Driving innovation

AgTechUCD is based at University College Dublin’s (UCD's) Lyons Farm in Kildare. It is part of NovaUCD, the commercialisation arm of research and innovation at the university. Nova deals primarily with spin-out companies coming out of university research.
AgTechUCD has a broader remit, Gary explains: “We deal with university spin-outs. We will also engage with ‘spin-ins’, companies external to UCD but in our space, and we’re the only part of Nova that is sector specific, being exclusively focused on ag-tech oriented projects. Nova is in existence for more than 20 years now. It has built up huge experience in start-up development and commercialisation.” 

Leveraging expertise

Ag-tech was a logical step for UCD to take, says Gary. “With its agriculture and veterinary faculties, UCD believes it can leverage its expertise and strengths in these areas and ag-tech was a very logical area to move into.
“In addition, ag-tech is a high priority area for Enterprise Ireland, which is part-funding the programme, as well as providing support under its regional enterprise development fund for the infrastructure developed at Lyons for AgTechUCD. Our remit allows us to work with somewhat more established companies in the ag-tech space.”
Ag-tech is a very broad term, he adds: “If a novel development adds to efficiency and effectiveness and productivity and viability and sustainability on the farm, then we can support it,” he says.

Practical application

Labour and time are scarce commodities in agriculture and ag-tech has a role to play in improving efficiencies in both areas, explains Gary. “Sustainability, in terms of economically, environmentally and socially sustainable farming, drives a lot of innovation in the ag-tech sector. Farmers are quite creative. There’s nothing like facing a problem to make you think about a solution.
"Our innovation centre at Lyons is only open in the last 12 months, but prior to that, we had commenced a specific agricultural accelerator programme called Agccelerator, aimed at very early-stage innovation concepts. The people involved include post-doctorate graduates, researchers and students in third level, who have come across something in their research that lends itself to a business idea. Some are in other industries, including the tech sector, and this range of additional perspectives is something we’re keen to explore. They see a particular piece of technology and recognise its potential in the agriculture or equine industries.”
Gary has been a judge at Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Arena Awards at the National Ploughing Championships for several years. The experience opened his eyes to the creativity and innovative thinking that exists in the country: “I found that young people in secondary school are great for novel ideas and concepts. We have seen them exhibit at the Innovation Arena over the years. They have a different way of thinking, as young people do. In addition, quite a few really good concepts have come from farmers, often based on challenges they have personally faced. Established companies that you might not necessarily think are going to be innovative, are also coming forward with new concepts as they face new challenges.”

From idea to commercial success 

It is one thing to have a good idea, another entirely to execute it. That is where  AgTechUCD comes in. “People with an idea think, why is the world not knocking at their door? Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Turning that idea into a business is where our accelerator programme (see page 11) and the wider concept of AgTechUCD comes into play. It’s to equip innovators with the skills to turn their ideas into a business. Some of the skills required are basic business skills. We need to turn that idea into a minimum viable product, or MVP. That involves moving into the prototype stages so that you have proof of concept. In other words, the idea has practical and commercial application.”

Finance is critical to success

A lot of the roadblocks that fledgling companies face are around finances; you need money to make money, Gary says. “Depending on what the idea is, that might be quite a considerable amount of money. Our parent organisation, Nova, through the work it has done over the years, has a considerable network of venture capitalists and early-stage investors. Several of them have an ag-tech focus with European operations based in Ireland. Generally, they are not looking at long-term investments. They’re looking to exit at some stage. Sustainability is a big thing for them because they often want the business to be globally scalable to increase its value.
“The sustainability piece can mean something that is transferable internationally. Our grass-based production system is a huge strength to us.  It is not directly transferable to many other markets but some of the concepts and developed products or services are replicable in other types of farming systems. The solution is in identifying a need and coming up with a solution, in a global sense. That allows you to raise money. Once you have the finance, or before you even go talk to a financier, you need to protect your intellectual property. That’s hugely important. If you don’t, your time and effort may be gone for naught.
"But there is a pathway to successful commercialisation for a lot of people. It involves them recognising their strengths and these may well be technical. They may not have commercial strengths, and we often look to partner them with either a team of advisors or a co-founder who would come in with them. They have the skillset that will turn it into a business. It’s quite common in the start-up world that the ideas person is not necessarily the person who’s going to manage it to commercial success," says Gary.

Collaborative innovation

When he was Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney announced €7m in funding over six years to UCD to deliver a new food and agriculture innovation and entrepreneurship training programme, in partnership with Teagasc. The Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme (FAST IP) is part of an overall Enterprise Ireland-funded programme called the Innovators' Initiative, Gary says. “It involves taking in a cohort of people each year, mid-career people, if you like. They will include people with professional experience under their belt, but not necessarily in agriculture. Their individual profiles include a wide range of industries, some from hospitality, some very much from the food and agri-space. Each group comes without any preconceived biases. We will spend the first part of the programme immersing them in the industry environment. In our case, it will be agriculture in the broadest sense, running from production, supply, through processing and on to where food goes, looking at that whole value chain to identify real challenges that are being posed to the industry.
“Initially, the focus is on needs and challenges within the industry, not solutions. Ultimately, through teamwork and mentoring, the target is to identify solvable needs, and then create viable, commercial solutions. At the end of each year, we expect a couple of developments to become real start-ups that will go on into the Enterprise Ireland path, where they will have commercialisation executives available to help drive on towards creating a business. The aim is that some of the start-ups will achieve the status of Enterprise Ireland high-potential start-ups.” 

AgTechUCD facilities

Gary gives an overview of the types of facilities at the AgTechUCD innovation centre. “We have a range of co-working spaces available for start-up companies, and they can incorporate the ‘hot-desk’ concept. There are some private offices. We also have lab spaces. Those spaces are available to businesses as a commercial transaction. We put our clients at the heart of the Lyons farm and that gives them access to university researchers. It’s a commercial relationship to a point, but with a lot more benefit than they’re going to get in another rented space.”
He explains a little about the research and commercialisation process: “If a concept comes from university research, the university owns that research, and we’ll have a slice of the equity. It varies, depending on the circumstances. Once the research is completed, sometimes a researcher wants to pursue commercialisation, sometimes not.
If the latter is the case, our technology transfer office may identify another company which may have an application for the technology, and it will be licensed out to the company. That’s quite common. A majority of the companies we work with, however, would be at launching stage. We fully support our graduates if they have potential commercial ideas to explore and develop.”