500 startups’ AgFunder uniting a fragmented marketplace

AgFunder, part of 500 Startups’ 12th batch, wants to make it easier for agricultural technology startups to source funding.

Australian entrepreneur Michael Dean, the co-founder of agriculture technology investment platform AgFunder, hopes his startup will help speed up the development of technologies that will be necessary to feed the world’s fast-growing population.

“Agriculture is by its nature a very fragmented marketplace to invest in as obviously the money is located in the cities and quite often the developers are based in the country where the farmers are,” he says.

“Connecting the two has traditionally been a very difficult exercise. By creating an online platform – a precursor for an investment bank – we’re able to offset the fragmented nature of the market.”

Dean says most of the technologies tipped to become game-changers in the near future are already being utilised or tested in agriculture.

“If you look at agriculture and all of the new technologies that are emerging – whether they be robotics, internet of things or big data – the whole precision agriculture sphere of development is really being reflected in agriculture technologies,” he says.

“We’re talking about Google coming up with driverless cars. Well, we’ve had farmers turn to driverless tractors. We need to feed probably more than 9 billion people by 2050 with no more land and no more water – probably less of both. So it’s absolutely important that we are applying these technologies to agriculture.”

The best thing about 500 Startups, according to Dean, is the “collegial” nature of the program.

“The team make a big thing about talking about their 500 family and you really do feel like a family,” he says.

“It’s been very useful to have that exposure to previous batches and just benefit around their experience and knowledge, pitching and people we should be talking to.”

When asked what his advice would be for entrepreneurs wanting to try their luck at getting into the 500 Startups program, Dean says having a good team is crucial.

“The important thing is to make sure you’ve got the right team,” he says.

“A good team is crucial and most investors invest in a team [rather than an individual]. You need to understand your market, you need to understand your product and express that when you’re pitching. You should have a clear vision of where you’re going as well – that’s not to say you might not pivot once you get into the accelerator because that does happen – but the important thing is being clear with your objectives and what you’re doing.”

500 Startups has invested in more than 800 companies from more than 40 countries.

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Buy tickets to the 2015 StartupSmart Awards.