5 Global Agtech Startups Set Sights on New Zealand Soil: Meet the Land x Launch™ 2025 Cohort
- Skye Raward
- Jul 22
- 5 min read
New Zealand is set to become the proving ground for a new generation of agri-tech innovations as the inaugural cohort of the Land x Launch™ New Zealand program is officially announced.
Delivered in partnership by Farmers2Founders, Agrifood Futures, and Agnition Ventures (the innovation and investment arm of Ravensdown), Land x Launch™ NZ is a market-entry platform designed to help the world’s most promising startups validate and scale their technologies in one of the most sophisticated agricultural ecosystems on the planet.
After a highly competitive selection process, five global startups focused on soil health, biologics, and climate-resilient farming have been chosen to participate. These companies will collaborate directly with Kiwi farmers, agronomists, and industry leaders to localise their solutions and drive measurable on-farm outcomes across arable, horticultural, and pastoral systems.
🌱 Why Soil Health? Why Now?
Soil health is quickly becoming one of the most urgent frontiers in sustainable agriculture. As climate stress, yield volatility, and input costs rise, the need for new tools that unlock soil function, resilience, and data visibility has never been greater. These startups are redefining the boundaries of soil health—from enabling biological insurance for crops, to using AI and remote sensing to map carbon and soil properties at unprecedented speed and scale.
“We’re incredibly excited by the calibre and commitment of this cohort,” said Dr Christine Pitt, Co-founder and Managing Director of Farmers2Founders and Agrifood Futures. “Land x Launch™ is about more than market access—it’s about helping global innovators work alongside New Zealand's agricultural sector to ensure their technology creates real, measurable outcomes.”
🚀 Meet the 2025 Land x Launch™ NZ Cohort
Cooling Crops (Israel)
Cooling Crops is leading a new category of climate adaptation technologies for agriculture. Their sprayable solution mimics nature’s own defence against thermal stress by restoring the soil’s protective crust—lowering surface temperatures and creating better conditions for plants to thrive.
“Through this program we aim to collaborate closely with growers, industry leaders, and fellow innovators to accelerate the adoption of our technology across New Zealand’s horticultural and agricultural sectors. We see Farmers2Founders as a unique opportunity to fast-track our growth, refine our solutions with real-world feedback, and contribute to the long-term resilience of New Zealand’s primary industries and help deliver food security to the world in the face of growing climate challenges and agricultural needs” – Sagi Sheinkman, Co-founder & CTO
Margins (Germany)
Margins integrates with global agriculture companies under market, regulatory, and climate pressure. Their platform combines geospatial and crowdsourced data, with top human agronomists and AI to audit, monitor, and expand current and future sourcing regions.
“We got double lucky being selected for Launch x Lunch™. New Zealand is the perfect market for our solution: a geographically focused and advanced agriculture industry with strong and expanding global companies. And even better, the entire Launch x Lunch™ team has shown us that they are here to help us succeed as a start-up solving real problems for real customers. We are excited to put in the work and demonstrate the opportunity we see in New Zealand".– Jorge Fernandez-Galaretta, Co-founder
M4Life (Argentina)
A biological insurance for crops, developed through a patented “bio-training” process that supercharges the microbes already used in biological inputs. It makes plants more resilient to drought, heat, salinity and flooding, significantly reducing the risk of yield losses under stress conditions.
" We’re honored to engage with New Zealand, a true global benchmark in agricultural innovation and sustainability. Joining this exceptional ecosystem is a unique opportunity, and we’re confident our biological technology — born in Argentina, a country once known as the breadbasket of the world — can contribute meaningful value to New Zealand’s continued leadership in the future of farming.” – Federico Wajnerman, CEO
Solena Ag (USA)
Solena Ag’s AI platform turns soil biology into predictable profit by delivering data-driven prescriptions and the integrated financing to execute them.
“We're honored to join the Land x Launch™ cohort and partner with New Zealand's best farmers. Together, we'll use our AI to unlock the massive value hidden in their soil and set a new global standard for data-driven, profitable farming” – Irving Rivera, CEO
TierraSpec (Israel)
A soil intelligence platform that combines remote sensing, machine learning and minimal sampling to deliver high-resolution, cost-effective and rapid soil property mapping and carbon insights.
" At TierraSpec, we believe soil is the foundation of agricultural resilience, and we’re committed to democratizing soil intelligence through remote sensing and AI. We’re honored to be selected for Land x Launch New Zealand and to collaborate with New Zealand’s forward-thinking farmers and partners. For us, this is more than a market opportunity, it’s a shared mission to restore and future-proof our soils for generations to come.” – Avital Levy-Lior, CEO and Co-Founder
🔍 Program in Action: Market Access with Real Impact
The Land x Launch™ program is not just about exploration—it’s about execution. Each startup will participate in:
On-farm trials and validation via Ravensdown pilot sites and the Farmers2Founders TEKFARM® network
Market readiness support, including localisation, distribution planning, and regulatory navigation
Farmer and agronomist engagement to gather feedback, iterate rapidly, and tailor technologies
Strategic connections with investors, partners, and supply chain actors in New Zealand and beyond
“We’re not just offering startups a foot in the door—we’re giving them boots on the ground,” said Joshua Soo, Co-Founder of Agrifood Futures. “New Zealand is one of the best proving grounds globally for agri-tech, and the learnings from this experience will accelerate these startups’ growth around the world.”
🌏 A Launchpad for Global Agri-Tech
Land x Launch™ NZ is part of a broader strategy to position New Zealand as a testbed and gateway for climate-aligned, regenerative, and digitally-enabled agriculture. As the program matures, it aims to help more startups and ag value chain players bridge the gap between innovation and adoption—while delivering lasting value to New Zealand’s primary industries.
“ Each of these startups is tackling a different facet of soil health and productivity—areas that are critical to New Zealand’s long-term agricultural sustainability,” said Wilson Huang, Senior Associate of Agnition Ventures. “Through Land x Launch™, we’re creating a launchpad for the world’s best technologies to land, learn, and thrive in our unique agricultural ecosystem.”
📬 Want to Connect with the Cohort?
Interested in trialling one of these technologies, connecting with the founders, or learning more?
📩 Contact: Skye Raward (sraward@foodfutures.com.au) Or submit a connection request via this form
About Land x Launch™
Land x Launch™ is a partnership-led market-entry program by Farmers2Founders and Agrifood Futures, delivered in New Zealand with Agnition Ventures. The program supports climate-resilient agri-tech startups to localise, validate, and commercialise technologies that improve soil health, reduce inputs, and enhance productivity.
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