evokeAg 2025: Innovation in agriculture
It was a pleasure to attend and participate in the 2025 installment of evokeAg by Agrifutures. Managing Director Soner Bekir and Engineering Lead Rhys Gustafsson were in Brisbane, showcasing just how useful ALGAESYS can be for the agriculture industry.
Engineering Lead, Rhys Gustafsson, representing ALGAESYS at the EvokeAg Conference
With almost two thousand delegates from 27 countries in attendance, evokeAg 2025 was an opportunity for the best innovations in the industry to come together and brainstorm how we can tackle the biggest issues facing agriculture globally. Evoke is the largest agriculture event in the Asia Pacific, and it did not disappoint.
Bekir commented, “It was, for me, the best conference I have attended in the last three years. It had impeccable organisation, a professional layout, and, most importantly, a number of really impactful, in-person events surrounding the main conference format.”
Gustafsson agreed, noting, “EvokeAg have set a high standard for what is possible to support start-up companies in a conference setting – in terms of what they have done for us in marketing and exposure to investors and other interested parties. It is a testament to the commitment that AgriFutures has in facilitating innovation in the Australian agricultural industry.”
Startup Alley featured 40 ‘agrifood tech’ startups and scaleups, including ALGAESYS. We showcased what ALGAESYS can do and the potential positive impact it can have on the agriculture industry. Soner Bekir noted that one of the connections he made through this area was the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).
"I really enjoyed meeting FRDC, who came by and kept coming by throughout the conference. They came with lots of interesting questions and an obvious interest in tackling issues in their industry relating to water quality and power consumption.”
With 40 startups exhibiting in Startup Alley, it was an exhilarating and energetic atmosphere.
In addition to our place in Startup Alley, ALGAESYS was invited to present at the Culinary Capital. This was a one-of-a-kind networking event which brought together stakeholders from all levels, from investors to corporates, startups and producers, to discuss what they each consider to be the key topics for the future of agriculture. ALGAESYS had the opportunity to host a table while the guests rotated around to explore what each startup had to contribute. Bekir states;
“I thoroughly enjoyed the Culinary Capital event, where we had the opportunity to ‘pitch’ to three groups of six people during starters, main course and dessert. It was like speed-dating with investors, clients and industry bodies. It was a great experience with a great array of questions asked and hopefully answered and some excellent contacts made.”
ALGAESYS has the potential to greatly benefit those operating within this sector, as Gustafsson summarises, “The scale of the ALGAESYS system fits well with many applications within the agricultural industry and is not a massive leap in the skillset required to operate compared to typical agricultural operations. I think the management of some of the water quality issues currently faced, coupled with potential for closing the loop on-farm by using algae for soil amendment, feed and/or bioenergy can remove existing barriers to growth and create exciting value-add opportunities for the agricultural industry.”
Agriculture is arguably facing some of the biggest adversity with the current state of global warming and water scarcity. This means it’s required to undertake some of the largest fundamental changes and innovate to be able to thrive in this new challenging environment. EvokeAg was a fantastic opportunity to look forward and see the positive outcomes we can accomplish when industry and environmental technologies come together.
Bekir concludes, “As Agriculture is the single biggest user of water in Australia and the region, it makes sense that our technology, making use of a natural method can not only have an impact in making it possible to clean and re-use water, but also in the conservation and re-use of valuable resources (carbon, nitrates & phosphates). I think ALGAESYS has a great future providing innovative, easy to manage, low power solutions to the agriculture industry.”
To further discuss how ALGAESYS can help you in your industry, meet with us here.