Mentoring to transform ideas into real solutions is one of the key offerings of a new program launched today by Hort Frontiers. The new program – Australian-Grown Innovation, developed in partnership with Startupbootcamp and Cluster Connect - is designed to drive innovation that will tackle the most pressing challenges in horticulture.  

Over the next five years, the program, which is for Australian growers and those across the horticulture supply chain, will accelerate grower-led innovation through three stages of mentorship. The aim is to turn great ideas into commercially viable products and services that make a real difference on the ground. 

Its objective will be to unlock transformative opportunities and deliver practical solutions to real industry challenges such as: climate resilience strategies, value-added product innovation, technology-driven solutions harnessing AI, and supply chain improvements to increase productivity. 

All solutions created will deliver on solving these challenges through a requirement to meet one of the five overarching Frontiers themes: healthy living, adaptation and resilience, market access, disruptive technologies and capability building.  

Brett Fifield, CEO of Hort Innovation said about the program: “Australian growers are the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs. They’re on the frontline of horticulture and know better than anyone the problems that need solving. 

“This program has been designed to tap into this knowledge and the entrepreneurial spirit of Australian growers to try and solve problems together for our horticulture sector. 

“Our recent Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook showed that the horticulture sector has now reached a total production value of $17 billion, with more growers being given the tools to bring farm changing ideas to life we know that we will see this number continue to grow.”  

Australian nursery growers, Matt Mansfield and Symone Brown, General Managers from Mansfield’s Nursery and Tissue Culture Australia have experienced their own innovation journey and shared the potential they see in a program like Australian-Grown Innovation. "We found the innovation journey was a bit of a rollercoaster full of ups and downs. It felt like we were renovating a house at times—setting out to solve one problem, only to uncover more along the way, and seeing the costs escalate beyond what we had planned." 

"A program like Australian-Grown Innovation would have helped us explore the ideas more thoroughly and figure out our end goal faster. We can see how it would have benefited our program creation, and we are sure it will help lots of other growers just like us to create their own innovations." 

Anna Barlow, Food and Agriculture Innovation Partner at Startupbootcamp said: “Australian-Grown Innovation is for growers, producers, entrepreneurs and businesses across the horticulture supply chain who want to develop new ideas and turn them into real-world products or services. 

“Helping new businesses in the food and agriculture space has been a big part of what Startupbootcamp has been focused on and we are thrilled to be able to work with Frontiers to bring this program to life to continue doing so.” 

This program has been co-funded by the Hort Frontiers program and Startupbootcamp to solve real world horticulture challenges and give growers the tools to innovate more homegrown technology.  

To find out more or register for the program head to www.frontiers.au/agi