Rebecca is the Engagement Manager for AgriFutures grow^AG., driving connection across the agrifood tech innovation and commercialisation pipeline in Australia. Rebecca has experience in project management, stakeholder relationships, ASIC and compliance administration, communications, sales, and events, working across several industries throughout her career including the logistics, accounting and finance, and agriculture sectors.  

Judy Kennedy: The new growAG. portal recently launched on 14 February. What does this feature do and how does it expand the value of grow^AG.?  

Rebecca Bradford: Our new portal is the next iteration of the grow^AG. website offering our visitors a personalised experience to be able to find, save and enquire about organisations, opportunities and research projects that meet their interests.  
 
The portal allows you to sign up with a log in, set preferences and receive notifications based on your preferences to make sure you’re the first to know when new opportunities or content hits the site. You can also save content and see your enquiry history. We plan to build this out in the future to add more features and elevate the user experience! 

To sign up to our user portal, visit growag.com today.

Judy Kennedy: For those new to grow^AG. - give it to me short and sweet; how does the platform work?    
  
Rebecca Bradford: grow^AG. is the first point of contact for people to tap into the ecosystem – you don’t have to trawl through lots of websites. Once you find a potential partner, you can send a direct enquiry to them. We receive the enquiry too, so we can facilitate connection or follow up, and ensure people get the opportunity they’re looking for.  
  
Judy Kennedy: Who does grow^AG. attract?  

Rebecca Bradford: Local, domestic and global investors and corporates looking to partner with farmers, producers, startups and innovators. People often reach out to say ‘Hey, I’ve got great tech’ but they don’t know where to start, who to talk to, what they can do. grow^AG. provides all the information in one spot, which makes it easy to connect and engage.  

Judy Kennedy: I’ve landed on the grow^AG. homepage; where to now?  
  
Rebecca Bradford: The site itself is simple to navigate and a place where anyone can engage and connect. Visibility is key. We structure all our opportunities to make it easy to identify the one that’s relevant to you. What’s unique is that grow^AG. lists live opportunities that are actively seeking engagement. Every listing is  looking to connect with partners, investors, solutions, accelerators or startups. From the search bar you can click through to research projects, organisation listings, and dive into stories of innovation.  

Judy Kennedy: I’m keen to hear more about research projects; what are they?  
  
Rebecca Bradford: Research projects list past, current, and ongoing agrifood innovation projects and is updated regularly from research organisations and funding agencies from across Australia. You can use the search feature to scout trends in research, identify new technology innovation coming down the pipeline or to see if there are specific issues or problems that you deal with on farm being investigated.  
 
You can connect directly with these projects through our enquiry forms, to get more info, look for opportunity to collaborate, or join trials. grow^AG. promotes collaboration to maximise investment in Australian R&D and deliver value for levy payers and industries.  
 
Read more about how six innovative research projects are set to change the future of farming here. And how a two-part shearing solution geared to elevate wool industry, is ready for investment here.

Judy Kennedy: What are organisation listings and how can they benefit me?  
  
Rebecca Bradford: Businesses or groups that have listed an opportunity on our site, or they’re an innovation player wanting visibility in the ecosystem. We have a direct line of contact for those organisations. So, if there’s an organisation that you haven’t been able to access in the past, you can use grow^AG. to reach out and link up.  
  
Judy Kennedy: I’m looking for something very specific; how can I search for it on grow^AG.?  
  
Rebecca Bradford: grow^AG. has a sophisticated key word search function across all content on the site. The dynamic filters also allow you to drill down and see opportunities relevant to your industry, focus area, sustainability, knowledge or tech area. We also have a map view function, so you can see where innovation is centred, who’s working where, and get started on that road trip planning to visit all the exciting innovation and research sites! We’ve also just launched a new filter that allows users to see who’s attending next year’s evoke^AG. in our opportunity listing.

Judy Kennedy: I’m keen but I want more information first; how can growAG. help me?   
  
Rebecca Bradford: If you don’t want to enquire about a specific project but just want more information or an introduction, use the general enquiry form. Then you’ll be invited to connect email with a link to access the grow^AG. calendar, allowing you to book in a time that suits for someone to meet you on a Teams call. This is open to everyone – we are happy to talk to and field interest from anyone interested in the ag tech space.  
 
Read more about 5 ways AgriFutures growᴬᴳ⋅ can boost your evokeᴬᴳ⋅ 2024 experience here. 

Judy Kennedy: I’ve found The One; how do I contact the organisation offering the opportunity?   
  
Rebecca Bradford: It’s super easy. All opportunities and research projects have an “Enquire now” button which lets you submit an enquiry for the opportunity or project that goes straight to the organisation that manage the opp or project. All enquiries go straight to the contact who have published that opportunity or project, they’ll then reach out to you if they are interested in connecting based on your enquiry. Our team at grow^AG. will also send you an invite to connect if you have questions about the site, ecosystem or other opportunities.

Judy Kennedy: I’m up for a chat with the grow^AG. team. Can I do that?   
  
Rebecca Bradford: Absolutely. There’s a whole team of real people behind the grow^AG. platform, our concierge team, ready to take your call or email. We also have a set of frequently asked questions, FAQ, under additional resources, but if you have any other questions or simply want to connect you can reach out via our general enquiry form and we’ll set up a time to chat.