Sprout looks for innovators

Sprout Accelerator is looking for registrations from both traditional agritech and future-food focused start-ups from New Zealand and abroad.

Eight NZ start-ups will be selected to join the sixmonth accelerator starting in January 2020.

The Accelerator offers $75,000 worth of business coaching, mentoring, network access and MBA style block courses held around New Zealand.

The Sprout partners have stepped up to subsidise this for New Zealand’s most promising innovations. Sprout partners include the government’s innovation support agency, Callaghan

Innovation, agricultural innovation funder AGMARDT, and a host of New Zealand’s most prominent agribusinesses including Fonterra, Zespri, Gallagher, Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC), PGG Wrightson, Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA), Massey University and KPMG.

Entrepreneurs will receive business mentoring and workshops from world-class business owners and directors from across the technology, agricultural and food industries. Upon completion of the accelerator, participants will also have access to an investment pool of $500,000.

The Sprout Accelerator was designed by The Factory, a Palmerston North-based business incubator. Over the last four years The Factory has helped establish four globally focused agritech start-ups, Biolumic, Zeddy, CropX and Polybatics, who have raised in excess of $15 million in growth capital from New Zealand and overseas investors.

Registrations for the Accelerator close on November 22.

■ Apply for the 2020 Sprout Accelerator at www.sproutaccelerator.com