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Meet the Founder: Radio With Pictures

Internal health diagnostic tools are expensive, slow, and often invasive. Anyone who has undergone an internal health diagnostic method—CT, colonoscopy, or MRI—knows this all too well. While most people accept this as the status quo, Debbie Berg and Shane Leath were unsatisfied and determined to change it. So, this duo of AgResearch scientists set out to create a solution. Radio With Pictures, a Sprout Accelerator Spring24 Cohort venture, has developed a portable health diagnosis d...

November 12, 2024

Meet the Founder: Lozano Group

Cultivating fruit is essential to nourishing and sustaining life on Earth, and a crucial aspect of this process lies in how we store and transport it from farm to table. Currently, significant energy is wasted every harvest cooling and storing fruit due to the inefficiencies of standard packaging systems. These systems do not make the best use of storage environments, leading to a reduction in fruit quality and the excess use of energy resources.This leads to the question: what if we could do th...

November 8, 2024

Meet the Founder: Ingenum

In the race to secure global food supplies and protect livestock, imagine a ‘ChatGPT’ for biological signs that could help detect animal health diseases before they become catastrophic. Meet Ingenum co-founders Tom Brownlie and Christopher Liang working together to pioneer an innovative AI model to target disease detection in agriculture. A participant of the Sprout Accelerator Spring24 cohort, Ingenum is a venture who has a big ambitious goal: solve global problems in animal health and revo...

November 8, 2024

Meet the Founder: Kelvius

Industrial Process heat is a hidden but significant contributor to climate change, accounting for a staggering 40% of global energy consumption and responsible for 34% of the world’s carbon emissions.Industrial Process heat is the heat used to make products or materials in factories and plants. For example, converting milk into powder, wood pulp into paper or packaging, and producing metals and chemicals. Many of these industrial heat applications use fossil fuels, like gas and coal, to genera...

November 6, 2024

Meet the Founder: Stockies

Every livestock transaction carries an unseen cost: valuable information that never gets to market.Buying and selling livestock is often risky due to limited information shared during transactions. Despite the high-value trades, buying stock with insufficient data is like buying a farm without seeing the back paddock. This can lead to surprises and headaches for stock agents and farmers alike.Imagine creating a comprehensive livestock listing and being able to immediately share it with a trusted...

November 5, 2024

Meet the Founder: ESP Medical

What if mastitis could be safely prevented rather than just treated?This is the question Sprout Accelerator Spring24 cohort participant Hillary Sharp and her team at ESP Medical have been tackling for the past two years. With a recent move away from blanket antibiotic treatment, teat sealant has provided an alternative prevention management tool. However, it causes headaches when administered and also disrupts the supply chain, from creating unsightly black spots in cheese to clogging up milking...

November 3, 2024

Meet the Founder: Biotremology

Imagine playing a carefully curated Spotify playlist in your garden to actively repel harmful pests and insects from your plants. No pesticides. No residues. Simply good vibrations working hard to keep the unwanted pests at bay while allowing beneficial ones to thrive. It’s a blend of nature and technology, creating a vibrant environment where plants can flourish while reducing the need for traditional pest control methods.This innovative vision is no longer a fantasy; it’s a reality br...

October 31, 2024

Meet the Founder: EVVE

In the wake of COVID-19, global investment in human vaccines has surged, but the animal health sector hasn’t received the same level of attention. This gap is leaving farmers to grapple with costly inefficiencies and unmet needs.In particular, the industry is falling behind in producing effective vaccines for diseases that require a strong cell-based immune response, such as Salmonella, or where long-term immunity is needed, ultimately reducing the need for frequent booster shots. Existing vac...

October 29, 2024

Meet the Founder: Niclosavir

In the face of a growing crisis in animal health and human medicine, Niclosavir Limited is on a mission to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with innovative solutions that repurpose an old Bayer drug. This bold venture aims to revolutionise the treatment of bovine mastitis—one of the leading causes of antibiotic use in New Zealand's dairy industry.Driven by a seasoned team with over 200 years of combined experience, this Sprout Accelerator Spring24 venture is determined to leave a solution...

