SILICON VALLEY FORUM PRESENTS
THE SEEDS OF OUR FUTURE: INNOVATING GLOBAL AGTECH
AUGUST 27-30, 2018 | SILICON VALLEY, CA
#SVFAgTech18
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About the Program
Silicon Valley Forum’s the Seeds of Our Future: Innovating Global AgTech invites global AgTech innovators on a one-week journey through Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and the Central Valley, where you’ll explore sustainable, scalable solutions for the projected population increase in the years to come. California is home to the world’s most productive seats of both technology and agriculture, and this program examines the ways in which we can bridge the two, building a sustainable, connected, beautiful future.
Since the inaugural event in 2016, the Seeds of Our Future has brought together tech innovators, startups, investors, farmers, universities, governments, and industry experts to connect on topics such as automated farms, food safety and traceability, controlled environments, UAVs, and much more.
Join us in Rosario, Argentina on Nov 6-7!
We’re excited to bring the Seeds of Our Future – AgTech to Rosario in Argentina on November 6th-7th in partnership with Revista Chacra and Fundacion Cedef. We have a limited number of free tickets available – if you’d like to join us in Argentina this November, just fill out this quick form to qualify. Visit the official event page for the event in Argentina here.
How to Choose Your Ticket:
The choice is up to you – spend the full four days with us (immersion program + conference) or attend the conference only!
The “Seeds of Our Future” Agtech Immersion Program will be held August 27 – 29, 2018, and will tour through a variety of locations in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the Central Valley. Program tickets automatically include entrance to the AgTech conference on August 30.
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The “Seeds of Our Future” Agtech Conference is a one-day event that will be held August 30, 2018, at Forager in historic downtown San Jose, CA. If you wish to attend the conference only, please select the “Conference” ticket type.
Watch 2017 Highlights: The Seeds of Our Future AgTech Program
WATCH VIDEO
Speakers
more to be announced
Immersion Program Speakers
Deborah Magid Dir. Software Strategy, IBM Venture Capital Group
Deborah Magid represents IBM’s $25 B software business in the company’s Venture Capital Group. Her expertise spans several industries, and she brings insight from the venture community to the development of IBM’s growth strategies.
Hank Giclas SVP Science Technology Strategic Planning Western Growers
SVP Science Technology Strategic Planning Western Growers
Nolan Paul R D Strategy Emerging Tech Driscolls
R D Strategy Emerging Tech Driscolls
George Kellerman COO GP Yamaha Motor Ventures Laboratory Silicon Valley
COO GP Yamaha Motor Ventures Laboratory Silicon Valley
Mareese Keane Thrive Platform Director, Thrive Accelerator
Thrive Platform Director, Thrive Accelerator
Rob Leclerc CoFounder, AgFunder
CoFounder AgFunder
Helle Petersen Program Manager, Water Energy and Technology Center
Dennis Donohue Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology
Manuel Esteban Gonzalez Guzman Managing Director & Founder, FoodBytes and Terra
Eric Migicovsky Partner, Y Combinator
Manu Pillai Founder & President, WaterBit
Danny Royer VP of Technology, Bowles Farming Company
Joe Gunter Mayor, City of Salinas
Dr. Alessandro Turatti President & CEO, Turatti North America
Bill Green Education Manager, Center for Irrigation Technology
Sarge Green Interim Director, Center for Irrigation Technology
Tim Jacobsen Field Research Manager, Center for Irrigation Technology
David Zoldoske Project Specialist, Center for Irrigation Technology
Adam Wolf Founder & CEO, Arable Labs
Waldo Moraga CEO and GM, ECO2MIX
Mitch Partovi Key Account Manager, Waterfind USA
Jason Aramburu Venture Capital Investor, Baidu.Ventures
Miku Jha Founder and CEO, AgShift
Christopher Seifert VP of Data Science, Granular
Sofia Elizondo Co-founder & COO, Brightseed
Jun Axup Scientific Director & Partner, IndieBio
Mike Selden CEO, Finless Foods
Spencer Maughan Partner, Finistere Ventures
Brendan Solan Director Supply Chain Platforms, Driscoll's
Bakur Kvezereli CEO & Co-Founder, Ztractor
Arturo Elizondo CEO, Clara Foods
Raja Ramachandran Founder, Ripe.io
Josh Ruiz VP of Ag Operations, Church Brothers Farms
Sammy Duda Senior VP of National Operations, Duda Farm Fresh Food
Olivier Jerphagnon Founder, PowWow Energy
Jackie Vazquez Director of Ag Operations, Andrew Williamson Fresh Produce
Jeff Macon Program Manager, Fresno State's California Water Institute
Peter Herz Co-founder, FoodSystem6
Paul Bissett COO, Harvest CROO Robotics
Michael Christensen Director of Technical Services, Driscoll's
Conference Speakers
Denyse Cardozo CEO, Silicon Valley Forum
Denyse drives the goals and strategy for Silicon Valley Forum, with continued growth into international markets and innovation. She has coached hundreds of startups through the SVF pitch nights and programs.
