A group of 14 growers will join six-week programme to help develop their ideas and innovations

The first cohort of Australian-Grown Innovation ‘Incubate’ participants was announced at Hort Connections on 6 June.

This follows the launch of the Hort Innovation Australian-Grown Innovation programme in March 2025, which saw 72 participants from across the horticulture supply chain involved in engagement sessions held around the country.

The programme is designed t to transform the ideas and innovations of Australian-Grown into practical and applicable solutions. 

The ‘Incubate’ cohort, which is made up of 14 growers, will participate in a six-week programme designed to offer hands-on support via workshops and mentoring that will refine their inventions, and help understand market desirability and competition before bringing their products and services to life in a third build phase.

The new Hort Innovation initiative has been designed to drive innovation, working alongside levy-funded initiatives, to tackle the most pressing challenges in horticulture and offer participants insights into global best practice in their areas of innovation.

In partnership with Startupbootcamp and Cluster Connect, the inaugural cohort includes:

  • ATEK Integrated Engineering, New South Wales
  • Pectin 360, New South Wales
  • Organic AG, Northern Territory
  • Bowen Gumlu Growers Association, Queensland
  • SMA Marketing, Queensland
  • Fresh Produce Safety Centre ANZ, Queensland
  • Swaggie, Queensland
  • REKO Australia, Queensland
  • Sunnybrae Farm, Queensland
  • Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland
  • Corporate Roses, South Australia
  • Macro Group Australia, South Australia
  • Ace Apples, Victoria
  • The Bee Buddy, Western Australia

“We are thrilled to welcome 14 participants to the first cohort of the Australian-Grown Innovation Incubate programme,” said Brett Fifield, CEO of Hort Innovation.

“We launched this programme as we know growers identify incredibly effective solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face as an industry, but don’t often have the support required to bring their solution to life.

“There are lots of industry changing theories being explored in this first cohort, and we look forward to supporting the participants in bringing their ideas to life.”

Anna Barlow, food and agriculture innovation partner at Startupbootcamp added: “We are excited by the combination of horticulture industry challenges and potential solutions the cohort will explore through the Incubate stage of Australian-Grown Innovation programme and seeing how we can support the cohort to validate their ideas.

“Following the Incubate stage, growers will have the opportunity to progress their ideas to a Build phase, which is a 12-week structured mentoring programme to develop a test version of their idea and trial it in a real-world market environment.”

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