A meaningful event was held to foster sustainable growth by providing investment opportunities for agri-food ventures and startups.

On the 30th of last month, the '2024 Agri-Food Technology Investment Roadshow' was held at Dragon City in Yongsan, Seoul, co-hosted by the Korea Agency of Education, Promotion and Information Service in Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, and Forestry, and the Korea Food Industry Cluster Promotion Agency. Marking its third year, the event was a great success, with many agri-food ventures and investors in attendance.

Here is a glimpse of the roadshow.

# 50 Companies and 60 Investors Gathered

Held under the slogan 'Agri-Food Tech Investment: Walking the Path of Growth Together,' the roadshow featured a full schedule of investment presentations (IR), consultations, product exhibitions, and demonstrations from early morning until late evening. Even the lunch and dinner times included talk concerts and communication programs, providing valuable time to share investment strategies and success stories.

This year, 50 agri-food companies and 60 investment entities, including venture capital firms, large corporate investors, and accelerators, participated, making the event a lively one.

The investment presentations and consultations featured 10 food tech companies such as Sweetdo Co., Darloll Company, Mr. Milk, Butterrum Co., SweetBio, Sorella Co., SNE Company, Aging, Youth F&B, and Front Door Market Co.; 2 green bio companies such as V Nature Biolab and Genesis Eco; and 8 agri-tech companies such as The Dash Co., Mannas CEA Co., Biofriends, Seongho SI Corporation, Ten Liter Co., Artwa Co., LEDion, and UBEN Co., totaling 20 companies.

Participating companies actively sought investments by introducing their appealing products and technologies during the presentations. At the same time, investment consultations provided in-depth discussions through 1:1 matching with investment experts.

The remaining 30 companies set up product exhibition booths to promote their products and conduct purchase consultations.

# Opportunities for Business Expansion and Investment Know-How Sharing 'Thumbs Up'

Participating companies positively evaluated the opportunity to meet good investors and expand their business scope.

Noh Hyang-jung, a team leader at IO Crops, who participated in the exhibition and investment consultations, said, "We participated because there were many reputable and solid investors on the list of participants," adding, "It was a productive time as we could meet many investors at once through the matching consultations."

Jeong Won-cheol, CEO of Camelo Tech Co., which primarily supplies automated systems for traditional medicine, also said, "Agri-food companies find it challenging to meet various investors, and investors find it difficult to discover new investment opportunities, resulting in a 'rich get richer, poor get poorer' phenomenon in investment attraction. I hope more events like this are held frequently to provide more opportunities for many agri-food companies to build growth platforms."

Many also appreciated the valuable time for sharing tips and know-how on attracting investments.

Ahn Eun-ki, CEO of UBEN Co., who participated in the agri-tech IR, said, "It was very meaningful to meet investors who understand agriculture well and see our business model from an objective perspective," adding, "It was also good to clearly understand what the investors wanted."

Source: Nongsu News Moonye Lee, Sejun Park (moonye@aflnews.co.kr)