Are you an agtech startup ?
A farmer who has developed new technology?
A researcher looking to commercialise your innovation?
Or a business looking to apply your technology in the agricultural sector?
HARVEST is designed to accelerate the growth of your innovative startup by giving you expert guidance, deep industry insights, critical tools, and strategic connections.
Applications are now open for the 2025 HARVEST program.
Now in its eighth year, HARVEST has supported over 80 businesses.
The program is valued at over $10,000 and is FREE for successful applicants.
"I have personally seen the value delivered by Innovation Cluster's programs and events. Our sister company, received fantastic support through their program (and has since been acquired). I have been a guest speaker at one of the pitch events, which attract a strong group of startups and industry stakeholders."
Julian Kruger
Founder/CEO , Emapper
“We have done several accelerator programs now and the insights, mentorship, and connections we gained have been the best we've received and invaluable for our growth and development. The HARVEST program has played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the industry and refining our business strategies - it's absolutely been the best program we've participated in.”
Arianne Platell
Founder, COO QL Space
"HARVEST has given us the opportunity to meet with WA industry and connect with a number of new dealers within WA and led to attending local field days to promote our products. The connections and field trip to Esperance provided good industry contact and feedback on issues they were trying to solve.”
Rob Johnson
Agtecnic, NSW
Hear about HARVEST
From our Participants
HARVEST Alunmi Stories
ResonAg – MRI For Your Farm
Founded in May last year, ResonAg spun out from a previous successful startup in a different sector. We joined the HARVEST Accelerator to expand beyond our oil, gas, and mining networks, as we had little limited agricultural industry connections. HARVEST provided the network and support we needed to enter the agtech ecosystem.
ResonAg has miniaturized the same MRI technology used in hospitals to measure water in the human body and adapted it to measure moisture in the soil. We do it in real-time while seeding, ensuring each seed is placed at the optimal depth. Why is that important? Every seed has a specific moisture requirement. For example, with canola, a 2% deviation in moisture can cause a 30% drop in emergence. This innovation improves planting accuracy, optimising crop establishment and boosting overall yield.
As a company, we completed our pre-seed raise last June and are now finalising our seed round. Since then, we've grown to a team of six.
Through HARVEST, we were one of the companies funded by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to attend EvokeAG, where we introduced ourselves to the global agtech community. The response was incredible, and since then, we've been approached by VCs and private investors.
HARVEST proved to be an excellent launchpad, helping us refine our pitch and strategy before taking it to a broader stage like EvokeAG.
Importantly, HARVEST helped us connect directly with growers. Those early conversations have now turned into real partnerships, with growers being the first to adopt our technology.
Overall, our experience with HARVEST has been very positive, both during and after the program. It has opened several doors for us, and we highly recommend it.
In recent news, we are pleased to announce that our application with University of WA for a government AEA grant (Low-cost sensing for liquid food supply chain authentication) was successful! We look forward to working with UWA using our cutting edge ASIC based NMR spectrometer.
Tim Hooper, Chief Technology Officer
From our Partners
From our Founding Partner
What stage should my business be to apply?
From early stage startups, to small to medium enterprises.
Who should apply?
- Agtech startups
- Farmers who have developed new technology
- Researchers looking to commercialise their innovation.
- Businesses looking to apply their technology in the agricultural sector
Based in Western Australia, and also open to companies looking expand into the WA market and globally.
Travel support will be provided for regional and interstate participants.
What is the time commitment?
Participants will be expected to attend at least 80% of the program activities. Dates are included in the application form.
Are there any costs?
The program is free for successful applicants. HARVEST is unique as a program delivered on a sponsorship model which takes no fees or equity from participants. This model attracts the highest quality of applicants and helps deliver significant outcomes by ensuring all companies are provided the same level of support.
How many businesses will be selected for the HARVEST program?
The HARVEST cohort will include a minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 businesses to ensure curated individual support is provided, and peer to peer learning.
Our Partners
“We look forward to seeing our cohort of passionate innovators make valuable connections and build their capability and confidence. The program enables participants to develop closer relationships with businesses in the agriculture and food industry and to improve their product or services to address issues in the food production system.”
Peter May
Business Development Manager, Investment Services, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Our Alumni
Our HARVEST alumni have been successful in opening commercialisation pathways with new customers and securing major supply agreements, new partners, mergers, capital investment, grant funding, media exposure, awards, acceptance into national programs and international exposure e.g. Austrade landing pads.
Discover the highlights and outcomes of Harvest 2024
AgriStart is the agri branch of Innovation Cluster, one of the leading providers of startup and SME acceleration in Australia. Our team are passionate about agriculture and supporting innovations on-farm, connecting potential investment into Australian innovation and facilitating collaboration in the agricultural sector.
From 2018-2024, AgriStart has delivered 8 Agtech Accelerator programs to 80 businesses with >60 mentors/guest speakers. The program has been instrumental in activating the Agtech sector in WA, with >1000 attendees participating in sector networking, showcase and events.