We were delighted to partner with our friends at Barn4 this month to host an online business connect event bringing together start-ups from the UK and Australia to share their experiences.

Barn4 is an agri-tech incubator in Cambridge, UK, with a similar mission to the CEAT Innovation Hub. Its members span a range of disciplines – including technology, sustainability, robotics, bioinformatics, data management, farming and aeroponics – but all have a focus on agri-tech.

On 19 November, Hub members Wildlife Drones, PPB Technology and MTE joined five start-ups from Barn4 to connect and learn about each other’s businesses. Participants shared recent successes and challenges, and identified similarities in their business journeys.

There were parallels between the journeys of some of the businesses and potential opportunities for knowledge sharing and ongoing connections.

Michael Gifford, Barn4 Director Commercialisation, encouraged CEAT Hub businesses to consider the UK as an attractive option for overseas expansion. He said even post-Brexit, there are big advantages to the UK as a place to do business, with opportunities to attract British investment, and more convenient access to the Irish and European markets.

CEAT Director Owen Atkin mirrored Michael’s comments, saying Canberra was well set-up to support businesses looking to expand into the Australia market, with organisations like CEAT and CBRIN here to help.

Thank you to all of the businesses who took the time to join us, including Gondwana Genomics, PPB Technology and MTE from CEAT, and Aceae Nutra, PES Technology, MTE, Petiole, Soilwater and Agrisynth from Barn4. We look forward to more opportunities to connect.