Nick and Howard discuss why they are excited about the workshop.
Featured Startups
Discussion Panels
Reinventing the Upstream Infrastructure of Food (Watch preview video)
Why the Global Cold Chain is Heating Up (Watch preview video)
Food as Medicine (Watch preview video)
How Quickly are we moving away from Animal Products? (Watch preview video)
Today's Financing and Exit Environment for Ag and Food Tech (Watch preview video)
Prepared Food in a Post-Covid World: Exploring the Future of Dining (Watch preview video)
The State of Ag|Food Tech in India and SE Asia (Watch preview video)
Digitalization of the Food Supply Chain in China (Watch preview video)
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I am pleased that this will be our 8th Ag|Food Tech Workshop, and it does feel like it has become a bit of an institution. There are regulars who have attended for all seven prior events, and I hope they will make it eight. However, this year is different in that we are hosting the Workshop through our new events company, Doon Insights, and we are opening registration up to the public. We decided that if Covid has forced us online, we might as well make the best of it by providing access to more attendees and speakers in more places.
The content of our Workshops has always reflected the shifts and advances in technology and the marketplace. It was only a few years ago that we were focused on precision agriculture, and then we started seeing AI/ML everywhere, and next the flood of alternative protein and sugar substitute companies began, and then the syn bio wave hit us. These trends are still with us, even as we continue to search out the next new thing in the sector. Of course, Covid is the elephant in the room in Ag and Food Tech as it is with most sectors.
As you will see above, we have already set the discussion panel agenda for this Workshop. This year we have decided to emphasize the industry's infrastructure and supply chain. We will have a panels on the global cold chain (a giant but underreported industry), a panel on indoor ag, and another panel on the food supply chain in China (one of the key markets for US agriculture products). We have 5 other terrific panels, and we have recruited some of the leading experts and investors in the sector to speak.
As always, startups are the core of our program, which provide a window onto the next generation of technologies. We will showcase 20 compelling startups from all over the globe which reveal the breadth of activity in the sector. These generally are relatively early stage companies that have strong technology and have built a product and achieved some validation of their product/technology, either from early investors or customers.
Because we are online, our registration fees are very modest, and we offer reduced rates for attendees calling in for half a day. Sessions will be videotaped and made available after the Workshop. Our registration fees are so modest that you will not feel bad about choosing to attend only a portion of the program.
We do not operate our Workshops on a "pay to play" model, we just invite the best speakers we can find. So you can be assured our panels will be focused on content, not marketing. (Of course our startups will be pitching themselves hard . . .)
We intend to facilitate communications and networking between attendees. To that end, about a week prior to the Workshop we will be setting up a Slack channel for registered attendees to join, so they can contact others for discussions, calls and follow ups. Also, during the midday break we will be offering the use of Gather, a virtual networking platform, so you can walk around a virtual reception room and have video meetings with people you come close to.
Please tell your friends about us. We want a big turnout!
regards
Howard Chao
Managing Director, Doon Insights