The Victorian government has put another $1 million on the table as part of a grants program for agtech startups.
Agriculture minister Ros Spence said the AgTech Grants program, delivered by the government-backed startup agency LaunchVic, offers $50,000 to startups.
The grant provides founders with dedicated mentoring from startup experts to build their businesses and seize new opportunities.
“We’ve seen some inspiring AgTech startups come through the program addressing everything from weather, crop productivity, and supply chain,” Spence said.
“AgTech startups are driving innovation and adaptation in our agriculture sector, and we are providing crucial support in their early critical stages.”
The AgTech Grants program kicked off last year and has already awarded grants to 19 startups providing services in supply chain efficiency, farming automation, soil sensing intelligence and pollination management systems, among others.
The success of the first round of the program has led to the government putting in another $1 million. The first round recipients included Drone-Hand, the first commercially available AI-driven, automated flight-app for livestock monitoring.
LaunchVic CEO Kate Cornick said that since 2020, the number of idea-to-early-stage agtech startups in the state has more than doubled.
“And more than half of new companies have been supported by a LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria-funded initiative,” she said.
“We’re excited to continue our partnership to keep up this momentum and see more innovative ideas coming through.”
For on the AgTech Grant program is available at agriculture.vic.gov.au/
Applications are open until June 30, 2025. Apply for the grant at launchvic.org.
Other LaunchVic-supported programs for agtech startups, including Farmers2Founders, pre-accelerator and accelerator programs for agrifood tech and innovation startups; the scaleup program RocketSeeder and commercialisation program SproutX.
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