Startups, new ventures, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture technology and agribusiness sectors were busy pitching plans at the DiscoveryLab@AgSmart event at Olds College on July 29.
Companies pitched their ideas to a panel of investors and advisors, followed by a question and answer portion. This included a poll reflecting the strength of the scalable product, unique value, market readiness, intellectual property position, business structure, team depth, competition/risk navigation, ask and investment proposition.
“I have been really impressed with the pan-Alberta focus of AgSmart and the collaborations that Olds College has brought together,” said Gail Powley, President, Technology Alberta. “Thank you for showing all of Alberta how it is done – and how to build innovation success from discovery through to commercialization and early customer adoption.”
Seventeen pitches took place with 110 people taking part in the event at the Werklund Agriculture and Technology Centre. Jeff Horton attended DiscoveryLab@AgSmart as a guest of the Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network (CARIN). Horton is the creator of Red Deer Tech & Code and Red Deer Start Here meetups.
“I really appreciate the events at Olds College, including AgSmart and DiscoveryLab to connect the innovations and innovators of agritech with the community of early adopters, investors and the farmers that feed us,” said Horton.
DiscoveryLab was created to support the development of high-growth companies, disruptive innovations, and scalable products and services that could make a world of difference.