FROM
PALMIE
NORTH
TO THE
WORLD
It might seem incredible
from Palmerston North
stir in food and AgTech
investing overseas, but
18 JULY 2018
The creator of the first
ultraviolet crop yield
enhancement system has
recently announced the
successful securement of $5 million
in funding…thanks to US-based
Finistere Ventures and Radicle
Growth accelerator fund, Rabobank’s
Food& Agri Innovation Fund
and existing Kiwi investors.
Addressing the global need for
increased agricultural crop yields,
BioLumic treats seedlings and
seeds with its proprietary ultraviolet
light systems. Its patented technology
precisely applies UV light
treatments that deliver long-term
crop benefits—including improved
crop consistency, increased yield
and disease resistance.
Already in commercial use for
high-value produce crops around
the globe, BioLumic has worked
with large-scale produce growers
and processors in California and
Mexico, with yield gains of up to
22%, and commercial trials are taking
place in Spain and the United
Kingdom.
“Light is an extremely powerful biological
tool that can safely manip-
Arama Kukutai is a partner in
American investment company
Finistere which has built and
backed companies worth more
than $US5 billion – and is investing in New
Zealand because it thinks this country is prime
for creating a lot of value from technology
and expertise in agriculture and food. “It is
a great location for bringing the best of new
agritech from around the globe,” Kukutai
says. “Agritech is seeing a new apogee in
investment and New Zealand stands to profit
from this mega trend where $US85 billion was
invested in venture capital in 2017, and more
than $US1.5billion in agritech,” the Victoria
University graduate says. “New Zealand
invests nearly $750 million in research and
development for food and agriculture, but is
only just starting to see innovation startups
commercialise the tech resource coming from
public and private investment.” Digitisation of
the farm is impacting agriculture globally, and
Kukutai says New Zealand needs to improve its
impact on the environment. “We are great at
production but need to improve our impact as
well to remain viable. Tech in sensing, imaging
and analytics can help farmers better run their
operations sustainably. We also see automation
and artificial intelligence addressing labour and
efficiency challenges while freeing up farmers’
that a tiny company
is creating quite the
that’s just what tech
company BioLumic
is doing.
KIWI/AMERICAN
INVESTOR KEEN
ON PARTNERSHIP
New Zealand can do better in the
world of agritech because it has such
great potential for its agriculture
industry and monetising big tech
investment offshore, a San Diegobased
Kiwi from Wellington says.
ulate plants without the concerns
often associated with genetic modification,
chemical usage and other
unnatural treatments,” BioLumic
chief executive Warren Bebb says.
“BioLumic is the only company using
light as an ag treatment at the
beginning of a plant’s life. Exposure
to a short-duration treatment of
UV-enriched light at a critical stage
in a plant’s development turns on
characteristics to help the seed or
COVER STORY
Caption: who is this guy?