22/04/2017
[ YoStartups & Workout.Id Launch Excelrate Weekend In Indonesia to Boost AgriTech ]
Indonesian entrepreneurs can play a big part in solving the problem the world faces in feeding an ever growing global population.
If an entrepreneur learns how to make a minimum viable product for launching in the market, his odds of success are much higher than launching a fully finished product without taking market feedback”— Jappreet Sethi, Co-Founder YoStartups
JAKARTA, JAKARTA, INDONESIA, April 19, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Rising population and depleting natural resources have caused a grave concern for the global food crisis. One can imagine the gravity of the situation that one in every nine people, according to statistics, goes to sleep without having food. Globally 795 million people can't afford adequate food to lead a healthy life.
While increasing human count has added to the demand for staple food, the financially empowered middle class has developed an appetite for fruits and vegetables of high nutritional value.
So, while the overall food requirement, as well as its quality consciousness, is on the rise, the essential elements of farming such as land and water are decreasing. The tried and tested methods of agriculture are not helping the situation either. Agriculture consumes about 40 percent of Earths land area and 70 percent of the world’s fresh water. It also contributes 25 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emission because of cutting trees and clearing rainforests to grow more crops. But, that’s not a feasible solution, there has to be a better way, say experts.
So what’s the better way? It’s the optimum utilization of available natural resources with the help of innovative technology.
AgriTech startups have taken the lead, with more entrepreneurs entering the sector, partly in response to the need to increase productivity to feed growing numbers of people from same farm holding. An online investment platform for Agri-food technologies AgFunder reports $4.6 billion investment in over 500 deals across 450 enterprises in AgriTech in 2015. In 2016, the total investment went down by 30% from $4.6 billion to 3.23 billion however the number of deals went up by 10% suggesting expansion in innovation and its funding. 2016 also witnessed 670 unique investors in AgriTech.
To contribute to the current entrepreneurial spirit, Yostartups.com, which provides early stage support to build and scale start-ups across the world, and Workout.id, which offers coworking spaces and seed investment in Indonesia, have teamed up to nurture and encourage fledgling AgriTech startups that aim to revolutionize the agriculture sector and improve the economic and social standard of billions of farmers and their families. Both the companies are committed to helping entrepreneurs work for food security in the Indonesia.
University Trilogi, a leading university based in Jakarta, is supporting the program and hosting the workshop. It will provide accommodation to 30 entrepreneurs who are coming from different parts of Indonesia to participate.
Lahandi Baskoro - Director Business Incubation at Trilogi University welcomed this one of its kind initiative to make entrepreneurs ready to solve the food scarcity problem that our world is facing.
“Indonesian entrepreneurs can play a big part in solving the problem the world faces in feeding an ever-growing global population, With the global population forecast to rise to 9 billion by 2050, growing enough food at an affordable cost is one of the world’s most pressing problem,” says Lahandi.
YoStartups flagship weekend acceleration program, “Excelrate Weekend”, is a three-day and three-night event, scheduled for May 5 to 7, 2017 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The “Excelrate weekend” program will have multiple mentoring sessions, each designed to improve entrepreneurship skills with experimental techniques in agricultural technology.
Along with teaching AgriTech startups ways to overcome the butterfly-in-stomach moment while taking the first tiny step into the corporate world, YoStartups and Workout.id will also mentor them how to make the idea a successful business model in the current competitive market scenario.
Jappreet Sethi, co-founder of YoStartups.com, says, "If an entrepreneur learns how to make a minimum viable product for launching in the market, his rate of success is much higher than any other product which is launched straightway in the market without taking the clients feedback. By the time the feedback comes, it's too late to make any adjustment."
"Learning these fundamental in the collaborative workshop of Yostartups.com and Workout.id will go a long way for any AgriTech startup to survive and succeed," adds Sethi.
