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There are many parts of the US that are at risk for severe drought and heat in the next 30 years due to climate change. But then there’s Kansas, where some growers pull irrigation water from a particularly vulnerable part of the gigantic Ogallala aquifer, which according to the latest science, may well be fully depleted by 2050. Western Kansas isn’…
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#176 EVP’s Justin Lipman + Henry Innis from Mutinex: Decoding A-Players, Competitive edge in fundraising, Power of speaking numerically
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In another edition of our Round Table and Provocation series, hear from Justin Lipman and Henry Innis in their first ever public interview together (and a particularly rare appearance for Justin in the public domain)! Justin has been with EVP since 2015 and has developed a reputation as a leading software investor and is actively involved in the Fu…
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Unconventional Farmer-led Finance Strategies with Quint Pottinger
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Despite challenging conditions in financial markets the world over, ambitious entrepreneurs find a way. There are few sectors where that is more true than in agriculture, and despite the industry’s reputation for convention and conservatism, challenging times call for creative measures, and farmers are nothing if not creative. To learn more about i…
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#175 Will Davies: Farm Life to Acquisition by Uber; the inspiring in-depth story of "Car Next Door" in a rare public interview
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Will Davies was the co-founder and CEO of Australia’s biggest peer-to-peer car sharing platform, Car Next Door. Founded in 2012, they grew to over one million trips taken through the platform. In January 2022 Car Next Door was acquired by Uber for an estimated $105M. Will was born in Regional NSW and now lives in Sydney, Australia. Hosted by Vidit …
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Ag’s Scifi (and Non-Fiction) Future: Horizon Scanning… so what? with Shane Thomas
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We’ve been thinking (and talking, and writing) a lot lately about the forces that are shaping the future of agriculture. There are the more obvious ones– artificial intelligence and mandatory climate disclosures– to the less obvious, like the ubiquity of remotely sensed data and geoengineering. All of these forces, and others like them, are not onl…
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#174 James Cameron: Becoming VC investor at Accel + Airtree, Embracing Career Uncertainty, Why diversity matters (in his first public interview since 2018)
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James is a General Partner at Airtree Ventures and this is a very rare public interview with him, we understand his first since 2018. James has a particular interest in software, infrastructure and fintech and led Airtree's investments in A Cloud Guru, Constantinople, DroneDeploy, Zepto, Buildkite and Secure Code Warrior. Prior to joining Airtree, …
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#173 Sarah Nolet: Multi-Sport Athlete, Building Tenacious Ventures, State of AgTech, Making Vulnerability a Strength
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Sarah is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Tenacious Ventures - Australia's first AgTech venture firm. Their $35M first fund was backed by Grok Ventures, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) with investors including primary producers, and agribusiness executives. Tenacious Ventures has so far backed 14 startups building a more sustainab…
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Citrus Moves North with Farmer and Orangepreneur Lindy Savelle
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When people talk about the impacts of climate change on agriculture, they usually use the future tense. The reality, though, is that climate change already is, and has been, changing global conditions enough to cause meaningful shifts in agricultural production. Case in point, where Florida was once known both nationally and globally as the US’s ci…
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#172 Scott Thomson: Becoming head of Innovation at Google, Navigating International Childhood, Why Engineers lead Tech Companies
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Scott served as the recent Head of Innovation for Customer Engineering at Google. He worked at the company from 2015 through 2024 in the Ads Data Platforms, Analytics and Google Cloud product areas in ANZ and APAC. Before Google, Scott worked with Adobe on digital strategy and transformation. Scott is a also recent graduate of the VC catalyst progr…
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How Syngenta is thinking about AI with Feroz Sheikh
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Not too long ago, we co-published a paper on the future of AI called “Yield Maps Killed AgTech Software, Can AI Save It?” and got a ton of great responses from across the industry. One such responder wrote in from his seat at the Syngenta Group, where he’s helped the organization go from zero to 250 million acres digitally served in just five years…
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#171 Jacqui Purcell, Adam Milgrom & Ashleigh Camm: The Raw Ingredients in 'zero to great' relationships
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In this special conversation, hear from three relatable role models: Adam Milgrom, Partner at Giant Leap; Jacqui Purcell, Operating Advisor at TDM Growth Partners (She's also ex CFO of two leading tech companies in Culture Amp + Deputy) and Ashleigh Camm, Board Course Director/VP of Labs at LUNA about how exactly Founders and Investors should build…
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#170 Steve Baxter: Army to building startup with wife, Shark Tank Stardom, Ten13 + Defence Tech Investing
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Steve Baxter is a Tech entrepreneur and Investor. He co-founded the Investing Platform, TEN13 and recently a VC Fund, Beaten Zone Venture Partners focused on DefenseTech. He has built and sold two startups: SE Net and PIPE Networks (for $373M). He was a 'Shark' on the hit TV series, Shark Tank for four seasons, showcasing his business expertise. Th…
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AgTech News …So What? July 2024 with Shane Thomas
