National Innovation Agency (NIA), in partnership with the Research & Innovation for Sustainability Center (RISC), Siam Kubota Corporation, and Nest; launched the AGrowth AgTech Accelerator programme in Bangkok to supports agritech startup businesses and entrepreneurs and thus enhance Thailand’s agricultural sector.
AGrowth participants will be guided through their business growth and development with the help of business mentoring from NIA and Nest, as well as corporate partners Kubota and RISC. Over the course of 12 weeks, the cohort will gain direct access to the Thai market and explore commercial opportunities, concluding with an opportunity to pitch their solutions for adoption by the Thai agricultural sector.
Although, 38% of the national workforce of Thailand is employed by agriculture it accounts for only 10% of the GDP. The majority of Thailand’s farmers use traditional practices, and there is ample space for modernisation. Many startups with solutions tackling the agriculture industry are also now ready to scale internationally. Nest’s third accelerator programme in Thailand, AGrowth hopes to leverage this growing cluster of AgTech solutions to help increase productivity, improve logistics and empower farmers to ensure the longevity of the industry.
Dr.Pun-arj Chairatana, NIA Executive Director said: “We aim to enhance the evolution towards a new era in farming. NIA has founded the Agro Business Creative Center (ABC Center) which has 3 key areas 1. AgTech Setter 2. AgTech Entrepreneurship Development and 3. AgTech Ecosystem. The AGrowth programme is one of our entrepreneurship development programmes.”
Also read: These agritech startups will take Southeast Asia’s emerging market to the next level
Aligned with the government’s policy to promote Thai agriculture in keeping with the country’s 4.0 initiatives, the AGrowth Accelerator Programme will drive the breakthrough in the agricultural sector of Thailand and ASEAN to be stable and sustainable, said Somsak Mauthorn, SEVP of Siam Kubota Corporation. An ASEAN leader in farm and industrial machinery with Agri- innovative solutions SIAM Kubota works towards a sustainable life.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Singh Intrachooto, Chief Advisor to RISC added that indoor agriculture, particularly urban agriculture, is crucial to sustainable cities and provides an opportunity for startups to disrupt their local food supply chain. And this accelrator will provide an opportunity to collaborate with startups in testing and potentially implementing their urban farming solutions in Thailand.
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Andre Ouellet on Unsplash
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