While the application of technology to address agricultural problems is at an advanced stage in many developed countries, developing countries like South-east Asian nations are making best efforts in this direction with entrepreneurial initiatives and government’s support.
Today, global cooperation for sharing and exchanging innovative ideas to address the issue of food shortage are more visible than ever. Entrepreneurs, with a firm belief to make a difference in the lives of billions of farmers, have brought digital revolution in the farming sector.
The “Excelrate weekend” program will keep this momentum going. Notable entrepreneurs and facilitators from Indonesia and abroad will facilitate the session. Abhishek Singh, co-founder of Yostartups.com will be personally leading the three-day program. Abhishek will be supported by David Yong - a renowned banking and financial services advisor, Lahandi Baskoro - Director Business Incubation at Trilogi University, Jakarta, Danny Septriadi - a notable tax expert at Danny Darussalam Tax center, Rici Solihin - Young Agripreneurz Ambassador 2016, Brian Powell – Founder and CEO ofi1p2p.com, a AgriTech startup that helps farmers improve their earning capability by giving them access to innovative technologies.
The venue of the event, i.e., Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia too is also very relevant to the subject. Indonesia, where 41% of total labor force is employed in farming, has come under tremendous pressure to fulfil its food requirement.
Besides the rise in population, rapid construction has reduced the cultivable land and use of water for non—agricultural process may cause water crisis too. The country looks up to the technological innovation to address agricultural issues. The government has taken up several measures to encourage youngsters and entrepreneurs in their innovative initiatives.
The business associations and industrial organisations have come forward to cooperate and complement the government's policy decisions fully. The whole environment of entrepreneurship is forward-looking and supportive.
Perhaps that's the reason, why high-end technology such as sensors, aerial imagery and big data analytics using drones is thriving in farming sector in Indonesia. Technology is helping in predicting crop yield, analysing the collected available data to suggest better farming methods or plant selection for the next session. New farming techniques, latest cultivation tools and information regarding commodity pricing and online sale-purchase of agricultural products are potentially quite important for addressing the food crisis.
Besides technological initiatives, Indonesia has also started attracting local and foreign investments, a crucial factor for an ideal ecosystem. The workshop is at the opportune time and in keeping with the technological developments in farming sector in Indonesia.
M. Maulana, co-founder of Workout.id and an Indonesian impact investing activist, says, "Indonesia is heavily relying on agriculture as it still provides income for the majority of 250 million Indonesian."
"Agriculture occupies 30 percent of Indonesian land area. Though the importance of agriculture sector is indisputable, the country needs to have a strong backup from AgriTech startups to get ready for future challenges," adds Maulana.
Jappreet from Yostartups.com , echoes the sentiment and is of the view that “Even though AgriTech startups have a broad coverage from enterprises that directly deal with cultivating plants, processing, medicines, and also parts of the agriculture value chain, such as food processing, transportation, and retail. On the very basic, AgriTech startup should help in alleviating poverty for millions of small farmers, narrow households income disparities and provide food security for the ASEAN nations."
Till now 30 companies, as far as 500 km away from the Indonesian capital, have enquired about getting a chance to participate in the “Excelerate Weekend” workshop and both Yostartups.com and Workout.id is quite happy to see the overwhelming response. The participants can apply for the limited number of seats at www.yostartups.com/excelrate
"It shows that the entrepreneurs have a lot of enthusiasm and that speaks volumes about the future of AgriTech startups in Indonesia," says Abhishek Singh, co-founder of Yostartups.com, who hopes that the Excelrate workshop will have an enriching impact on the participants.
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About workout.id
WorkOUT is a coworking space that offers shared office spaces for a daily or monthly fee that includes high-speed internet, office facilities, and other amenities. Centrally located in Grand Panglima Polim Office Complex, South Jakarta. The coworking tagline is “Everything you need in a workplace are all here” as it surrounded by convenience stores, traditional food stalls, restaurants, international coffeehouse chains, banks and printing centers.
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