Karen Ross Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture
Nicky Molloy Business Innovation Adviser - Agritech, Callaghan Innovation
Peter Wren-Hilton Executive Director, Agritech New Zealand
Steve Saunders Owner & Board Chairman, RoboticsPlus
Charlie Wang CEO & President, Oasis Biotech
Ricardo Jaramillo CoFounder, Agrofuturo
Arama Kukutai CoFounder & Partner, Finistere Ventures
Sarah E. DiCicco Vice President, DroneSprout
Sofía Ramírez Calvo Commercial Manager, Liventus Global
Gonzalo Fuenzalida CoFounder & CEO, Andes Ag
Patricia Hansen Investment Commissioner North America, InvestChile
Prakash Iyer Senior VP, Software Architecture & Strategy, Trimble
Tim Groser New Zealand's Ambassador to the United States
James Huang VP of Global Sales, OBOOK Inc.
Dr. Allison Berke Academic Research Advisor, The Good Food Institute
Shally Shanker CFA, AIIM Partners
Thea Uppal Policy Director, U.S.-India Business Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok Consul General of India, San Francisco
Kenta Yasukawa CTO and Cofounder, Sorocom
Toni Laming CEO, Blinc Innovation
Ed Noma Advantive AG
Karl Kerksiek Senior Associate, Finistere Ventures
Toshiharu Kimura Advisor, Yamaha Motor Co.
Juan Bravo Founder and CEO, AgroBot
Luis Ramón Marin Barrera Strategic Projects Director, FOCIR
AGENDA
The first 3 days of ``The Seeds of Our Future`` will tour through innovative farms and businesses throughout Northern California. The week culminates on August 30th with a full-day conference at Forager in San Jose, CA.
Immersion Program
August 27 - 29
Updated weekly!
Conference Agenda
August 30
Updated weekly!
Immersion Program
subject to change
Day 1 (August 27th)
7:00 am – 8:30 am
Pickup From Hyatt Place San Jose and travel to San Jose Environmental Innovation Center
8:30 am – 9:15 am
Registration and Breakfast
9:15 am – 9:30 am
Welcome Remarks and Agenda Overview
Denyse Cardozo, CEO of Silicon Valley Forum
Jonathan Hua, International Partnerships Manager at Silicon Valley Forum
9:30 am – 10:00 am
Presentation–New Zealand Partnership and the Importance of Global Collaboration
- George Kellerman, Yamaha MV
- Steve Saunders, Robotics Plus
- Moderator: Jonathan Hua, Silicon Valley Forum
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Global Ecosystem Learning Session: Digital Trends and Future Farming
Group Discussions and Presentations
12:00 pm – 12:30 pm
BREAK
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Panel Discussion: Laying the Groundwork for Impactful Investments in AgTech
- George Kellerman, COO and GP, Yamaha Motor Ventures
- Eric Migicovsky, Partner, Y-Combinator
- Rob Leclerc, Co-Founder, AgFunder
- Spencer Maughan, Partner, Finistere Ventures
- Jason Aramburu, Investor, Baidu.Ventures
- Moderator: Manuel Gonzalez, Founder, Foodbytes
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm
BREAK
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Panel Discussion: The Future of Food is Biotechnology
- Mike Selden, CEO, Finless Foods
- Sofia Elizondo, COO, Brightseed
- Arturo Elizondo, CEO, Clara Foods
- Moderated by: Jun Axup, Scientific Director, IndieBio
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Presentation: Granular’s Approach to AgTech
- Christopher Seifert, VP of Data Science, Granular
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Panel Discussion: Adjusting Automation Systems to Improve Crop Yield
- Steve Saunders, Robotics Plus
- Bakur Kvezereli, CEO and CoFounder, Ztractor
- Paul Bissett, Harvest CROO Robotics
- Moderator: Peter Herz, CoFounder and Mg Director, Food Systems 6
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Travel back to Hyatt Place San Jose
Day 2 (August 28th)
6:30 am – 9:15 am
Pickup From San Jose and travel to Bowles Farm, Los Banos
9:15 am – 11:00 am
