EvokeAg 2023: Key Takeaways From Asia Pacific’s Premier Agrifood Tech Event
EvokeAg 2023 in Adelaide, South Australia showcased the latest innovations in agrifood technology.
“Down to Earth” was the theme of EvokeAg 2023 in Adelaide, South Australia last week. As Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event, and after three years of Covid-related absence, it was no surprise that this edition of EvokeAg was sold out with more than 1,600 delegates from 18 countries. To me, EvokeAg showcased a lot of great new technology but, most of all, it at long-last provided the opportunity for in-person interactions with many friends from the industry.
With so many companies represented and so much new technology getting introduced, it’s hard to distinguish overarching trends, but I do think that there were a couple of clear examples at EvokeAg of what our industry needs, and how some companies or individuals are trying to cater for this demand. One of these examples is having a strong start-up ecosystem as an industry. Adelaide, being the fifth-most populous city in Australia (and a lot smaller than the likes of Sydney or Melbourne), clearly shows the impact this can have.
Those who know Adelaide and the local AgTech ecosystem, know that this is synonymous with one person: Oli Madgett. While many people have been involved, Oli has been the driving force behind regular local AgTech meetups since 2016, and the results speak for themselves. AgTech is now a big part of the local innovation community, and many successful companies have sprouted from the Adelaide AgTech scene.
On one of the nights of EvokeAg we saw more than 30 companies from around Australia pitch their startups at the local startup hub. It was very impressive, and I look forward to seeing these companies grow and thrive in years to come. To me, all of this shows the catalytic impact one person can have on a local community and indeed innovation within AgTech.
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Another underlying theme of EvokeAg was collaboration. AgriFutures Australia Managing Director John Harvey even mentioned it in his speech: “If these last two days have shown us anything, it’s how precious time is, and how important collaboration will be moving forward – to achieve our goals as a nation and as a global food system.”
Some attendees mentioned the same to me: “So much awesome technology here, but so little of it is seen on farms or in the workplace yet. If they remain stand-alone technologies, will they ever get adopted at scale?” Very true, and something we have to keep working on as an industry. Coincidentally (or not), one of the product launches at EvokeAg was ‘Pairtree Pipes’.
Pairtree Pipes connects 100-plus IoT devices through its API connections, allowing AgTech and other businesses to connect with data sources through a single, standardized data format. Weather stations, soil probes, tank/level sensors, and other categories of connected businesses are all part of Pairtree Pipes. While Pairtree was only one of many exciting companies present at EvokeAg, I think they’re working on a problem that affects all other AgTech businesses present there: connecting technologies and breaking down data silos.
Coming fresh out of EvokeAg, it’ll be exciting to attend World Agri-Tech in San Francisco later this month and find out what the differences and commonalities are between both conferences, and the AgTech scene in the U.S. vs. Australia. My best guess? I think we’ll see some similarities in the overarching industry trends. If you’re attending World Agri-Tech and would like to discuss my views above, or anything else AgTech related for that matter, send me a message. I look forward to catching up in-person!
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