
Addressing Worldwide Challenges
Food security, climate change, global poverty, sustainable agriculture are all listed by the UN as some of the top concerns in the world today. While not traditionally considered at the “cutting-edge,” the field of agriculture is rapidly transforming itself, driven by a pressing need to address some of the biggest global challenges. Agriculture is increasingly seeking technological solutions to drive faster, smarter, and less wasteful farming practices. This exciting field has been dubbed as “Agtech” (or AgriTech or AgriFoodtech) and if the level of investment is anything to go by (the field is projected to be worth USD 13.50 billion by 2023) it’s certainly one red-hot area.
An Exciting Time For Agtech Startups
This is one the most exciting times in history to be involved in the agriculture space – particularly in Israel, which is rapidly emerging as a global hub of agtech innovation. In the past decade, the rate of Agtech start-up creation in Israel has more than tripled and there are currently more than 400 Israeli agtech companies and 240 Israeli food-tech companies active in Israel today. These forward-thinking companies are tackling pervasive issues that affect our entire planet – like how to achieve better crop yield, accurately predict climate, ensure healthier livestock, use water more efficiently, create alternative (non-animal based) proteins, sustainable packaging, and more. What this means for the Agtech entrepreneur is that competition for financial backing – either from investors or from large AgriFood companies who are increasingly seeking partnership with agtech startups in Israel – is getting fiercer by the day. While undoubtedly, Agtech is attracting a significant amount of investment capital (Israeli Agtech startups raised close to $300 million and Food tech raised $400 million in 2019 ) an SNC sector report stated that since 2014, only 14% of investors active in the sector have invested in two companies or more. The potential for further growth is already there but if Agtech startups are to grow to full maturity, they will need focused and committed investors and they will need to prove their worth by attracting sales and partnership.
How Will You Get The Word Out?
For your Agtech startup to truly succeed, you’ll need investors, partners, and customers. That means attracting a lot of attention from a lot of people! It’s true that droves of investors are buzzing around Agtechs at the moment but remember that they are seeing hundreds of pitches a month. Get your pitch wrong – make it too long, too boring, or not compelling enough – and it will be discarded. As for your customers, to build trust, loyalty, and spark sales, you need to produce content. For all those who thought that having a good product was enough, take a look at the research showing that content is critical to growing a healthy business. According to research by ProfitWell, 47% of buyers still view 3 to 5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative. Companies with blogs tend to get 67% more leads than those who don’t have a blog. Inbound marketing close rates are still 8 to 10 times higher compared to those gained from outbound efforts.
Purple Chia’s Actionable Content Advice For Agtech Startups
The value of good content for your Agritech business cannot be underestimated. Before you put yourself out there, it’s worth spending some time getting your communications just right. Purple Chia helps dozens of startups grow and achieve their financial and sales goals by getting the most impact from their written communications. This article is one of five designed to help you do just that. Over the coming weeks, we offer you our top tips for creating the 5 most essential content items that Agtech startups need to boost their growth.