We have a very broad interpretation of what constitutes “drought resilience”. We have broken the broad theme of the venture studio into 10 challenge areas:

• Water: This includes water management and storage; Irrigation and water use, water sources.

• Financial Resilience: This includes alternate revenue streams, insurance and access to capital, new markets, employment, and risk.

• Crops, Horticulture and Planting: This covers crop practices, crop choices, crop information availability, ground cover, animal feed crops and more.

• Livestock: Including animal production, animal health and welfare, animal reproduction, grazing, carrying and stocking rates, and livestock biosecurity.

• Soil: This includes land management, soil health and quality, soil moisture and more.

• Pests and Weeds: This covers anything to do with pest management, weed prevention, and fertilisers.

• Environment: Including environmental ecosystems, environmental sustainability, natural resource management, bushfires and back burning, forecasting and more.

• Community Resilience and Wellbeing: This includes personal and familial wellbeing and mental health, cost of living, community resilience, and social connection.

• Information and Knowledge Sharing: This covers things like drought-specific information, knowledge sharing, decision-making, planning tools and software.

• Supply Chain Management: Including crop yield and quality, cost and price volatility, supply chain and logistic disruptions, market access, waste management, and more.

These areas cover a very wide spectrum of potential innovations across things as diverse as biology, hardware, biotech, data and algorithms, IoT and sensors, software applications, and much much more. We encourage you to apply to the EOI even if you’re not 100% sure your innovation qualifies, and we can respond to you with any more information you might need to include.

The application process for the venture studio is relatively lightweight. If you already have information and material about your innovation, it might be as quick as 30 minutes. For most people it will take between 1-2 hours. Some question are quick selections while the crucial questions are free text, most limited to 200-300 words. Please stick within the word limit (and sorry this is not enforced in the application form). Some people have been completing the question in a Word or Google doc, and then pasting their answers across once they’re ready.

You can get a sneak peek of the questions here.

We understand many researchers and innovators might not want to leave their careers to start a new commercial venture. Our program accommodates those types of innovators in several ways. Firstly, the 90 day Phase 1 component of the program requires just part-time involvement (1-1.5 days per week) and helps put in place the basic commercialisation foundations. It will help you work through whether your innovation has the potential and ingredients for potential success. This is a crucial validating phase to help ensure you qualify the risks as early as possible. Secondly, during Phase 1 we will help you find and be matched to potential co-founders. If you want to continue to focus on the technical or research aspects of your innovation, and instead have someone else drive the commercial and operational aspects of the venture, then we will help you find that person. They can then be the person to drive your innovation forward and execute on all the commercial aspects of the venture. This is also why we offer a salary stipend component during Phase 2 of the program, so that this co-founder can be fully committed in the event you as the innovator continue to focus on the lab.

During Phase 1 of the program, we will be introducing and matching potential co-founders to Innovators. We are doing this because having a strong team is essential for commercialisation of a new venture, and co-founders can play an important role in complementing the skills of Innovators. Beanstalk is running a separate recruitment campaign to build a pool of potential co-founders that can be matched to Innovators. During the course of Phase 1, the Innovator and co-founder will have the chance to get know one another, and if there is a good potential fit, come to an agreement on how they might work together in future. This includes how they plan to work together if selected for Phase 2 and would cover their roles, responsibilities, salary stipend agreement, equity sharing, time commitment and a variety of other things crucial to their venture’s success.

Phase One is a 90 day sprint to validate and test the commercial potential of an innovation. For successful participants who are accepted into Phase Two, another 12 months of support will be received.

Phase 1 support includes $5,000 to spend on services related to venture validation and creation.

Phase 2 support includes up to $250,000 worth of non-dilutive support. This can be used as a salary stipend (e.g., to pay a dedicated co-founder) up to a maximum of $100,000, with an additional $75,000 to spend on required services like legal and brand development for the new venture, and approximately $75,000 of in-kind 1:1 support from the Venture Building team.

The total value of support provided to ventures that are selected for Phase 2 is up to $250,000, all of which is non-dilutive This is broken into three kinds of support:

1. There is a budget of up to a maximum of $100,000 that can used as a salary stipend. It is expected this stipend will be paid to a co-founder who will be matched with an innovator during Phase 1.

2. The expectation is that the co-founder would be able to make a full-time commitment to the venture during Phase 2. There is some flexibility as to how and to whom this stipend can be paid which would be addressed during Phase 1.

3. There is also a further $75,000 that can used to pay for allied services (essentially, other venture costs which are crucial to commercialisation such as legal fees, marketing, research, prototype development etc). These items will be discussed, approved and paid directly by Beanstalk.

If your venture chooses NOT to use the full salary stipend amount of $100,000, these funds can be used to pay for allied services instead. That means a potential maximum of $175,000 would be available for allied service payments if no salary stipend was chosen. You can think of this as a cash equivalent grant, as opposed to a direct cash payment.

