Farm491 takes Inspiring AgriTech Innovation workshop to London!
On April the 8th and 9th, we took our free workshop to Green Lab in London. Green Lab’s vision is to radically change the way our food is produced and consumed, to catalyse new sustainable food systems that balance health and nutritional outcomes with ecological principles that has people and the planet at its heart. Green Lab accelerate change for good within our food systems by funding and accelerating the growth and impact of innovative and bold new ideas. They empower individuals and communities with skills and knowledge to grow their own (sustainable and nutritional) food based on ecological principles.
The principles of Green Lab really align with Farm491, therefore it seemed an obvious opportunity to partner up and explore the urban AgriTech ecosystem found in London.
We met some really interesting start-ups who are aiming to disrupt our food system to produce crops as sustainably as possible, whilst also utilising unused sites in urban areas. It is innovations like these which will really help in connecting the urban population back to the food they eat, knowing it has been locally grown and being able to trace it right back to farm. Even Green Lab’s physical space was a perfect fit, with many fascinating projects on show such as aquaponics systems, which really highlighted how driven their members are to create a sustainable food system.
The first day of the workshop saw us focus on the business model canvas and customer value propositions. Pascale Martin, who attended one of our very first workshops in 2018, joined us for lunch to talk about her entrepreneur journey in setting up Agronomex, and where she is today. It is often really useful for start-ups to hear from someone who was in their shoes not too long ago.
On day two we focused on funding, business model innovation, and also practice pitching. Adrian Ashton joined us in the afternoon to lead a session on ethical branding, something which has become more important for companies over recent years. The delegates explored what “ethical” branding is, why we need it, and how to identify your own ethics.
We hope the attendees really got something out of the two days we spent with them – we certainly did as it was great to engage with some new, forward-thinking entrepreneurs. We will definitely be continuing to take our workshops “on the road” and we can’t wait to meet more budding entrepreneurs looking to make a difference to agriculture and our food systems. Keep an eye on our events page, as well as our social media channels, to find out where we are going next!
Thanks to Green Lab for letting us use the space and helping us engage with some brilliant new start-ups.