Innovative food and agribusiness start-ups and fledgling ventures will have the opportunity to showcase themselves to potential investors in Sydney in November.
FoodBytes! Sydney will be staged as part of the international Farm2Fork Summit, focusing on future innovation in food and agriculture, to be held on Thursday, November 3.
Originally launched in the United States in 2015, FoodBytes! is designed to find the most innovative concepts in food and agriculture and pair that creativity with the capital needed to bring them to market.
This will be the first FoodBytes! event held in Australia and it will be open to applicants internationally.
The event was founded by Rabobank.
Rabobank head of sustainable business development Marc Oostdijk said FoodBytes! was calling for applications from companies or individuals with innovative concepts which could be brought to market in the food and agricultural industries.
“FoodBytes! is designed to showcase the entrepreneurs that are building the next generation of food and agribusiness-related companies, who are innovating and disrupting the food chain with ground-breaking ideas in food, agribusiness and technology,” he said.
Successful applicants will be invited to attend Rabobank’s Farm2Fork Summit in Sydney to demonstrate their concepts to potential investors, key industry influencers, media and agribusiness professionals.
A judging panel will assess each concept based on a set of criteria, with a select number of applicants being invited to deliver a short pitch presentation on the main summit stage.
Mr Oostdijk said the FoodBytes! concept would help provide a much-needed vehicle for small local food and agri start-ups to find potential investment in Australia, without having to look abroad.
A FoodBytes! Sydney Judges’ Choice and a People’s Choice award will be announced following the presentations.
Applications to participate in FoodBytes! can be made here and close on October 10.
The Farm2Fork Summit will be held at Sydney’s Sydney’s Cockatoo Island on November 3.
Focusing on future innovation in the food and agricultural industries, it will bring together agribusiness industry leaders, local and international farmers, food and agri start-ups, technology innovators, investors and other sector stakeholders for the one-day event.
It follows on from the inaugural F20 Summit held in the lead-up to the G20 in Australia in 2014.