4. The remaining $75,000 is in-kind support in the form of dedicated venture builder support from the Venture Studio. A variety of other in-kind types of support such as industry connections, introductions to investors, the pitching showcase, and other forms of ‘soft’ support have not been factored into the $250,000 figure

The Beanstalk Venture Studio model is divided into two phases. In Phase One we will work with “innovators”, that may be individuals or incorporated companies (e.g. startups), to validate their innovations and support the development of their commercialisation plan. From Phase One we will identify and select innovators to transition to Phase Two, who we will work with in the capacity of “ventures” (i.e. incorporated companies) to develop through the execution of their commercialisation plan. In preparation for Phase Two we will form new ventures (i.e. incorporate new companies) if they don’t already exist.

The estimated total Phase One commitment is around 1.5 days per week for 12 weeks. This is made up 3.5 hours per week fixed in workshops and sessions. These are currently scheduled to occur Monday lunchtime for 1 hour with the entire cohort (AEST), a 1:1 session with your Venture Builder on Tuesday for 1.5 hours, and up to an hour with other cohort participants on Friday. To fully engage with the structured modules, suggested fieldwork, reading and actual commercialisation activities, you will need around 1 full day spread throughout the week. We expect that participants will work on their own to complete many activities and can fit this around their current schedule.

Innovators can expect a combination of facilitated online content and workshops with the Venture Studio team, as well as dedicated in-person opportunities to meet fellow participants, collaborate with their dedicated Venture Builder, and meet customers, investors, and trial partners. Attendance of in-person events may be limited by where participants are geographically located, but we welcome all participants to travel to attend.

We are interested in research that helps build drought resilience in agriculture technology . This includes research in water, financial resilience, soil, crops & horticulture, livestock, pests & weeds, the environment, community resilience and wellbeing, information and knowledge sharing, and supply chain management. The proposed solution/innovation could be a data model, software, hardware or more.

The Venture Studio does not have a formal requirement for innovation to be developed to a certain stage to be considered. However, innovators bringing later stage research into the program will benefit most strongly from the venture building process.

None. For the next two years, the Drought Venture Studio is funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. Due to the nature of this partnership, the Drought Venture Studio is not currently taking equity in new ventures. The investments made into new ventures are all non-dilutive.

The Venture Studio is free, although only selected innovators can participate following a competitive review process.

The selection criteria for Phase One is based on a combination of the following components:

• Team/Individual - e.g., willingness to participate

• Industry Alignment – e.g., priority for those facing drought

• Solution & IP – e.g., there is a novel solution which is unique and defensible .

• Market - e.g., there is a significant group/sector in Australia and/or overseas.

• Studio Fit – e.g., we can support the innovation given the program resources, and the format of the program.

In collaboration with the Future Drought Fund, the following eligibility requirements have been established for participation as an Innovator in Phase 1 of the program:

- The venture must be an Australian entity, or the innovator must be a citizen or Permanent Resident unless an exemption applies.

- The innovator or venture cannot have already participated in the program.

- The innovator must have a drought resilience product or service they wish to commercialise.

- The innovator must own, or be able to independently direct, decisions in relation to their project or venture.

- The innovator must be able to commit to participating fully in the initiative.

- The innovator must have competed early-stage design and development of their drought resilience product or service to a point where participation in the initiative and interaction with the expertise offered by Beanstalk will reasonably likely to bring the Innovator closer to market in a demonstrable way within the timeline of the initiative.

Yes, if they have permanent residency in Australia. Alternatively, if they have or are willing to create an Australian company in which to house their innovation, that scenario is permissible.

If an innovation or company applying is owned by more than one individual, they should still apply but the innovator applying should be the majority share owner and will be considered primary in Phase One. They will need to fully participate in the program and can involve other cofounders as they choose.

The key benefits of Phase One include:

• 1-1 support from a dedicated Venture Builder.

• Custom commercialisation pathway, designed by experts in agriculture.

• $5,000 funding for brand, legal, or operational support.

• Facilitated matching with an experienced Co-Founder.

• Invitations to agrifood corporate and investor showcases.

• Commercialisation and startup insight deliver by specialist educators.

• Peer-to-peer community events & support.

• Professional coaching on pitching, business case & product development, and go-to-market strategy, and product development.

• Free participation.

The key benefits of Phase Two include:

• Up to $250,000, non-dilutive support for your venture.

• Free participation.

• Hands-on venture building support from expert team.

• Fractional leadership support from dedicated venture builders.

• Facilitated introductions to new customers for commercial trials and pilots.

• Introductions and pitching to curated group of agrifood investors.

• Invitations to agrifood corporate and investor showcases.

We aim to have a diversity of quality innovators from various states and regions, so we won't be implementing a weighting or quota but encouraging those with a passion to making a difference to apply.

No, innovators that have participated in other accelerator programs can still be considered for the Drought Venture Studio. However, if innovators have already commercialised their research or IP through these programs, and are already onboarding customers or securing investment, they are not a relevant fit for this program.

