SA business wins pitch award

AgSmart Connect, held in Tamworth, NSW, on March 6-7, gives agtech start-ups the chance to pitch their innovations to an expert audience and gain access to an extensive network of potential investors and customers.

The winning pitch from Adelaide-based Athena IR-Tech took home an equity-free $10,000 in funding.

Last year, Aussie Wine Group, an Adelaide company that created an in-field grape sorting syste, was awarded the $10,000 cheque after nailing a business pitch at the Bendigo, Vic, event.

This year's winner uses cutting-edge infrared technology that constantly measures plant and environment temperature, humidity and solar radiation.

Athena IR-Tech CEO Jay Holata said the company had a specific customer in mind.

"We're an Adelaide-based company who is commercialising research out of the University of Adelaide," he said.

"We have a solution for farmers who irrigate, where water is a significant cost or constraint, and who want to leverage water use efficiency in their crops and improve the sustainability of the environment."

Mr Holata said while irrigators had faced a range of challenges in recent years - from droughts to water buybacks - many were still sticking with their historical irrigation scheduling paradigm.

"The Australian Wine Research Institute did a survey back in 2022 looking at irrigation practices and what they found is that 75 per cent of winegrape growers in the big areas like the Murray Valley, the Riverina and the Riverland still rely on things like their experience, visual inspection, the weather forecast and digging pits to figure out when do I irrigate," he said.

Mr Holata said the process could be made simpler by watching the plant transpire.

"Plants transpire like we perspire, to cool off, but they also use it to bring up nutrients and thrive, so what if we can use that as the basis for determining how much water the plant needs, based on how much it's usually using and transpiring? he said.

Mr Holata said this was exactly what Athena IR-Tech does.

"What we do is provide the growers with a daily recommendation that's obtained through infra-red sensors that are placed just above the crop," he said.

"Every 10 minutes they monitor how well that crop is transpiring."

The data and Athena IR-Tech's proprietary algorithm, which came out of research from the University of Adelaide, come together in Transp-IR, which gives farmers an easy-to-read interface and irrigation recommendations.

Mr Holata said typically the pay-back from investment in Transp-IR was half a growing season.

As well as the major prize, a people's choice award was also presented to Joel Gribble, the chief commercial officer of Tamworth-based business Vesi Water.

Agtech Angel Investor Network founder and event organiser Sam Almaliki said the aim of the organisation was to help agtech start-ups by introducing them to a growing network of 'angel' investors - individuals who invest privately in early stage ventures.

"Through doing that work of connecting agtech start-ups with capital, we hope to drive positive change across the agricultural industry," he said.

"Pitch to Paddock is an opportunity to showcase agtech start-ups and their groundbreaking innovations to an expert audience at major industry events, and there is no better event to be at than AgSmart Connect.

"It's not just about accessing capital for investors, it's also about meeting prospective customers, because that's what these amazing founders and their teams need to be able to continue to grow and further validate their inventions."

Eight start-ups took part in the Pitch to Paddock event, including Dr Nerida McGilchrist, from My Happy Horse, a virtual equine nutritionist, Bardee - a company that transforms food waste to agricultural products; and Drone-hand - an AI-driven automated flight app for livestock monitoring.