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This week, we’re breaking down the freshest announcements from the agribusiness, agtech, and broader policy and tech worlds to share insights and ask “so what?” Sarah and Matthew are joined this week by Shane Thomas, author of Upstream Ag Insights. For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment…
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#169 Silicon Valley to Aotearoa: Unfiltered debunking of NZ's startup myths with Blackbird's Phoebe Harrop & David Booth
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Phoebe is a Partner in Blackbird’s NZ team with investments in Tracksuit, VeVe and Carepatron. Prior to joining Blackbird, she was a Director in the Growth Equity fund at Generation (Al Gore's Growth Equity Fund). David is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Blackbird NZ and previously an early employee at Angel List, Carta, and 500 Startups. He then b…
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Evaluating Biologicals Businesses with Joel Lipsitch
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For better or worse, the biologicals space is still in the process of repairing a reputation that was marred by years of over-promising and under-delivering. Yet big advances have been made in recent years, helping improve agricultural productivity while reducing the industry’s dependence on chemical pesticides and fertilizers. But discerning betwe…
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#168 Craig Blair: Trials and Tribulations; Co-Founder of a $1B+ VC Fund in his most candid interview ever
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Craig Blair is the Co-Founder and Partner at Airtree, a globally recognised Venture Capital firm with $1B+ funds under management. Before AirTree, he was a partner at Netus, a venture fund with a global top decile track record. He has also been a founder of three software businesses -- two of which were successful and one of which was a painful lea…
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#167 Investment Memo: How CLT Toolbox is eliminating 39% of global carbon emissions from buildings ft. Adam Jones & Ringo Thomas
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Welcome to installment #25 of the Investment Memo series and overall episode #167 on the show. Submit this EOI for your company to be considered in future episodes of this special series! *** Adam Jones and Ringo Thomas are the Co-Founders of CLT Toolbox, a software company building solutions for structural engineers and architects that radically s…
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Rebooting AgTech Software with AI, with Rhishi Pethe
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We are certainly not alone in our interest in how artificial intelligence will shape agriculture in the coming years. We’ve been learning out loud about both the tech that might emerge, but also about how AI might shape existing tools, especially agtech software. In our recent report, Yield Maps Killed AgTech Software, Can AI Fix It?, we put forwar…
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How green is sustainable aviation fuel? With Cris Handel
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As the US works to hammer out requirements for sustainable aviation fuel tax credits, the potential for the airline industry to open a huge new market for oil seeds has watchers in the sustainability space wondering what’s next. Will the opportunity for agtech to provide producers with the tools they need to meet production requirements and prove s…
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#166 Alasdair MacLeod (Rare Public Interview): Murdoch's Newsrooms to Soil Carbon Pioneer & Reshaping Agriculture
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Alasdair is Executive Chairman of Macdoch, a private investment company with offices in Sydney and London. Macdoch comprises of Macdoch Ventures, investing in early stage tech startups, Macdoch Agriculture using capital to drive global climate solutions and the Macdoch foundation. Al was previously a senior leader at Newscorp for over 20 years and …
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AgTech News …So What? May 2024 with Shane Thomas
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This week, we’re breaking down the freshest announcements from the agribusiness, agtech, and broader policy and tech worlds to share insights and ask “so what?” Sarah is joined this week by Shane Thomas, author of Upstream Ag Insights. For more information and resources, visit our website. The information in this post is not investment advice or a …
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#165 Jillian Broadbent: The Trailblazing Company & Board Director in a rare public Interview
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Jillian Broadbent is one of the leading Business and Industry minds, with extensive investment banking industry knowledge and markets expertise, including a deep knowledge of risk management and regulation. She has served on the boards of many organisations, encompassing finance, the arts, and other sectors. She is currently a Member of the Board o…
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#164 Connor Archbold: Living in 28 homes, Unpacking the magic and learnings building 'Tracksuit', New York, NZ & Family!
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Connor is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Tracksuit. Tracksuit provides always-on, beautiful tracking to measure brand health. Tracksuit today covers 1,300 brands including many household names and recently raised $20M dollars in funding from leading investors to fuel their next phase of Growth. Connor was born in California, USA and now lives in Auck…
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#163 Grant Dooley (Rare Public Interview): Learnings as Counsul General in China + Indonesia, Inside Breakthrough Victoria
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Grant Dooley is an experienced international funds manager and the CEO of the $2B Fund, Breakthrough Victoria, with prior roles at Hastings and heading ARA Infrastructure. Grant had a distinguished career as a Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic trade official for the Australian Government, including two years as the Australian Consul General in China a…
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The Many Faces of Farm Security with John Hill
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At the intersection of ubiquitous and affordable cameras and internet connections, growing farm sizes, and increasing environmental and social vulnerabilities sits the opportunity of farm security. The number of applications for this kind of remote monitoring are endless– from discouraging stock and equipment theft (or solving cases after the fact)…
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