The world looks to France for cuisine, and France looks to Israel for agriculture and food technology at AgriVest

AgriVest 2018, an initiative of The Trendlines Group (SGX: 42T) (OTCQX: TRNLY), GreenSoil Investments, and Israel New Tech of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, will take place in Tel Aviv on 8 May, 2018. An international conference, AgriVest brings together entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and investors to nurture opportunities for global partnerships and collaborations. AgriVest 2018 will be held at Trask in the Tel Aviv Port. Among the representatives from global agricultural and food industry companies attending AgriVest are ADAMA Agricultural Solutions, BASF, Bayer, Dow Dupont, Monsanto, Netafim, Nutreco and Unigrains. This year, the conference will host a delegation and exhibit of eight French start-ups led by Business France, the Commercial Department of the French Embassy in Israel.

"Participating in AgriVest will give the eight selected French start-ups the opportunity to take a first step in the vibrant ecosystem of the Start-up Nation, meet Israeli investors, and initiate strong valued partnerships with Israeli companies," notes Deborah Modiano, Head of Food & Beverage Division, Commercial Department of the French Embassy in Israel - Business France. "French and Israeli approaches are often very complementary, the former being more focused on research and development and the latter on getting that research implemented."

Last year, according to AgFunder, global agriculture and food technology start-ups received a record $10.1 billion in investments, up 29% from 2016. This year's AgriVest comes on the heels of these tremendous changes - and successes - in the sector.

"AgriVest traces its humble beginnings 'way back' to 2012," says Nitza Kardish, Ph.D., CEO Trendlines Incubators Israel, "when we at Trendlines launched the first - and only - Israeli conference in agrifood tech. Now, against the backdrop of the tremendous growth and interest in the sector, AgriVest ranks among the most well-established, recognized conferences in the global agrifood tech community."

AgriVest 2018 conference highlights

A central feature of the conference remains the Best Israeli Agtech Company Competition. The 11 Israeli agtech start-ups were selected by an independent committee from more than 40 companies that applied. The AgriVest audience and a panel of expert judges will select the winning company, to be announced at the close of the conference. Previous Best Israeli Agtech Companies include Enzootic and DouxMatok.
An array of distinguished guests from Holland, China, India, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, and the United States will address the conference participants:
- Keynote speaker Professor Louise O. Fresco, President of Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands will address, "Transition to a sustainable agri-food system."

- Other speakers include Aharon Aharon, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority; Ran Maidan, President and CEO of Netafim; and Professor David Harel of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

- Guest interviewers and panelists will examine topics such as "Blockchain in the agtech food chain" (Mitchell Presser, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Sumer Johal, Agralogics) and "How robotics and automation will forever change the future of agriculture" (George Kellerman, Yamaha Motor Ventures, with Dan Harburg, Anterra Capital, and Steven Saunders, Robotics Plus). Gideon Soesman of GreenSoil Investments will moderate a panel discussion on "Investments in growth opportunities in agtech."

About Business France

Business France, the public agency supporting the international development of the French economy, Bpifrance, the French public investment bank and AER, the Burgundy Franche Comté regional economic agency, decided to launch the French Tech Tour Agri-Food Israel (FTTA Israel), a tailor-made program that immerses selected French start-ups in Israel's agtech- foodtech ecosystem and that aims to foster collaborations between French and Israeli ecosystems.

About AgriVest 2018

AgriVest is organized by Trendlines Agtech, an incubator of The Trendlines Group; GreenSoil Investments, an Israeli VC focused on agtech investments; and Israel New Tech, of Israel's Ministry of Economy and Industry. AgriVest connects industry, business, academia, and government to focus on opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors, and partners.

The conference goals are to provide a forum for discussion and debate about the challenges, drivers, and trends in the agrifood tech sector and to present breakthrough technologies and products from young Israeli companies to international investors and industry and government leaders.

Partners: IATI, the Israel Innovation Authority, and Start-Up Nation Central

Sponsors: Shibolet & Co, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Greenberg Traurig, Monsanto, Netafim, Yissum, BASF, Bayer, Bits & Bites, Business France, Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, Evogene, Finistere Ventures, Germin8 Ventures, Geyra Gassner Kesten, Kincannon Reed, PeakBridge Partners, Technion Technology Transfer, Unigrains, and Yeda Research and Development

Media partners: AgFunder, AgroTrip Israel, Global AgInvesting, and World-Agri-Tech Innovation Summit