Tour of Bowles Farm and Showcase of Water Technology
- Manu Pillai, Founder and President, WaterBit
- Danny Royer, VP of Technology, Bowles Farming Company
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Lunch and Commute to Fresno State
12:30 pm – 1:10 pm
Welcome and Quick Talk: Fresno State Innovation in Water, Energy, and Ag
- Dr. Sandra Witte, Dean, Fresno State University
- Helle Petersen, Program Manager, WET Center
1:10 pm – 1:30 pm
Talk: Status of Water in the San Joaquin Valley
- Sarge Green, Interim Director, Center for Irrigation Technology
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Panel: Strategies and Innovation for Stretching Water
- Manu Pillai, WaterBit
- Paul Betancourt, Fresno State
- Olivier Jerphagnon, Founder and CEO, PowWow Energy
- Moderator: David Zoldoske, Project Specialist, Center for Irrigation Technology
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Break
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Pitch Session: Water, Energy and AgTech Companies (includes Q&A)
- Mitch Partovi, Key Acct Manager, Waterfind USA
- Waldo Moraga, CEO and GM, Eco2Mix
- Moderator: Jeff Macon, Program Manager, Fresno State’s California Water Institute
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Facility Tour: Fresno State and The WET Center
- Bill Green, Education Mgr, Center for Irrigation Technology
- Tim Jacobsen, Field Research Mgr, Center for Irrigation Technology
4:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Travel back to San Jose
Day 3 (August 29th)
7:00 am – 9:15 am
Pickup from San Jose and travel to Salinas/ CSU Monterey Bay
9:15 am – 9:30 am
Welcome remarks with Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter
9:30 am – 10:30 am
Panel—Growing Pains: Understanding the Critical Needs of Farmers
- Jackie Vazquez, Director of Ag Operations, Andrew Williamson
- Josh Ruiz, VP of Ag Operations, Church Brothers Farms
- Sammy Duda, Senior VP of National Operations, Duda Farm Fresh Food
- Moderator: Hank Giclas, SVP Science Technology Strategic Planning Western Growers
10:30 am – 11:30 am
Panel—Practical Applications in Blockchain: A New Business Model for Produce Management
- Deborah Magid, Director of Software Strategy, IBM Venture Capital Group
- Alessandro Turatti, President and CEO, Turatti North America
- Brendan Solan, Director of Supply Chain Platforms, Driscoll’s
- Raja Ramachandran, Founder, Ripe.io
- Moderator: Mareese Keane, Platform Director, Thrive Accelerator
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Lunch and Networking at Western Growers Center for Innovation
12:30 pm – 1:00 pm
Travel to Driscoll’s Cassin Ranch
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Presentations—Berry Harvesting for the Future: Accelerating Supply Chain Processes Using Applied AI and ML
- Miles Reiter, Chairman and Owner, Driscoll’s
- Nolan Paul, R&D Strategy, Driscoll’s
- Michael Christensen, Dir of Technical Services, Driscoll’s
- Miku Jha, Founder and CEO, AgShift
- Jason Bates, Senior Director, Driscoll’s
- Adam Wolf, Founder and CEO, Arable
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Break and Networking
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Driscoll’s Cassin Ranch Pitch Night!
- Agribody Tech
- Impact Vision
- Kakaxi
- AgConex
- Pinpoint Science
4:30 pm – 5 :30 pm
Networking and Wrap-Up
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Travel back to San Jose
Conference Agenda (August 30th)
subject to change
8:30 – 9:10 am
Registration and networking
9:10 – 9:15 am
Opening Remarks: Denyse Cardozo, CEO of Silicon Valley Forum
9:15 – 9:45 am
Keynote: Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture
9:45 – 10:00 am
Speed Talk: Blockchain and IoT in Taiwan’s Agricultural Sector
Speaker:
James Huang, OBOOK Inc.
