App connects growers and seasonal workers
tim.oconnell@stuff.co.nz
She’s helping New Zealand’s horticulture producers prune back seasonal employment struggles but a budding Tasman entrepreneur says the global need for her app is anything but slim pickings.
Genevieve Griffin-George is the founder of PICMI – a cloud-based software designed to simplify the employment process for agricultural seasonal staff.
PICMI was developed following Griffin-George’s involvement in the six-month, intensive tech accelerator programme Xcelerate last year, where her concept was chosen as one of 12 from 600 applicants.
The web-responsive app was conceived after she experienced first-hand the pain of hiring and managing seasonal staff, having unexpectedly taken over management of her family’s kiwifruit orchard at Brooklyn, near Motueka.
‘‘One of the big things I found was that seasonal labour was so hard to find and if we didn’t find it at the right time, it would have a negative impact on our produce.
‘‘I thought how is this still the way it is that we put a sign out the front of your orchard and hope that someone drives past?’’
Griffin-George said the main aim of PICMI was making the lives of growers and farmers easier by easing the process of finding staff they need, providing digitised access to visa verification and employment paperwork.
Growers pay a nominal amount per match, while workers seeking employment can access it for free.
Having successfully trialled the software with two local growers, Griffin-George said her next challenge was securing her first paid customers.
She is one of nine startup founders chosen for a programme to accelerate the garage-to-global journey of those who have a working prototype and are ready to engage with the market in New Zealand or overseas.
Participants are also given the opportunity to take part in an inmarket immersion week in Silicon Valley during October 2019, including attending the TechCrunch Disrupt conference and exhibiting in the New Zealand pavilion at Startup Alley.
Griffin-George said the Silicon Valley experience in particular would be useful in testing the universal need for apps like PICMI.
‘‘The thing is, PICMI is something that isn’t just going to impact farmers and growers in New Zealand – it’s a global issue.
‘‘There was a lot of interest when I was developing it in Australia, they’d be like why don’t you start here?
‘‘But I wanted to help the community at home first because it’s what I’ve seen.
‘‘New Zealand is the perfect place to test it, but Australia and Britain, it’s something that they’re incredibly worried about as well – especially with Brexit – and the USA with their migrant workers.
‘‘Part of the programme is we do visa verification.
‘‘Everyone who is on our platform is verified and can actually work in New Zealand legally.
‘‘Starting in the Tasman region [is good] – it’s a region that people want to travel to – to come to the Abel Tasman and plan their holiday.
‘‘And rather than making the work really difficult to find, we’re helping them plan their adventure around New Zealand.’’