I + E Connect innovation ‘Scouting’ services North America

Summary

The MDC Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I+E) Connect Platform was conceived to fast track the delivery of commercially viable solutions that create unique and defendable competitive positions.

By creating strategic relationships across the global entrepreneurial community and attracting and supporting high growth disruptive entrepreneurial activity within the Australian red meat sector through:

• Developing future technology opportunities
• Fast tracking the next generation of "big ideas"Becoming a "magnet for the ag tech, food tech and food industries
• Creating a new innovation marketplace for agile SMEs and start ups
• Attracting new capital and new investors

 The recent I+E connect business development activity reinforced the potential opportunity and value proposition for MDC to strategically partner internationally to engage the fast moving and disruptive start-up ecosystem to prosecute our industry innovation strategies at an accelerated pace. More specifically such investments provide MLA exposure and access to a cross section of the most promising opportunities available throughout the agricultural and food value chain.

A component  of the I + E platform is a global innovation scouting mechanism which maintains a global awareness of disruptive innovations through global partnerships, which also provide the opportunity for MLA to communicate industry pain points, opportunity spaces to identify new venture innovations that have an application to the industry.

Commonwealth Ag Strategies provided innovation scouting services within the United States of America across research and development organizations both publicly and privately; including the Agricultural Research Service, the land grant university system, commodity trade associations and private corporations sourcing relevant and investable innovations that present value to the Australian red meat sector in the following areas:

• Precision agricultureAnimal health and welfare
• Big data in Agriculture
• Digitally connected value chains (paddock to plate)
• Environmental sustainabilityThrough chain automation
• Sensors and objective measurementProduct integrity and traceabilitySmart packaging
• High value product transformation
• Market analytics and insight
• Business model innovation 

As a component of the innovation scouting services Commonwealth Ag strategies attended the events listed below and collaborated with the listed organizations with the objective of identifying innovations or entrepreneurial activity which is relevant to areas identified above which have the potential to be commercialised in Australia.

EVENTS

• NCBA Convention and Trade Show, Phoenix, AZ, February  2018
• World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit, San Francisco, March 28 & 29, 2017
• ONE 17, The All tech Ideas Conference, Lexington, KY, May 21-24, 2017, http://one.alltech.com
• BIO International Convention, San Diego, June 19-22, 2017
• Animal Health Investment Forum, Kansas City, August 28 & 29, 2017 http://kcanimalhealth.thinkkc.com/events/investment-forum/agenda
• Ag Innovation Showcase, St. Louis, September 11-13, 2017
• NC Biotech Ag Showcase April 2018

INNOVATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION ORGANIZATIONS

• Rohit Shukla and Carlos Guitteriez, LARTA Institute and Global Ag Innovation Network -- https://www.larta.org/Agrinovus ---http://www.agrinovusindiana.com
• North Carolina Biotech Center -- http://www.ncbiotech.org/
• Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology -- http://www.wginnovation.com/

AG INVESTMENT GROUPS

• Matt Bell, Cultivian Sandbox, http://cultiviansbx.com/news-and-events/about/meet-the-team/matt-bell
• Ann Duignan, JP Morgan Equity ResearchLiz Hunt , US Bank, Food and Ag Division
• David Key,Key and Company,http://www.keyandcompany.com/managing-partner
• Karen LeVert, Southeast TechInventures, http://www.setechinv.com/aboutus/stiteam.php
• Tony Simpson, AgTech Advisors

Commonwealth Ag Strategies held meetings and investigations of activities at selected ag innovation centres across the US; in particular in relation to attracting new capital and new investors as well as, fast tracking the next generation innovations as part of the innovation scouting service.