North Queensland-based business Grower Support has been granted funds from the Queensland Government to commercialise a new agtech product aiming to make life easier for fresh produce growers required to keep up to date with an increasing amount of regulation.
The announcement of the latest recipients of Advance Queensland’s Ignite Ideas Fund was made recently by the Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe MP, Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport.
Grower Support has developed an innovative, yet simple, all-in-one compliance management platform for the agriculture industry.
Farm businesses will save valuable time by using in-built digital forms, removing duplication of required records across multiple regulations, programs and schemes and reducing internal audit preparation time from days to minutes.
The Ignite Ideas funds will contribute to commercialising the platform, taking Grower Support from a tested minimum viable product with first customers to scaling the technology within domestic and global markets.
Grower Support founder Jennifer McKee was thrilled to receive the news of the grant, saying:
“The funds will really give this project the boost it needs to get in front of the right people and change the way farm businesses have been spending their time keeping records to demonstrate compliance with regulations,“ she said.
“I am very grateful for the farmers who have assisted in the development of the project and the early adopters who have started using the platform.“
Grower Support aims to include every feature a farm business needs to manage their records without being unnecessarily complicated.
“To date we have included more than 60 regulations and the relevant forms and checklists that growers might need to comply with. It’s an astounding number of requirements to keep on top of.“
Ms McKee said she hoped the success of the project would lead to continual improvement of the platform based on farmer feedback, partnership opportunities with regulators and expansion of the business through the employment of more people in the North Queensland region.
