AgTech Quick Pitch

Do you really know what your solution provides? Can you comprehensively explain how it will help the agriculture industry or why an investor should book a meeting with you? If you have 2 minutes to pique your best potential investor or customer…can you handle the heat and get their attention for that next meeting?

For this fun interactive event we have a put together a great panel of 2 growers and an investor that will be judging your quick pitch. No slides or props, just 2 minutes to pique the judges and hope to entice them to want to learn more. $100 cash prize to the wining team!

This event has been created to draw investors & growers to showcase a variety of solutions proving that there is enough deal flow & upcoming great solutions that will benefit the marketplace.

Please go to AgTechStartup.com (http://agtechstartup.com/) to register your company by Monday, January 19. Participants will be announced on Tuesday the 20th.

From 6-6:30 enjoy snacks and beverages while networking. Meeting begins at 6:30.

Pitching Companies:

Ayrstone

AyrMesh wireless network provides a long-range Internet connection, making it easy to use web-enabled devices anywhere on your property.

FarmBotix

We are an agtech start-up focusing on manufacturing Precision Farming Robotic Technology. Our vision is to optimize current and 2050 global food production requirements, through green, autonomous, smart, Precision Farming Machines utilizing smaller, self-operating Farmbotix Technology. In other words, think small on a BIG SCALE. By arming our base model with an array of implements, our machine will easily adapt to any farming environment and will revolutionize the Tractor Market Landscape.

NubeTrak

“Got Traceability?” NubeTrak is an innovative, affordable, end-to-end, Software as a Service (SaaS) company based in Watsonville, CA with a focus on improving food safety and helping companies have more control while reducing risk and costs and increasing profits. Not Just Traceability! The NubeTrak suite of products delivers one-scan, real-time, secure, cloud-based information.

AquaponicsWerks

Aquaponics Works provide high-quality, fresh, local, organic produce while using 90% less water. Company takes a Systems Engineering approach to design closed-loop controlled environment agriculture that incorporate aquaculture with hydroponics to save energy, conserve water, reduce food-miles and waterprint with the goal of sustainable production of organic fruits and vegetables. Products to include basil, herbs, lettuce, micro-greens, mint and various greens.

Agbotic

Agbotic Inc. designs, builds and deploys drone and robotic technology for environmentally restorative and highly profitable agriculture. We solve global problems by transforming distributed business models with technology designed to address critical issues related to; population growth, human health, the environment, food, energy, and water.

Apitronics. – Weatherway

The Weatherway combines weather and soil sensors to give you a full snapshot of your field conditions. It provides all the necessary inputs for ET models and is compatible with a variety of soil moisture probes. We provide the most integrated and simple weather station on the market with cloud-based app that makes your data accessible anywhere. You can interact with the data, setup real-time alerts, or simply export to CSV files from your phone or desktop.

Agcaster

Remote sensor system with backend processing providing the agricultural professional with a real time spatial map describing the needs of a crop.

HeavyConnect

Simplified operations management. We bring remote field operations online, turn the big data into "actionable" data, and improve the efficiency of large-scale field operations.

BountiGel

Proprietary, next-generation hydrophilic polymer – or Aquamer(TM) – called BountiGel(TM) that can hold 250 times its weight in water is used as a soil amendment or seed coating. The product holds excess water near the seeds or roots and releases it as the soil dries out, resulting in less plant stress and significantly higher crop yields – – while reducing water needs.

AgRite®

Agricultural control sys- tems give today's growers manual remote or automated set-point based control system that makes money by reducing water, electric- ity, fertilizer and labor costs, while improving crop quality and produc- tion.

Custom LED

Wave length Optimization select LEDs that provide more of the desired wavelengths to grow crops indoors.

Meet the judges:

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Rob Trice - Founder of the Mixing Bowl Hub and Better Food Ventures. In 2014 he decided to leverage his background in telecom, mobile and internet venture capital to the application of IT in the food and agriculture sectors. The Mixing Bowl Hub is a forum to link food, agriculture and IT innovators. Better Food Ventures makes seed-stage investments aligned with the theme of applying IT to the food and agriculture sectors. Rob previously worked at Swisscom Ventures, SK Telecom Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners and Nokia Venture Partners (now BlueRun Ventures). Prior to his days in venture capital, he worked at DIRECTV in LA and at a think-tank in DC, the Center for Strategic & International Studies. He also founded the non-profit Corporate Innovators Huddle and serves on the board of San Francisco-based engaged philanthropy organization, Full Circle Fund.

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Andy Mitchell - Director of Viticulture for Hahn Estate Vineyards and Hahn Family Wines. He has been with the Hahn Family since 1998 (16 years) and oversees the production of premium wine grapes on the Vineyards of Hahn Estate which encompasses 6 Vineyards that total just over 1,100 acres. Andy is also the liaison for growers that produce fruit purchased by Hahn Family Wines, and the primary contact for wineries that purchase fruit from Hahn Estate. Prior to moving to the Central Coast he worked for Allan Corrin Produce / Tree & Vine Management in Reedley, CA where he worked his way up to be Vineyard Manager for the company’s table grape acreage totaling nearly 1,000 acres. He graduated college in 1975 with a B.S. degree in Natural Resources Management at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

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JJ Scurich - Runs the family farming company, Creekside Farms in Watsonville, CA. We farm approximately 300 acres of raspberries and blackberries contracted exclusively for Driscoll brand berries. I am a 4th generation farmer to the Pajaro Valley and currently serve on the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, also acting as chair of Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. I attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo for a B.S. Agribusiness and M.S. Soil Science and currently hold PCA (California Pest Control Adviser) and CCA (Certified Crop Adviser) licenses. Our company is continually looking for solutions to become more efficient with time and resource use in an increasingly difficult business climate. We have been using telemetry based weather and soil moisture monitoring equipment for 7 years and extensively use tablets and data logging equipment for on farm communications and payroll data collection.