by Peter Wren-Hilton | Feb 26, 2025 | evokeAG
Wharf42 experienced an awesome evokeAG 2025!
We were joined in Brisbane, Australia, by Dennis Donohue, Director, Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology & Dr. Jeana Cadby, Western Growers Director, Environment & Science.
On Monday 17th, we all took part in the Brisbane Biological Symposium, co-hosted with CSIRO & supported by AgriFutures Australia. The Symposium gave us the opportunity to soft-launch Platform10 in Australia. Dr Adrian Percy, Executive Director of the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative (N.C. PSI) and Platform10 Advisory Board member gave the keynote speech. A number of leading Australian and New Zealand speakers provided valuable insights into the opportunities facing the trans-Tasman region. I was delighted that three key New Zealand organisations spoke at the event; Plant & Food Research, AgResearch & ‘A Lighter Touch‘.
The collaborative trans-Tasman theme continued well after the Symposium. On Wednesday 19th, I had the opportunity to moderate the Platform10 Biologicals panel at an evokeAG 2025 conference breakout session. I was joined by Adrian, Jeana & Louise Thatcher from CSIRO. We continued to discuss how this global initiative could support farmers & growers everywhere transition from hard chemical pesticides to lighter chemistry and biologicals. The conversations went well beyond the rooms of the conference. On Thursday & Friday last week, following evokeAG 2025, I engaged in several wash-up meetings with key Australian stakeholders looking to engage with Platform10.
Those conversations continue today. Over the coming weeks, I expect to be able to share details of a trans-Tasman framework designed to bring key New Zealand & Australian stakeholders together to take a leading role in the build of Platform10’s global outreach. It’s an opportunity for our region to step up and play a significant role in helping farmers and growers everywhere adapt to the world’s changing regulatory and consumer environment.
evokeAG 2025 was a great place to start this trans-Tasman discussion. Please check out this website for ongoing updates as these conversations develop.
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Jan 22, 2025 | Wharf42
Welcome to 2025 and the Chinese Year of the Snake.
The Snake represents wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, intuition, and creativity. Snakes are also revered for their ability to shed their skin and renew themselves, symbolizing transformation and rebirth. Wharf42 and our key partners and clients can relate. These are important traits that drive our behavior, now and in the future.
Reflecting on lessons learnt in 2024, we have identified ways we can further adapt to the ever-changing environment of AgriFoodTech products and services. This includes re-imagining investment into this vital sector. Our success requires not just a deep understanding of the market we represent, but a more holistic appreciation of how important ‘megatrends’ more broadly, align with our industry.
It’s with this context that I am delighted to share the news that Claire Lee is joining the team as Wharf42’s inaugural Director, Growth Strategies. Based in Palo Alto, California, Claire — aka Mother Funder — set up her own consulting firm in February 2022 after spending eight years at Silicon Valley Bank – six of those as Head of SVB’s Startup Banking Division and later as Global Brand Ambassador at SVB’s investment arm, SVB Capital.
Claire joined SVB in 2014 from Microsoft, where she spent a decade working on emerging technologies, including cloud and emerging businesses (startups) in emerging markets. During her time at Microsoft, Claire led the Local Software Economy initiative engaging Government, Academia and the private sector, before moving to California in 2011 to join Microsoft’s Emerging Business Group. Claire was part of the leadership team that brought Microsoft BizSpark and Microsoft Ventures to market.
Claire is a long tenured advisor to the U.S. Department of State, where she executed the first DEMO Africa event under Secretary Clinton’s leadership. Claire travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2015 with President Obama and a small delegation of U.S. investors and went on to partner with the Obama administration on the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in 2016 at Stanford University. Claire has served as Board Advisor on two boards at RAND Corporation since 2018, including the Center for Middle East Public Policy (CMEPP) and Global and Emerging Risks (GER).
