Focus on Finance – Ponder, Pitch and Partner
With a keynote address from Louisa Burwood-Taylor, Head of Media and Research at AgFunder, and presentations from representatives from public and private investment, you’ll then have the chance for one-to-one meetings.
You might be a founder or a funder wanting to meet the right people to advance your journey – and this event is the place to do it.
Alternatively, you might be a participant or observer in the industry and are keen to learn from top investors and entrepreneurs about emerging trends, funding strategies, and what finance models offer the key to successfully growing and exiting an agri-tech business.
Join us as we navigate the various funding options, from non-dilutive to debt and equity finance, to help you decide what is best for your business.
Then we’ll be hearing from a line-up of 15! ventures seeking finance, with the chance to meet investors and have those all-important partnering meetings for new conversations.
Who should attend:
- Tech developers and business leaders needing finance to take their commercial venture to the next level – early, mid or late
- Researchers and entrepreneurs seeking their first investments to establish proof of concept and feasibility
- Private investors (including angels, VCs, family offices) looking for deal flows or meeing new exciting companies
- Representatives of grant-awarding bodies looking to help those who are raising money navigate the public funding landscape
- Professional business support companies that are keen to offer help and advice to businesses as they grow
- Delegates interested in understanding more about the current investment and finance landscape for agri-tech in the UK.
Cost
Investor: £50 (ex VAT).
General event attendee: Agri-TechE member / non-member: £60 / £80 (ex VAT)
Learn more about the benefits of Agri-TechE membership. Please note the fee is non-refundable for cancellation within 5 working days of the event.
Agenda
Louisa is a globally-recognized journalist and thought leader for the food & agriculture industry.
Louisa Burwood-Taylor is the managing editor and head of media & research for AgFunder, which she joined as employee #3 in 2015. Prior to that she was also the founding editor of the first-ever publication to focus on agriculture investment, Agri Investor. Before that, she launched an institutional investment intelligence service for the Financial Times in Asia. She has covered a range of financial products and markets during her career, from equities and institutional investment in Asia to structured bonds in Europe, before turning her attention to food and agriculture 10 years ago.
Karen’s team works with businesses and the bioscience research base to design and invest in strategic, collaborative R&D innovation programmes. The team does this by connecting businesses to world-leading bioscience expertise and facilities across the UK and supporting them develop the skills needed for their workforce. Karen trained in Natural Sciences and gained first-hand experience in the agricultural industry, driving innovation on farms in the UK and abroad. Using this experience to support R&D and innovation across the agri-food supply chain, Karen develops business-led initiatives throughout agricultural systems to facilitate transformational change for economic and societal impact.
Matt grew up on my family’s mixed sheep & arable farm in the South Island of New Zealand. After graduating he started his agricultural banking career and went on to manage client portfolios and agricultural banking teams, as well as offshore agricultural banking projects.
In addition to his banking career, he has also run his own successful livestock farming business and he is still an independent trustee of a family-owned sheep and beef farming enterprise.
Laura has extensive experience across the start-up and early-stage investment ecosystem in East Anglia. After several years in the role of Business Development Manager she has recently stepped onto the ACG Board as Operations Director. In this role Laura works on bringing dealflow into the group. She manages the screening process and works with founders and investors across the lifetime of the investment process. Working with stakeholders across the start-up and investment ecosystem is key to the angel investment network and as such Laura dedicates a lot of her time to working with partners across the region and beyond from incubators, accelerators and local government to business support organisations. In addition, Laura heads up the Halo Programme for investment readiness, a 10-week programme designed to prepare founders for their investment fundraising journey. Laura is passionate about supporting early-stage businesses and in particular female-led start-ups.
About the Chair:
Dr Buckeridge has 35 years of operational management experience in the life science and agribusiness industries. With a PhD in genetics and plant sciences from the University of Wales, David began his career with AstraZeneca, spending 20 years in a variety of management positions globally. After serving as Group CEO of Advanta BV, the largest independent agronomic seed business in the world at that time, David led its exit from private equity ownership and advised on its successful initial public offering to the Indian stock market in 2007. Subsequently, he has played a senior advisory role to both strategic and financial investors in the life sciences and agribusiness, focusing on the operational and strategic planning aspects of these industries. He has served as director and chair of a range of companies in the agribusiness, pharma and public health industries, and is currently Chair of the Board of Protealis and of Cycle Pharmaceuticals and an independent director of Velcourt Ltd.
