Deadline: 24 May 2020
The program is launched by UNDP ImpactAIM Accelerator and implemented jointly with Armenia National Agrarian University (ANAU), Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education (ICARE) Foundation, Nation in Action initiative, is supported by Armenian National Innovation SDG Lab and ADB Ventures Facility.
The program is designed to support science and technology-backed startups and budding entrepreneurs offering solutions to tackle challenges in the agricultural sector of Armenia and worldwide.
AIM ANAU AgriTech Accelerator program is the follow-up phase of the ANAU AgTech incubator launched in 2019 at Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU) with a 10-week pre-incubation training program and deep learning workshops for 44 participants including ANAU students and the young professorship. Several monetary prizes were awarded.
One of the main outcomes of the program is the construction of the venue for ANAU AgriTech Incubator in the premises of ANAU with an expected opening in September 2020 granting students and professors the opportunity of testing their entrepreneurial projects in real life.
AgriTech Acceleration program aims to provide the necessary knowledge, expertise, network, and funding for setting up, and/or scaling up existing ventures. Gap assessment is conducted to offer a tailored program best fitted to the participants’ individual needs.
The full program will last 3 months followed by further prototyping sessions and scale-up schemes.
Stages
- The program will be conducted online and in three stages:
- Onboarding sessions – 1 month-long series of sessions to get entrepreneurs on the startup spaceship, elaborate on the impact of frontier technologies on agriculture, and laying the foundation of participants’ sustainable growth.
- Core startup development sessions – a structured curriculum for budding entrepreneurs and a more tailored program for startups. This stage will walk the participants through the entrepreneurial journey: from customer to product development, from business development to investment pitches.
- Follow up and prototyping sessions – Sessions led by agronomists and farmers about current challenges and opportunities and unique access to ANAU’s lab environment to build the prototypes to be tested by partnering farmers.
- The Onboarding sessions will be open for everyone, and obligatory only for Idea, Pre-seed/ Seed stage teams and Individuals, as they will pass to the next stage of the program based on their commitment and participation. The growth stage ventures will decide whether they want to join or not.
- ImpactAIM is looking for:
- Budding entrepreneurs (idea stage): to introduce and develop entrepreneurship culture by providing fundamental knowledge and practical skills.
- Pre-seed and seed-stage startups: to take them through the entrepreneurial journey with each module being specifically designed to cover their needs. The track offers a structured curriculum and is mostly based on coaching on startup development modules and mentorship.
- Growth stage startups: to provide tailor-made coaching and mentorship. The core component of the track is growing the network of startups to further scale their venture.
Funding Information
After the successful completion of each stage, the most promising graduates will receive monetary awards/grants of up to 10,000 USD.
Challenges
The program targets only science and technology-backed startups (pre-seed, seed, and growth stage) and budding entrepreneurs (Idea Stage). Individuals, teams and registered entities (CSO/NGO, LLC, LTD, etc.) both from Armenia and around the world are eligible to apply if they offer solutions to tackle the following challenges in the agricultural sector:
- Data Driven Agriculture
- Efficiency and productivity will increase in the coming years as “precision agriculture” becomes bigger and farms become more connected. It’s estimated that by 2020, over 75 million agricultural IoT devices will be in use: The average farm will generate 4.1 million data points daily in 2050, up from 190,000 in 2014.
- Online Management Systems and E- Commerce
- Easy to use digital platforms for accounting and financial reporting | Payment and optimization systems for agriculture services | Land modeling and sales | Online sales and delivery systems for farmers |Training and advisory services in rural areas | Sustainable pasture management systems | Agriculture Waste Management Systems.
- Increase Efficiency in Food Production Value Chain through New Technologies
- Vertical and Urban Farming | Genetic Modification and Cultured Meats | Applying 3D Printing Technology to Food | Sustainable Packaging: Bioplastics.
- The solutions that also target responding urgent challenges caused by COVID-19 in the short and long terms, will be considered as high priority.
For more information, visit https://impactaim.com/accelerators/impactaim-anau-agritech-accelerator