October 24, 2024

Meet the Founder: Ocean Intelligence

In today’s data-driven world, should marine farmers still rely on traditional methods to know what’s happening on their farms?Meet Ocean Intelligence, one of the ventures participating in the Sprout Accelerator Spring24 cohort, they are on a mission to make aquaculture more sustainable, efficient, and profitable.For years, marine farmers have farmed based on instinct and traditional farming methods, often diving deep—both literally and metaphorically—to gather insights about their operat...

October 22, 2024

Meet the Founder: Ag Assist

The New Zealand dairy industry faces a daunting challenge: a staggering 75% of new entrants to the sector don’t make it to their second year. Statistics like this are typical among many industries in the Food and Fibre sector. Factors like difficulty in making connections, the seasonal nature of the food and fibre sector, and on-farm staffing issues contribute to this churn, resulting in increased mental health and personal struggles.Enter Ag Assist, an innovative online marketplace designed t...

October 8, 2024

Meet the Founder: Scanabull

Anyone who has attempted to weigh a large animal knows it is a challenging task. It often involves coaxing the animal into cramped spaces, a process that is muddy, slow, and expensive. Meet Dan Bull, the visionary founder of Scanabull. His innovative venture is transforming how animal metrics are measured, using a compact device and cutting-edge 3D imagery to streamline the process.Scanabull is one of 13 exciting ventures participating in the Spring24 Sprout Accelerator. With a focus on eff...

October 3, 2024

13 Trailblazing ventures named in the next Sprout Accelerator

Sprout is thrilled to announce the selection of our latest cohort for the Sprout Accelerator, marking another milestone in our journey to support and scale the next generation of innovators working towards transforming industries that nourish and sustain life on Earth.The selection process for the Spring24 Cohort was highly competitive, with an exceptional calibre of founders seeking to elevate their ventures. After a rigorous selection process, we have handpicked a cohort that demonstrates a de...

August 28, 2024

Internationally experienced startup leader takes the helm at Sprout Agritech

Sprout Agritech has appointed Dr. Sandhya Sriram as CEO. Dr. Sandhya Sriram is the former Group CEO and Co-founder of Shiok Meats Pte. Ltd., Singapore, the first cultivated seafood & meat company in Southeast Asia and the first cultivated Crustacean company globally.  She joins New Zealand company Sprout Agritech, an early-stage investor specialising in transformational technologies that impact how life on Earth is nourished and sustained. Dr. Sriram comes with an impressive backgr...

August 8, 2024

Meet the Founder: Maidenfleet

It reads like something out of a science fiction novel: AI-enabled, unmanned, semi-autonomous offshore fishing vessels floating in our seas.It’s not fiction if Dan Burrows has something to say about it - he is working hard to make this story a reality. Meet the founder of Maidenfleet, one of the ventures taking part in the Sprout Accelerator Autumn24 Cohort. His mission is to see these uncrewed AI boats out of our imaginations and into the sea. Dan has seen firsthand the problems the offs...

May 28, 2024

Meet the Founders: Bontia Bio

Vets are increasingly noticing problems with available flea and tick treatments which include emerging drug resistance, adverse side-effects, and the negative environmental impacts of existing anti-parasitic drugs. The animal health market is now calling for environmentally friendly compounds with novel modes of action and larger therapeutic windows.Meet the founders of Bonita Bio, a Sprout Accelerator venture in the Autumn24 cohort using a synthetic biology platform for the production of natura...

May 27, 2024

Meet the Founders: UWAI

New Zealand mussel farmers are working in the dark. Everything they do is below the surface, requiring skilled crew members to collect valuable data about the health of their mussels, quality of product and when and where to reseed. Unlike above-ground farmers who work in the light, this results in a lack of scalability and a surveying and sampling bottleneck.Now, there's an efficient and scalable solution. Meet the founders of UWAI, Tim Rensen and Joel Steven. Together, they have buil...

