Hacking, Sprinting and Providing New Solutions for Agriculture
Agri-TechE 
The “hackathon” concept has been used in the IT industry for some time to bring together technical experts around a key problem facing a business or sector, and engaging in a super-focused effort (or “sprint”) over a day, weekend or longer, to come up with some answers.
And we think it’s time to do some hacking and sprinting to generate new solutions for agriculture and horticulture.
In partnership with Allia Serious Impact, we are jointly hosting an agri-hackathon called >SUDO : GROW to focus some of the brightest brains around some of the biggest opportunities facing our exciting industry.
A hackathon is a term coined by the computing industry to rapidly develop new software technology. The “-thon” bit of the word comes from “marathon” – which is what the participating teams feel they are doing when they are brainstorming, creating ideas and problem solving, more or less without a break, to come up with a rapid, workable solution.
>SUDO : GROW
Held in Cambridge over a weekend in April, the >SUDO : GROW hackathon will bring together industry experts and technology enthusiasts.
The team from Cambridge Applied Research are sourcing equipment (sensors, robotic parts, microprocessors etc), open-source APIs (that allow different bits of software to talk to each other) and copious quantities of Post-It notes and flip charts.
They are experienced hackathon organisers who know how to keep participants motivated, focused (and fed and watered).
Working from Saturday morning, through the night and into Sunday, the final solutions will be presented to a panel of judges on Sunday afternoon.
Hack for Ag
So how can this work for agriculture? Surely new plant varieties, crop and soil chemistries and even imaging and sensor technologies take years to develop and be approved? Of course, no-one is expected to come up with a new type of crop or novel chemical in a weekend, but its reasonable to expect some relevant engineering, robotic or mechanical solutions to emerge.
The three focus areas will be:
- vertical farming
- non-chemical weed control
- poultry management
With industry champions from Aponic, Niab, Greenvale and G’s Growers, outlining the technical challenges and opportunities facing the industry in these areas to the participants.
How can I get involved?
You can come and hack if you have some technical expertise, you can come as part of a pre-formed team, you can be an industry champion or a mentor / guide for the teams, or even a judge or sponsor.
The hackathon is all about generation of technical solutions – in contrast to the GROW agri-tech business plan competition we’ve run over the last three years, the ideas that emerge from this process should be technically feasible, but will still be a long way from even being the basis of a business plan.
The hackathon weekend is part of a longer process throughout 2018 where we and the Allia Serious Impact Team will be working with the teams developing the ideas and the industry champions to move forward the plans for commercial adoption of some of the ideas.
To find out more about the >SUDO : GROW hackathon, meet the team from Allia Serious Impact and Cambridge Applied Research
To register click here.
Post Overview
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No, it’s not a new form of diversified livestock management – unicorns, gorillas and gazelles are terms used to describe businesses in various stages of growth and success. The final of our GROW agri-tech business plan competition has got us looking at the global deal flow into agri-tech and how start-ups are developing.
With the final of GROW approaching we have been looking at the global landscape – how much is being invested, who are the rising stars, where the smart money is going, and how this is shaping the industry and the businesses within it.
Unlike those in other more mature industries, global agri-tech deals have yet to deliver impressive and reassuring exits for investors. At Agri-Tech, we work with many companies seeking investment at various stages of their development, and one of our most common questions to them is about the expected size and scale of their exit – when can their investors expect to get their money back – plus more! We always encourage people to be really clear on the investment proposition – “how much”, and “by when” are the questions we know the investors will ask.
Most of us have limited influence over how the future will play out, but it is an inspiring to see that entrepreneurs, researchers, technology developers and innovators remain focused on working with the agri-industry to provide solutions that will help ease the pressure we will undoubtedly face while the political landscape becomes more settled.
