Reflections on the Beanstalk Drought Venture Studio

Participation in the Beanstalk Drought Venture Studio marked a meaningful milestone for ALGAESYS as we continue refining our role in supporting drought-affected regions across Australia. For Managing Director Soner Bekir, the program offered a rare chance to step back, learn from seasoned experts, and challenge assumptions around how the business can best serve agribusiness and regional communities.

Soner joined the program with a clear motivation:

“Any opportunity you get to improve is one you should take, especially when it is being offered by people who have 'walked the walk’ before and really understand what they are talking about.”

What is PropaGATE- Taken from the Beanstalk PropaGATE site (https://www.beanstalkagtech.com/propagate)

His hope from the outset was simple: strengthen industry connections and deepen ALGAESYS’ understanding of the agribusiness landscape. What he found was far more valuable. The cohort environment created rich opportunities for exchange, reflection, and collaboration. Surrounded by founders at different stages in their journey, Soner found the diversity of perspectives both grounding and energising.

“It was good to interact with a group of people at different stages of their journey and to be able to offer some degree ofhelp/advice to the cohort.”

This spirit of collaboration led to meaningful outcomes. ALGAESYS was able to help one cohort member explore international opportunities in Southeast Asia, while another participant’s technology emerged as a potential complementary fit alongside ALGAESYS’ system—opening the door for future partnership.

A cornerstone of the program was the hands-on guidance from Soner’s venture builder, Tom van Gammeren.

“Tom was great. He introduced me to a number of important contacts around Australia, kept me focused on the tasks at hand, and did a huge amount of work to ensure the market intelligence team really understood our technology.”

This structured support helped ALGAESYS achieve, in weeks, the depth of market understanding that would normally require months of internal effort. The detailed validation process didn’t change the company’s core applications, but it did bring focus. The market study clearly highlighted three Ag sectors: abattoirs, dairies, and feedlots, where ALGAESYS can deliver immediate, measurable impact.

“The program didn’t reveal new applications, but it absolutely helped us prioritise where to focus. Understanding the real problems agribusinesses face allowed us to define where ALGAESYS best fits as a solution.”

The Venture Studio also influenced ALGAESYS’ entry into the Indo-Pacific. It was Tom who encouraged Soner to participate in Austrade’s SEABX Trade Mission to Indonesia and Brunei, guidance that proved well-founded.

“His advice was to go and make use of the opportunity to develop contacts. He was right. We would never have gained such a good access to key members of  the Australian Agribusiness landscape as well as a deeper understanding of the importance of Agribusiness to Australia’s trading and diplomacy efforts within the region without having participated in the mission.”

Soner Bekir at the SEABX Trade Mission event

Reflecting on the Beanstalk PropaGATE experience, Soner describes the program as both demanding and invaluable:

"Incredibly worthwhile, but be prepared to spend a lot of time working on it and on making use of the valuable resources it delivers to you."

For ALGAESYS, the Beanstalk Drought Venture Studio has provided clarity, confidence, and new partnerships—elements that strengthen our mission to deliver accessible, sustainable water security across Australia and the Indo-Pacific.