May 24, 2024

Meet the Founders: Liquid Foodies

In the hustle and bustle of today's world, it's easy to overlook the simple joys of life, like enjoying a meal with loved ones. But for millions around the globe suffering from chewing or swallowing difficulties, the act of eating isn't just a pleasure—it's a challenge. Meet Liquid Foodies, one of the latest Sprout Accelerator Autumn24 Cohort members and a food tech company on a mission to help chewing or swallowing sufferers enjoy their favourite food easily. Liquid Foodies offers mass-c...

May 22, 2024

Meet the Founders: Apples for Glycemic Control by Plant & Food Research

Imagine a world where apples become a potent tool in the fight against pre-diabetes, offering a natural, easy to access solution to managing blood glucose levels. Enter Andrew Dare and Richard Edmonds from Plant & Food Research, the visionary minds behind this transformative venture. Together they are participating in the Sprout Accelerator Autumn24 cohort. Armed with a Ph.D. in phytochemistry, molecular biologist and biochemist Dr. Andrew Dare is an apple expert. Notably, he ...

May 20, 2024

Meet the Founders: Terrasync

Introducing Thomas Holdom and Tommy Mahon, co-founders of Terrasync, a groundbreaking Sprout Accelerator Autumn24 venture revolutionising soil testing in agriculture. Traditional lab testing for essential soil nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium can be time-consuming, delaying crucial soil adjustments for farmers. What if real-time, lab-grade data were available instantly, empowering farmers to optimise their soil on the spot?Enter Terrasync. Spearheading the next wave o...

May 16, 2024

Meet the Founders: Pop HealthTech

It can be challenging to ensure the well-being of beloved pets, and it’s heartbreaking to witness their decline without knowing what to do. Shockingly, statistics reveal a troubling reality: 60% of canine companions are battling obesity, while a staggering 42% face premature death due to cancer and 25% leave their food uneaten. At the core of these alarming trends lies chronic inflammation, a silent but formidable adversary that necessitates tailored solutions for each unique animal.On the one...

May 15, 2024

Meet the Founder: Fruitminder

Meet Fruitminder founder Sebastian Chapman, a curious software engineer ready to create positive change in the horticulture industry. A member of the Sprout Accelerator Autumn24 Cohort, his venture’s story is rich with experience and discovery. While dairy farming in NZ and driving tractors across Australia, Sebastian saw the value of having clear and accurate data at his fingertips via RFID cow tags and GPS monitoring. This data enabled him to monitor the health and well-being of every a...

May 13, 2024

Meet the Founder: DNAiTech

Since COVID there has been a massive increase in interest in new technologies for point-of-care disease detection. Detecting diseases on the spot, where the problem arises, is highly advantageous for managing a potential outbreak and promoting the best possible outcome. This need is everywhere but is particularly relevant for agritech and biomedicine in remote locations. For biomedicine, there is huge inequality in access to diagnostic testing for disease across developing countries. T...

May 9, 2024

Meet the Founders: Avocado Seed Snack

Every year, a staggering 300 tonnes of avocado seeds are discarded into landfills in New Zealand, solely from the operations of the top four avocado oil producers. Meet the founders Rothman Kam and Chris Hill, the visionary minds behind a groundbreaking solution, Avocado Seed Snack. They're working hard to transform these overlooked avocado byproducts into delicious baked snacks, effectively combating waste and promoting sustainability in the process. Not only does their innovative app...

May 7, 2024

Meet the Founders: Agovor

Over 2 million combustion tractors are sold globally every year. With the Paris Agreement goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and increasing labour shortages, one Sprout Accelerator Autumn24 cohort member believes it is time to break the mould of the horticulture sector.Meet the Founders, Richard Beaumont and Simon Carroll. Their mission is to increase global productivity and reduce the impact on the planet by transforming how farmers tackle tasks between the rows in the vineyard, orchard, and be...

April 30, 2024 Posts 1-25 of 113 | Page next