Cohort 1 Agtech Accelerator: Mentorship, Sessions, Demo Day, and Gong Graduation!

The finale week of the Agtech Accelerator has us longing for an encore from the founders! This inaugural cohort set the bar high for future cohorts. Stepping into the program in March and exiting in June – the 20 founders from across Canada and the United Kingdom embraced the fast-paced schedule and extensive sessions. The Agtech Accelerator’s mission is to provide founders with the resources they need to grow their agtech businesses. To conclude the accelerated program, a jam-packed week was orchestrated for the founders to reflect on what they have learned and apply their resources to capture the attention of investors from across North American. 

• 24 expert mentors
• 92 1:1 mentorship connections
• 10 feature speakers
• 9 industry expert connections
• 750+ community connections

Here is a look back at some of the activities we hosted for founders during their week in Regina… 

DAY 1 – June 21, 2022

• Kyle Scott (Managing Director of Conexus Venture Capital + Emmertech)  and Rob Russell (Principal of Conexus Venture Capital + Emmertech) on the State of Venture Capital
• Pitch Practice with hands-on peer scrubbing

“2 emerging investor attitudes: 1. Hesitant. 2. Opportunistic.” — Kyle Scott

“Frame your business around profitability, articulate the pathway to be net-positive.” — Rob Russell

DAY 2 – June 22, 2022

• Fireside Chat – Darren Anderson, CEO of Vive on Board Optimization
• Canada’s Farm Show Discovery
• 24 Hour Startup | Agtech – Pitch Scrubbing

“If you want to control the direction of your company, you need to know what the answers are going to be before the meeting starts” – Darren Anderson

DAY 3 – June 23, 2022

• Investor Fest – Curated 1:1 meetings with investors
• Investor Panel, Hosted by Kyle Scott (Managing Director of Conexus Venture Capital + Emmertech), and joined by Jay Bradshaw (GP Principal, Ag Capital Canada), Scott Day (Director of Agronomy, Fall Line Capital), Laurie Dmytritian (Chief of Equity Investment, PIC Investment Group)

• Demo Day – Launch Pad Stage of Canada’s Farm Show
  • Hosted by Jordan McFarlen (Incubator Manager , Cultivator powered by Conexus)
  • Special greetings brought by Honourable David Marit, the Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture
  • Half Time Report, hosted by Terry Aberhardt (Chief Executive of Future Growth, Aberhardt Ag Solutions) and Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel (Public Speaker, Farmer, Director, Canada’s Top50 Most Influential People in Agriculture)
  • Small Robot Company, introduced by Alix Hayden (Director – Research Excellence + Innovation, University of Saskatchewan) — WINNER of People’s Choice Award at Demo Day, Presented by Ami Caragata (Program Coordinator , Cultivator powered by Conexus)
  • Parametrics.ag, introduced by Rob O’Connor (Director, Glacier Farm Media)
  • Feed Flo, introduced by Terry Peckman (Director + Research Chair, Saskatchewan Polytechnic)
  • RAFT, introduced by Chris Yost (Associate VP of Research, University of Regina)
  • IntelliCulture, introduced by Laurie Dmytritian (Chief of Equity Investment, PIC)
  • Fotenix, introduced by Bradley Rowley (Global Innovation Programmes Manager, Innovate UK)
  • TechBrew Robotics, introduced by Breanne Dmytriw (Community Coordinator, Cultivator powered by Conexus)
  • AGvisorPRO, introduced by Jen Stelzer (Director of Policy, Strategy, Analytics, Prairie Economic Development Canada)
  • Livestock Water Recycling, introduced by Kim McConnell (Former CEO, AdFarm and Agtech Accelerator Advisory Council)
  • Crop Intellect, introduced by Ryan Serbu (Program Coordinator, Cultivator powered by Conexus)
  • FarmSimple, introduced by Kevin Chung (Acting Director, Innovation Saskatchewan)
  • UKKO Agro, introduced by Hannah Castle (Program Manager, Cultivator powered by Conexus)
  • Smartbell, introduced by Tood Andries (Regional Vice President – Ag, Conexus Credit Union)
  • Lucent, introduced by Shane Thomas (Agtech Consultant + Advisor, Upstream Ag Insights)
  • Farm Health Guardian, introduced by Chris Lane (CEO, Economic Development Regina)
  • ChrysaLabs, introduced by Kim Nicholson (Vice President of Agtech + Innovation, The Mosiac Company)

Day 4 – June 24, 2022

• Fireside Chat – Norbert Beaujot, founder DOT (exit) & Seedmaster, on his Founder Journey
• Fireside Chat – Kristjan Hebert, Hebert Grain Ventures
• Fireside Chat – Todd Orman, Associate VP, Industry Solutions & Partnerships, Old College  
• Resilience Training – Kayla Kozan, CEO and Founder of Peak Wellness
• Industry 1:1 meetings

“Enjoy failure in a positive way. Without failure, you’ll make no progress. You have to teach your team to take failure as a necessary step in progress.” –Norbert Beaujot

“Leading means being contagious with your idea. You don’t have to be a supersalesmen, let it come naturally and people will follow you if they believe in your idea.” –Norbert Beaujot

“Don’t give up. Be ready for failure and be adaptable to failure. Hold on to your passion in those tough moments.” –Norbert Beaujot

“If you’re making millions of dollars but don’t get to see your kids, are you really succeeding?… Success is being able to decide what to do with your time.”– Kristjan Hebert 

“Agtech brings silicon valley to the farm.” – Todd Ormann

“Necessity drives change. What happens in the world decides how markets react.” – Todd Ormann

Day 5 – June 25, 2022

• Program reflection as a cohort with goal setting for the future
• Gong Wild – Grad Celebration

Each founder in Cohort one was called upon to announce their goals for the next year, celebrate their recent milestones with a strike of the gong, and were presented with a customized wooden plaque made by a local Regina company: Sticks & Doodles.