The Drought Venture Studio is different from other programs and startup accelerators because:

- New ventures are selected and will be created only if they are be focused on the most pressing drought-challenges facing Australian agriculture. The Drought Venture Studio has worked with leaders across the agricultural industry to understand and validate the drought and climate-related farming challenges farmers, and these challenges inform the selection criteria of the Venture Studio.

- The Drought Venture Studio employs a team of specialist Venture Builders to partner with every new venture to launch and scale. It is not a startup education program. A team of specialist Venture Builders, each with their own unique experience building and scaling new companies, will partner with new ventures to maximise the commercial outcomes for innovators.

- The Drought Venture Studio does not take any equity in each venture. The Drought Venture Studio is not dilutive and is free for participating innovators and ventures.

Ventures that are formed and selected for Phase 2 of the program will receive support and investment for the entire duration of that phase, irrespective of when they achieve early commercial success. Each venture will have a commercial plan that defines success, and that plan will be executed with support and investment from the Studio over the course of Phase 2. If a venture achieves commercial success earlier than planned, this will be viewed positively and the Studio will continue to support the venture to push to their next milestone or success metric.

A Phase 1 soft-onboarding for Innovators will take place the week commencing 19 August 2024, with the first week of the program officially kicking-off 26 August 2024. The 13 week program will then proceed through to 22 November 2024.

All innovator applicants for Phase 1 (Cohort 1) will be notified of their outcome during the week commencing 5 August 2024.

Intellectual Property (IP) in this context refers to any inventions, designs, processes, or software associated with the innovation. While some of the innovation’s IP may be protected, such as through patents, this is not a requirement of the Venture Studio. If you are applying as an Innovator, we would like to understand who owns the IP associated with your innovation, and whether or not it is protected in any way. If the status of IP ownership and protection is not clear for you in the case of your innovation, we still encourage you to apply by the early deadline so we can have the chance to discuss further with you.

During Phase One of the program existing IP ownership will not be affected. For example, the IP associated with your innovation may be owned by a university or other research institute. If your innovation forms one of the new ventures in Phase Two of the program, we will work with the existing IP owner(s) to negotiate an IP licensing agreement to enable commercialisation of your innovation.

As a condition of participating in Phase 1 of the program, Innovators will be required to sign an Innovator Participation Agreement with Beanstalk.

This agreement specifies that Beanstalk and an Innovator will not disclose any commercially sensitive information across the cohort.

Likewise, for those ventures selected to participate in Phase 2, appropriate legal agreements will be put in place relating to confidentiality, IP, and other governance topics.

Beanstalk team members will be available to respond to questions about the application process. You can email [ventures@beanstalkagtech.com](mailto:ventures@beanstalkagtech.com) with any questions. Answers and extra information to any questions we receive will be published in these FAQs and applicants alerted via email.

Specifically, for applications received by **Friday 28 June 5pm AEST**, Beanstalk guarantees to provide an explicit opportunity for an applicant to receive feedback highlighting any responses in their application that are not clear. Following this feedback session, an applicant may submit a revised application for Beanstalk’s consideration, so long as it is received prior the Expression of Interest close date (Friday 12 July). Applicants will be invited to this session around the time of the early deadline.

Beanstalk will also provide all unsuccessful applicants with an opportunity to receive direct feedback on their application. We hope such applicants will consider re-applying for future cohorts.

No. The form is for applying to be an Innovator in Phase 1 of the Venture Studio program, which is a program participation opportunity as opposed to an employment opportunity. Unfortunately the system we are using for hosting the application form does not allow us to customise the submission button to avoid this confusion.

During Phase 1 of the program, we will be introducing and matching potential co-founders to Innovators.

We are doing this because having a strong team is essential for commercialisation of a new venture, and co-founders can play an important role in complementing the skills of Innovators.

Beanstalk is running a separate recruitment campaign to build a pool of potential co-founders that can be matched to Innovators.

During the course of Phase 1, the Innovator and co-founder will have the chance to get know one another, and if there is a good potential fit, come to an agreement on how they might work together in future.

This includes how they plan to work together if selected for Phase 2 and would cover their roles, responsibilities, salary stipend agreement, equity sharing, time commitment and a variety of other things crucial to their venture’s success.

Allied services are startup support services like brand design and strategy, legal support, product development advisory, or related services that support early-stage venture creation.

The Beanstalk team has delivered over 150 projects with agribusinesses, research organisations, NGOs and governments across multiple global markets.

In Australia, our network spans key agricultural sectors such as horticulture, grains, broad acre, livestock and dairy through strong relationships with agribusinesses and grower/producer groups in all States.

We also have ties to the Australian government-funded Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs spread around Australia. Globally, we have delivered projects across the Indo-Pacific (including Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea), North and South America, and Sub-Saharan Africa regions.

The Venture Studio will leverage this network in supporting the development of the ventures it supports.