With all the movements of the "AgTech Startup Ecosystem" in Thailand.

Have you ever wondered where Thailand's agricultural startups have gone because, as we all know, the agricultural sector is very important in generating huge income back to the country? More than one-third of the total workforce is employed in this industry, and innovation is now increasingly being used in agricultural development.

To build a better understanding of the industry, I'd like to invite everyone to slowly crack the shell. Study the "AgTech Startup Ecosystem" at the same time to better understand the growth direction and importance of this ecosystem. Because agriculture has been the foundation and way of life for Thai people for a long time. Even non-entrepreneurs or investors can understand it.

  Overview of "AgTech Startup Ecosystem" in Thailand
 
According to a 2020 survey conducted by the NIA in collaboration with Maejo University. Thailand's AgTech startups have an average age of 4.7 years, but there are 53 agricultural startups, with the proportion of startups at each level as follows: 

– Seeding is a stage where startups already have 52.5% of their products or services sold in the market.
– The pre-seed phase is a product development phase that is usually generated by 27.5% of founders' ideas.
– The growth phase is the stage when a startup expands its customer base or expands its business by 20%.

There are many types of products or services provided by Thai agricultural startups, including agronomy, horticulture, livestock, aquatic animals and algae, as well as insects through a variety of technologies such as:
 
1. Farm Management Software, Sensing & IoT)
2. Robotics Agricultural Machinery (Farm Robotics, Mechanization & Equipment)
3. Novel Farming Systems
4. Ag Biotechnology
5. Post-Harvest, Logistics and Traceability Management
6. Agribusiness Marketplaces
7. Online Retail/Wholesale Business (e-Groceries) 

The technology segment with the largest proportion of companies is farm management technology, sensors and IoT systems, while the smallest proportion is post-harvest management technology. Most agricultural startups operate in Bangkok and are distributed somewhat in provinces across Thailand, but there is still a small amount. 

Deeper insights reveal the investment in Thailand's AgTech Startup

Over the past 10 years, global investment in AgTech startups has always increased, which in 2019 is estimated to be worth around USD 27 billion, or around US$900 billion. Despite the impact of the pandemic and trade wars, investment experts predict that businesses in the agribusiness sector will continue to be important and invested. Because it's a business that involves making food more accessible to people. 

Thailand, too, has invested heavily in AgTech startups. Based on in-depth interviews and study of funding data of 41 startups. It was found that the total investment was up to 772 million baht. This is close to asean countries like Malaysia. Vietnam and Myanmar If you consider investing in the growth stage of a startup. The details are as follows:

– The pre-seed period has an investment amount of over 184,750,000 baht or 24 percent, with an average investment per company of 5,131,944 baht.
– Seed term has an investment amount of over 202,131,000 baht or 26 percent, with an average investment per company of 16,718,157 baht.
– The growth period has an investment amount of over 385,319,000 baht or 50 percent, with an average investment per company of 44,967,500 baht.

The technology segment with the highest total investment is farm management technology, sensors and IoT systems. New Farm Management System Technology Group and Third Place Retail/Wholesale Business 

The source of agtech startup funding in Thailand is interesting because only 44.2% receive investments from VC CVC or Angel Investor, meaning that 66.7% of Thai AgTech startups use their own investments and focus on gradual growth, similar to SME companies. .

However, when comparing investment per startup with other countries, thai agricultural startups in the seed and series A stages have very high investments, close to the average investment per startup in the way the world receives. 

 Average investment amount per startup compared to overseas 

–Thailand The investment per startup was USD 266,813 or THB 8.9 million (agriculture only).
– Amsterdam City Netherlands The investment per startup is USD 166,000 or THB 5.5 million.
- Tel Aviv, Israel The investment per startup is USD 538,000 or THB 18 million.
–New Zealand The investment per startup was USD 279,000 or THB 9.3 million.
– Global average The investment per startup was $284,000, $9.5 million. 

(*According to Startup Genome, the investment amount is compared to the proportion of the area. If it's a big city, there's a large ecosystem, it collects data as a city, but a small country like New Zealand or Thailand has a small AgTech Ecosystem, so it's calculated as well as a country.)

By incubating and accelerating the growth of AgTech Startup by NIA.

Thailand's AgTech Startup Ecosystem can reach this point. It's not a long period of time, but it's been through intense collaboration across startups. The NIA is an important part of incubating, supporting and accelerating the growth of more agricultural startups through the following projects:  

"AgTech AI – Synergy for AgriFuture", or technology advisory capacity development project for creating startups that apply AI technology for the agricultural sector, is a project that is suitable for ai innovation developers who will help solve various forms of agricultural problems.
 
"Inno4Farmers", or "Inno4Farmers", is a project that focuses on collaboration with both startups. Leading private companies in agriculture and farmers are developing innovations together, focusing on applying deep tech to enhance the potential of agricultural startups, as well as helping to solve problems for farmers, expand their businesses, and test their applications with real customers.
 
"AGROWTH – AgTech Accelerator", a project to grow agricultural startups internationally. Transform Thai agriculture by working with agricultural startups from a variety of countries. Focus on creating innovations that meet the needs of businesses and create new solutions such as high precision agriculture, crop production technology, drones, etc. This is a project in cooperation with government agencies. Many of Thailand's leading private companies and investors from around the world
 
The NIA's agricultural programmes don't end there. There are still many projects to follow. Thai agricultural startups must continue to be driven through cooperation from many sectors and are constantly developing plans to grow the thai agricultural startup ecosystem strongly and sustainably.

Information from: Thailand's Agricultural Startup Ecosystem Development White Paper  Read more at https://www.nia.or.th/article/ .html Book.