News

Central Highlands Development Corporation today announced the appointment of Australian robotic agriculture pioneers, SwarmFarm Robotics, as Entrepreneurs in Residence for their AgFrontier Regional AgTech Catalyst program.

AgFrontier aims to create a world-leading ag and food tech community in regional Queensland to fuel a high and rising standard of living and a dynamic business environment that fosters innovation and growing agricultural productivity. The AgFrontier Catalyst program, supported by Local Buying Foundation, builds on CHDC’s work to fundamentally shift the culture, pace and scale of farm and agribusiness tech-entrepreneurship, digital capability and innovation in a two-phase program over three years.

“We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Australian agtech pioneers, Andrew and Jocie Bate from SwarmFarm Robotics based at Gindie, here in the Central Highlands.  Together we aim to share their insights and experience around robotic agriculture, agtech careers for young people based here in regional Queensland and their experience of the entrepreneur’s journey. We’re very fortunate to have agricultural innovators of their calibre right here in our own back yard.”, said CHDC’s Agtech Program Manager, Sonya Comiskey.

Cofounder and Chief Financial Officer of SwarmFarm Robotics, Jocie Bate, said “We are delighted to be involved as Entrepreneurs in Residence in order to encourage and foster the ecosystem of innovation in our regions. It’s a journey we have been on and we have experienced the highs and lows of building a high growth tech company and it’s great to be able to give back and share our experiences with others that are embarking on a similar adventure”

SwarmFarm recently completed an AUD$4.5M capital raise that will help attract talent to grow the team and accelerate the commercialisation of autonomous agricultural robots to many new crops and regions.

“We built SwarmFarm to revolutionize agricultural practices around the world, and it’s great to have the backing and commitment of our investors who share our vision for a more productive and sustainable farming future”, said Jocie Bate.

This announcement coincides with the end of Queensland AgTech Month during November 2020, a celebration of the people and places of Queensland’s burgeoning agtech industry.

Pictured (L to R): Cofounder and CEO, Andrew Bate, Cofounder and CFO, Jocie Bate with Tom Holcombe from the SwarmFarm Robotics team based at Gindie, Queensland. Image Credit: SwarmFarm Robotics.