Wagga Wagga farmer Naomi Stuart is looking to take her company FARMpay global after traveling to Israel for a 10-day masterclass as part of the Tel Aviv Landing Pad program, sponsored by the NSW Government and Austrade.
FARMpay was one of 10 startups selected from NSW to attend the masterclass after developing a grain supply chain management platform with the support of a $25,000 Minimum Viable Product grant from the NSW Government-backed Jobs for NSW.
The fourth generation farmer came up with the idea for FARMpay after dealing with a payment that was significantly delayed.
“We have a family farm north of Wagga Wagga and together with my husband we have experienced what many growers have - selling a large amount of grain with payment delayed for months and limited transparency over the grain supply chain.
“We started thinking there has got to be a better way.”
According to Ms Stuart, the industry standard for payment of on-farm grain sales is 30 or more days which is inefficient for growers, traders and buyers.
She combined a strong understanding of issues faced by all parties and extensive knowledge of the agribusiness sector to develop the FARMpay platform.
FARMpay is a supply chain management platform that provides real time transfer of data and rapid payment for on-farm grain sales.
Blockchain ready, the platform provides a more efficient, equitable, transparent and secure process for grain growers, traders and buyers.
Ms Stuart said her team had built the minimum viable product and were now beta testing with key grain traders.
“We have recently recruited a lead developer and will look to further build our team,” she said.
“We have a team of four and in the next six months we will be heavily focused on recruiting software engineers, scaling into other agricultural commodities, and taking advantage of international pilot opportunities.”
Ms Stuart said The Tel Aviv Landing Pad program enabled her to engage with some of Israel’s leading start-ups, venture capital firms, business mentors and multinational corporations.
“This included business development sessions as well as the opportunity to pitch and receive valuable feedback,” she said.
“Some key learnings from the trip included the importance of collaboration and also building a global company. The trip culminated with our attendance at the DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival enabling us to hear from global startup thought leaders.
“We have had a number of promising follow up discussions with Israeli startups and also multinational companies that we met while in Tel Aviv.
“We are also actively pursuing international pilot opportunities with our partner Visa.”
Ms Stuart said Jobs for NSW had been incredibly supportive through the process.
“The Jobs for NSW grant helped us develop the platform which enabled us to fast track the development of FARMpay including engaging with customers during development to receive valuable feedback.
“I am really pleased to be given the opportunity and it’s great to see the government is supporting innovation on multiple fronts.”
Ms Stuart said FARMpay will commence a seed round in early 2018 and her ultimate vision is to ensure sustainability in the agricultural industry globally.
“We hope to do this by providing a supply chain management platform that connects growers, traders and buyers providing transparency, trust and financial inclusion from farm to fork.”