INTRO
- I’m Jason Hayward-Jones.
- My company is developing a product called RegenFARM – a cutting-edge digital farm design platform.
- We want to change the way farmers around the world produce food.
WHY?
- Farmers use chemicals to produce the majority of our food.
- These chemicals put lots of carbon into the atmosphere - contributing to catastrophic climate change and devastating our capacity to produce nutritious food.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
- Put simply, we need to take carbon back from the atmosphere and put it in the ground to improve soil health and fertility.
- We can do this using Regenerative Agriculture…or RegenAg for short.
- RegenAg goes beyond organic.
- It regenerates the life, fertility and resilience of the soil…
- …and uses methodologies which can be adapted to use on any farm.
- There is documented evidence that when RegenAg techniques are implemented at scale, they have a profound impact on whole eco-systems.
IS IT PROFITABLE?
- Yes, farmers in the US, Australia, Europe and here in the UK using RegenAg techniques have increased their financial returns – by factors of up to 200% per year.
SO WHY AREN’T MORE FARMERS USING REGENAG?
- To use RegenAg techniques, you need to redesign your farm. And that’s very challenging.
THAT’S WHERE REGENFARM COMES IN WITH A GREAT SOLUTION…
We are developing an algorithm and machine learning digital platform:
- to integrate and analyse big data and GIS mapping for individual farms;
- and apply RegenAg design principles to enable the farmer to:
- simulate different farm designs;
- use a decision-making tool to select the optimal design;
- obtain a transition plan to achieve the desired improvements to productivity and profitability.
WHO ARE OUR CUSTOMERS?
- The tens of thousands of younger generation tech savvy farmers across the world who want to improve the way they produce food.
- Institutional investors like pension funds who invest in farm asset portfolios and must address prudential regulatory risks such as climate change.
OUR LOW RESISTANCE ROUTES TO MARKET ARE:
- Farm management consultants who can leverage their client base;
- Farm management software companies who can feed our design tool into their products;
- RegenAg training institutions who have tens of thousands of alumni worldwide.
WHAT’S OUR REVENUE MODEL?
- RegenFARM will be sold under an annual subscription and a fee per hectare model, similar to that used by conventional farming digital platforms.
- The platform will integrate the latest fee-paying agritech innovations and link in with direct food marketing services like FarmDrop, Nori, etc.
- For institutional investor clients, we will negotiate a percentage fee based on the increase in farm profitability.
WHO’S IN THE TEAM
- The RegenFARM team includes myself with agricultural and business expertise.
- My partner, an ex-diplomat with regulatory and policy development expertise.
- We are in the process of recruiting a CTO to lead our technical development.
WHAT ARE WE ARE ASKING FOR?
- To kick start the project Exeter University's Environmental Impact Lab have invested £40,000.
- We want to bring an MVP to market within 12 months. To do this, we need £1 million.
- We are approaching Innovate UK for 70% of the development funds.
- We are seeking the remaining 30% from investors in return for an appropriate equity share.
TO CONCLUDE…
RegenFARM will help RegenAg become mainstream in farming industries around the world.