2019年4月5日

建議從投資分析師亞博創業裘伊萊恩是一個即插即用的投資分析師(PnP)合資企業,專注於早期階段投資Food-Tech和主要。投資分析師,伊蓮曾與團隊從泰森斯食品,史密斯菲爾德,杜邦、泰勒農場,Mondelez和其他大公司找到並實現前沿技術。她通過PnP型與國際食品企業家的社區工作在亞洲和歐洲的業務。AGR:嗨伊蓮!告訴我們關於你的背景和你如何卷入食品和亞博嗎?裘伊蓮:我的興趣在食品和農業產業開始在大學。我成長在城市環境中沒有多少接觸ag)工業直到我研究農業係統在中國。經過兩年的激烈的學術訓練,我轉移到美國,我拿起了更多的實踐技能在地裏幹活。實際的農業經驗不僅使我腳踏實地並關閉與業界也讓我各種角色在整個食品供應鏈,包括:生產買家,政策顧問,農場經營者,我目前投資的作用。我幸運地有機會探索和形成一個行業的整體視圖。 How does Plug and Play support start-ups? Plug and Play is the leading Global Innovation Platform - we connect, empower, and invest in tomorrow’s innovators. More specially, we support startups through 2 folds - investment and network platform. First and foremost, we are very active early-stage investors. Plug and Play had many successes building a large portfolio, investing in over 200+ startups annually across 15 different industries and 30 locations around the world. Beyond investment, we’ve developed a world-class ecosystem that provides entrepreneurs the best opportunity to succeed by bringing together startups, investors, mentors, and Fortune 500 corporations. We have a team of 500 employees dedicated to facilitate and help with business development opportunities. Where do you see the industry going based on the AgFunder report? AgFunder aggregated large datasets that help to present the overall industry dynamic, along with highly relevant insights. One part I particularly agree with, is that the investment market is getting more mature and more investment will be made in innovation at both the field-level and the R&D level to capture upstream opportunities at the top of the food supply chain. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, but it can be a fairly good indicator. The Food and AgTech investment records are solid reference points. Thinking farther into the future the industry will see increasing cases of cross-industry and cross-discipline pollination. What obstacles are AgTech entrepreneurs facing when it comes to fundraising? The main obstacles AgTech entrepreneurs face when fundraising are: getting on investors radars and demonstrating enough traction. Investors are always hunting for good opportunities, however, not all entrepreneurs are not able to demonstrate they are achieving progress in the market by way of measurable outcomes, e.g. growth metrics. Another obstacle, unique to agtech, is being able to build trust and connections with farmers. This part can be especially challenging for heavily tech oriented startups. However, If you have a solid traction and a good business model then fundraising shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle to overcome. What advice would you give to startups who are looking for funding? You should be the best salesperson/PR/marketer for your company! Network a lot and don’t be afraid to ask for help throughout your network. Form a strong team of advocates for your company that will both help expand your network and grow your connections. It’s much easier to grab the attention of VCs and other institutional investors if you have a strong voice in the market. Top 3 favorite books or podcasts that all entrepreneurs should check out?! Planet Money! I promote this podcast whenever I can. They are the best storytellers. All books from Yuval Noah Harari! Out of control by Kevin Kelly! What can we expect to hear from you at AgLanta2019? I’m hoping to provide a mix of advice on cross-disciplinary inspiration, dealing with corporate collaborators/innovators, and general advice on pilots and scaling for startups. Meet Elaine Qiu at The AgLanta Conference , April 14 & 15 in Atlanta, Georgia! Elaine Qiu will be speaking on the panel PILOT | Creative Strategies for Proving Your Concept. Product/market fit is a crucial yet hard-to-define milestone in the entrepreneurial journey. For most early-stage entrepreneurs, arriving at a proof of concept requires serious creativity on a small budget. On this panel, we’ll explore various strategies that have helped startups get there.