10:00 – 10:35 am
Panel Discussion: How Can NZ Agritech Feed the World
Panelists:
Peter Wren Hilton, Executive Director, Agritech New Zealand
Nicky Molloy, Business Innovation Adviser – Agritech, Callaghan Innovation
Toni Laming, CEO of Blinc Innovation
Tim Groser, New Zealand Ambassador to the US
10:35 – 10:50 am
Short Break and Brella Networking
10:50 – 11:25 am
Speed Talk: Mexico’s Innovations in AgTech
Speaker:
Luis Ramón Marin Barrera, Strategic Projects Director at the Capitalization and Investment Fund for the Rural Sector of Mexico (FOCIR)
11:25 – 12:00 pm
Panel Discussion—The Agricultural Landscape in Japan
Panelists:
Ed Noma, Advantiv Ag
Kenta Yasukawa, Soracom
Nolan Paul, Driscoll’s
Toshi Kimura, Yamaha Motor Ventures
Mod: Karl Kerksiek, Finistere Ventures
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Lunch, Brella Networking and DroneSprout Demo—Sponsored by DroneSprout
1:00 – 1:35 pm
Keynote with Finistere Ventures: Farm 2050 Investment Research
Arama Kukutai, Co-Founder
1:35 – 1:45 pm
Quick Talk: Watermelon Harvesting and Labor Robotics on the Farm
Danny Royer, Bowles Farm
1:50 – 2:05 pm
Speed Talk: Autonomous Irrigation Systems
Danny Royer and Manu Pillai, Bowles Farm
2:05 – 2:25 pm
Speed Talk: Innovations in the Meat Alternative Revolution
Speaker:
Dr. Allison Berke, The Good Food Institute
2:25 – 2:50 pm
Keynote: The Blockchain of Food – Improving the Food Supply Chain
Raja Ramachandran, Founder, Ripe.io
2:50 – 3:20 pm
Break
3:20 – 3:55 pm
Panel Discussion—Agro Processing & Entrepreneurship: The Path Towards Economic Security for India’s Farmers
Speakers:
Moderator: Thea Uppal, US-India Business Council
Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India, San Francisco
Shally Shanker, AIIM Partners
3:55 – 4:30 pm
Panel Discussion: Extending Shelf Life of Agricultural Products
Patricia Hansen, Sofia Ramirez, Gonzalo Fuenzalida
4:40 – 5:00 pm
Closing Keynote with Prakash Iyer, SVP Trimble
5:00 – 5:10 pm
Closing remarks—Denyse Cardozo, CEO of Silicon Valley Forum
5:10 – 7:00 pm
Cocktails, networking, and conference conclusion
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2017!
IT ALL HAPPENS AUGUST 27 – 30, 2018!
The immersion program will take you on a whirlwind tour through Northern California; the conference itself will be held in historic downtown San Jose, CA.
Immersion Program Locations – August 27-29:
San Jose, Salinas, Fresno, Watsonville, and more
Conference Location – August 30 only:
Forager
420 S. 1st Street
San Jose, CA 95172
Parking info: Limited street parking is available near Forager; paid parking is available
two blocks away at the San Jose Convention Center, 150 W. San Carlos St.
2018 Partners
Premier
Silver
Conference Lunch Sponsor
Country Partners
Program Host Partners
In-Kind Partners
Video Production Partner
Networking Partner
Community Partners
Hotel Recommendations
For your convenience, we have a list of hotel recommendations below. Please note: as the pickup point for each day of the program will be in downtown San Jose, the hotels below are, too. If you elect to go with a different hotel, we strongly recommend staying as close as possible to San Jose. The hotels below have been selected because of their proximity to the pickup point and the conference itself.
Fairmont San Jose ($$$$)
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Fairmont San Jose offers refined elegance and sophistication set amid the magnificent backdrop of Northern California.
Westin San Jose ($$$)
The Westin San Jose combines distinctive character and modern design in the heart of downtown San Jose.
San Jose Marriott ($$$)
Connected to the San Jose Convention Center, our recently redesigned San Jose Marriott offers travelers an inspired downtown location.