Today, Claire brings a unique global perspective, significant investor networks and a particular passion for GenAI’s ability to transform the AgriFoodTech sector, to Wharf42. Claire will support clients develop Transformative Growth Strategies to accelerate market entry and opportunities in both the US and other key global markets.
We are absolutely thrilled to have Claire join the Wharf42 team. It reflects our own transformation as we build our global-focused footprint to address the world’s rapidly changing AgriFoodTech landscape.
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Oct 16, 2024 | Brisbane Biological Symposium
Powered by Platform10
I’m delighted to share the news that Platform10 will be co-hosting the Brisbane Biological Symposium on Monday 17 February 2025 with CSIRO & Wharf42. The Symposium is a major element of CSIRO’s Agriculture & Biosecurity Innovation Series, timed to coincide with evokeAG 2025, Australasia’s premier AgriFoodTech event.
This is an important development and exciting outreach opportunity. Following the launch of the Platform10 Global Partner Network at the 2024 Salinas Biological Summit in June, the Brisbane Biological Symposium is the first formal Platform10 sponsored event taking place outside the US.
This inaugural regional Symposium is being curated to provide researchers, producers, ag biological entrepreneurs, investors and policy-makers with a better understanding of Platform10’s cross-border field trials program to support farmers and growers meet the rapidly growing global regulatory and consumer demand for ‘less chemicals, more biologicals’.
The Symposium Steering Committee brings together sector experts to support its purpose. They include;
Jon Spaits – CSIRO Program Development & Innovation | Catalysing Australia’s Biosecurity
Dr Louise Thatcher – CSIRO Team Leader of Microbial Technologies
Dennis Donohue – Director, Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology
Dr. Jeana Cadby – Director, Environment & Climate, Western Growers
Miriam Hall – Business Manager, Plant & Food Research (NZ)
Peter Wren-Hilton – Founder, Wharf42
The Symposium will take place at CSIRO’s Eco Sciences Precinct in Brisbane. We’ll provide more details about the Symposium agenda over the coming weeks.
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Sep 18, 2024 | 2024 Salinas Biological Summit
Over the past couple of months, we’ve published videos of every 2024 Salinas Biological Summit keynote presentation and panel discussion in the Wharf42 newsletter.
Today, we’ve collated every video into a single collection to make it easier for you to review some of the truly fascinating insights that were shared by our 40+ expert speakers / presenters.
As we begin to prepare for next year’s Summit program in Woodland, we’ve set a high bar for ourselves. June’s compilation of premium content provides a brief insight into where we want to go. It’s all about creating value for everyone engaged in this exciting and hugely important area of agrifoodtech; growers, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, advisors and policymakers.
You can view the entire 2024 Salinas Biological Summit Video Collection here
Please feel free to download and share.
by Peter Wren-Hilton | Sep 12, 2024 | 2025 Salinas Biological Summit
Following the two highly successful inaugural Biological Summits in Salinas, the 2025 Salinas Biological Summit is taking to the road!
I’m hugely excited to share the news that on 24-25 June 2025, the 2025 Summit will be hosted at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland, California. Located just a few miles from the UC Davis campus, close to California’s capital, Sacramento, and on the doorstep of Central Valley, the new venue provides us with a unique opportunity to build on and enhance the Summit Program to deliver more opportunity to everyone attending the event; partners, exhibitors and delegates.
As well as serving up another content-rich Program of presentations and panel discussions, 2025 will see the first Startup event focused entirely on emerging companies in the biocontrol sector, as well as the introduction of real-time demonstrations of biological solutions being applied ‘in the field’.
As the global demand for ‘less chemistry, more biologicals’ accelerates, the need to provide growers with the tools necessary to develop new integrated pest management programs, as well as meet the increasing calls from regulatory bodies, is critical.
With lessons learned in 2023 & 2024, the 2025 Salinas Biological Summit will raise the bar and provide a totally new & enhanced experience for those joining us in Woodland next year.
Learn more at www.salinas-summit.com
