Lauren McKeever
Roisin Gilmore
Emi Kim
Olivia Dowling
Alison Peer
Loyola Marymount University
Jeff Thies
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Thrive AgTech created an advanced accelerator program to help build a strong community of agriculture, food and technology corporations, and investors in order to better the future of the agriculture industry. Their accelerator program is a 6-month, award-winning program designed to give startup companies access to investors and mentorship in order to set them up for growth in the AgFood industry. They hold three accelerator cohorts per year to give startups access to these corporations that may invest in them. Along with this, they offer a pre-accelerator program called the Academy, where early stage startups can work to get their own innovations up and running. They are working to solve the leading AgFood issues, specifically addressing SDG goals 13 and 15 (Climate Action and Life on Land).
THRIVE AgriFood by SVG Ventures is the world’s leading global AgriFood investment and innovation platform with the vision to accelerate towards a more sustainable future for our food. THRIVE works with early stage companies in the AgTech sector and runs an advanced accelerator program for these companies. They created an accelerator program to focus on companies in the early stages of their growth with business plans, market strategies, and investments. CEO John Hartnett and COO Helen Hartnett worked with a group of sustainability-driven partners to create a program to help their community of over 10,000 startups get ready for the bustling AgTech market. Focused on SDG #13 and #15, this program is centered on aiding the startups in finding investors as well as customers and connections. As stated on THRIVE AgTech’s website, “Crunchbase recognizes SVG Ventures as the most active AgTech investor with over 50 investments to date.” The imminent success and impact this company has had is clearly shown yearly as they often have thousands of companies applying for their accelerator program (which has an acceptance rate of less than 3%) as many AgTech companies are looking for guidance with the emerging technology throughout the agricultural market. The accelerator program is a very selective, advanced, and progressive system which has shown to be very beneficial to the companies who are accepted into the program. THRIVE AgTech is also “running a climate challenge to identify global companies that have solutions to solve sustainability issues such as biodiversity or food securities,” Ms. Hartnett noted. Along with this, they are also running a global impact challenge which is aimed towards a total focus on sustainability and finding solutions for the current problems arising in the agriculture market. THRIVE AgTech hosts an academy program twice a year to meet these new startups and identify companies that they see true potential in to garner support from their wide board of investors.
Working in tech all their lives, the Hartnetts realized the need for advancement in technology with agriculture as farmers were very behind in terms of technology. Observing the city of Salinas, CA, which is known as the fresh food capital of the world due to the range of climate and proximity to the ocean and the mountains, THRIVE AgriFood was inspired to use technology and innovate something useful for farmers to be able to create an ecosystem with the help of technologists. However, due to the different demographics, it would be difficult for farmers to embrace a new technology and change what was always done. At the bottom line, the farmers wanted to know what was in it for them to change what they had always been comfortable with. The best course of action was to have representatives for both farmers and technologists to understand each other’s concerns and ideas. “We got the community together and we thought we would create a space where the farmers and technology folks can meet and figure out solutions to their problems,” Ms, Hartnett noted.
As of today, over 10,000 companies across over 100 countries have gone through the program and huge investments have been made in these startup companies. Although THRIVE AgriFood can’t help every company in the AGTech field due to uncertainties in funding and the need for other limited partnerships to make investments too for the product to be up and running, they have done their best in spreading their reach and innovation as far as they could by working with and investing in companies that went through their program. Smaller companies are given the opportunity to go through Academy, which is to bring them to events with bigger and greater opportunities to pitch in front of AG Tech investors such as Bear, ICM, and Microsoft. THRIVE AgTech has a board of very high- end customers, which these startups would not be able to get in contact with or get support from these investors without the help of THRIVE. Typically, corporations do not have to, or want to deal with startups, which is why THRIVE AgTech has created this program to filter through all of these companies to find the best. To do this, they use landscaping maps while also finding companies working in specific areas to find the startups that they want to work with. As always, “companies must be on the lookout for what new and emerging technologies there are, and THRIVE helps them to do so,” she said. What’s more, she added that THRIVE AgTech has made great strides towards a more sustainable and efficient agricultural world, but there is still a long way to go. However, in the hard work they have done so far, THRIVE has had a major focus and impact on their initiatives four main themes of “(1) soil health & biodiversity, (2)increasing food security & waste reduction, (3) reducing & offsetting GHG emissions, (4) water management & quality,” according to its website. Many companies have very aggressive targets, and although a lot of the damage has already been done to the environment, THRIVE “has to be there to support these small startups and help to identify more solutions.,” Ms. Hardnett said. One of the ways companies have started to look forward towards other forms of solutions, for example, is trying out plant based food, but this is a solution that will need to play out to see their true success. Overall, she mentioned how recently the AgTech market has been tough, they are under the pressure to do the right thing even though economically it has been very tough, and COVID definitely did not help with their movements towards more innovation.
Thrive AgTech has partnered with over 10,000 start-up companies to connect corporations with innovative technologies and researchers that scale their companies globally and pave the way for a sustainable future in the food industry. The Thrive platform provides investments for companies who strive to set the bar for sustainability in agriculture, and in return, Thrive continues to connect with more entrepreneurs who foster the same values and ethics. Thrive pairs companies and entrepreneurs with the tools and plans they need to face the biggest challenges in the agriculture industry. With all the success and positive impacts made within these companies, Thrive’s name is known across the globe as one of the leading investment companies in agricultural innovation, and many companies have flocked for their help as a result. Thrive AgTech’s impact is evident in its Top 50 list that highlights companies that have aided in the effort in sustainability and efficiency in the food industry. Some of these companies take part in crop input, on-farm automation, and many other processes. With their engagement with global partners, Thrive is continuing to establish its presence in important agricultural regions and expanding their business.
Thrive’s innovation benefits society and the environment in numerous ways. The company is addressing global challenges such as food security and environmental degradation by supporting start-ups that are working towards the development of sustainable food technologies. The solutions are optimizing resource use, reducing waste, and overall leading to a more beneficial environment for agriculture to succeed. Some examples of their solutions include precision agriculture, vertical farming, and alternative protein sources, which are all helping to reduce land, water, and chemical usage. These solutions have the potential to completely transform the agriculture industry, and Thrive is making numerous small steps to doing so. In the face of climate change, this network of companies and investors are making agriculture more resilient while it faces the challenges of climate change and population growth. Thrive AgriFood is continuously generating positive environmental impacts that will benefit future generations, all while preserving the planet’s natural resources.
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Helen Hartnett, Chief Operating Officer
