The inventors behind 17 agri-tech solutions will present their ground-breaking technologies at this year’s virtual World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit. The featured start-ups have worked to tackle some of the biggest challenges in farming, with technologies ranging from biopesticides to carbon credit systems, blockchain platforms and autonomous robots.

The World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit will take place virtually and in London on September 28-29, 2021.

The event is set to include more than 800 international industry delegates and includes a programme of video meetings, speed networking, live-streamed panel sessions and small-group roundtable discussions, plus two live sessions in central London, with a studio audience and networking drinks.

Day 1 agri-tech companies

On Day 1, emerging agtech start-ups Bio-F Solutions, DogTooth, Muddy Machines and Glaia take the stage in front of a live audience in central London, before for rapid-fire presentations and a Q&A with seasoned investors from Astanor Ventures, Blue Horizon, Wheatsheaf Group and Rockstart. All of the action will also be live-streamed to the summit’s virtual audience around the world.
World Agri-Tech Summit
Image source: Dogtooth
Bio-F Solutions harnesses the power of microorganisms to produce high-quality bio-fertilisers based on natural algae for agriculture, suitable for organic soils, hydroponic systems and conventional farming. DogTooth develops smart robots using computer vision and machine learning software for harvesting soft fruits. Muddy Machines uses autonomous robots operating in large-scale swarms to fit growers of any size, improve resilience against single points of failure and operate in any weather condition, enabling the production of locally sourced produce. Glaia develops nanomaterial-based products that improve photosynthesis in plants, boosting crop yields sustainably and putting an emphasis on green and abundant resources.

Day 2 agri-tech companies

On Day 2, four dynamic start-ups will present their fresh solutions and field questions from investors at ICL Planet and Cultivian Sandbox Ventures. Vivid Machines provides vision technology to digitise permanent and speciality crop production. Their system integrates into existing workflows, capturing plant-level data below the canopy across production. BetterEco develops and operates the first combined international blockchain-based agricultural raw materials procurement and tracing platform, allowing for direct transactions. Soil Capital supports farmers in the transition to more profitable and regenerative agriculture by helping them sell their carbon credits. Reaktor SpaceLab manages high-quality nanosatellites for earth observation for the classification and analysis of vegetation, soil and carbon emission sources, providing daily, global data for various customer groups.

The Syngenta Innovation Challenge

Three finalists have also been revealed for the Syngenta Innovation Challenge, which attracted more than 100 international entries. Each of the start-ups will pitch to the panel of judges and the virtual summit audience on September 29, with the opportunity to unlock mentorship with Syngenta’s business teams. FA Bio (FungiAlert) harnesses the soil microbial response to biotic and abiotic stresses to create active ingredients for agriculture products (bio-controls, bio-fertilisers and bio-stimulants) and restore the biodiversity of degraded soils. Locus Ag has created a soil ‘probiotic’ technology using innovative fermentation to deliver fresh, customized and high-potency microbial cocktails for effective crop and plant management. Intrinsyx Bio has created endophytic microbes that help crop plants, grasses and trees to fix nitrogen directly from the atmosphere into ammonia, ultimately helping to improve nutrient use efficiency, supplement synthetic fertilizer requirements and increase chlorophyll.

The World Agri-tech virtual exhibition

Even more start-up talent will be discovered at the virtual exhibition networking area, with opportunities to meet the entrepreneurs behind daring solutions and learn more about their scale-up ambitions.
Image source: Odd.bot
MyEasyFarm provides a solution for farmers and cooperatives to help their daily use of precision farming in an easy and connected way for better efficiency and sustainability. Fermata has built artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision support systems based on visual analysis for precise plant monitoring in greenhouses. Odd.Bot’s autonomous mechanical weeding robot assists to replace the use of chemical herbicides or labour-intensive hand weeding tasks. Swiss Decode helps farmers and food manufacturers to grow and produce food that is safe to eat, by providing real-time food authentication, compliance and safety with rapid, on-site DNA detection solutions. Microbion provides high-tech molecular microbiology services to the agri-food and nutraceutical industries. Dyneval provides precise measurement of livestock semen quality using portable equipment. The full programme and delegate registration can be found here on the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit website.