BAYER AG Silicon Valley, CA., U.S. / Monheim, Germany, April 14, 2021 - SVG Ventures | THRIVE, a leading global agrifood venture and innovation platform headquartered in Silicon Valley, is partnering with Bayer, one of the world's leading innovators in seeds and crop protection, to launch the THRIVE | Bayer Sustainability Challenge.
The Challenge will identify and accelerate emerging technology solutions that will help transform global agriculture to feed the world's growing population in a more sustainable way.
'The next decade of agriculture is already being shaped by sustainable technologies and open collaboration is key to a sustainable future for agriculture,' said Allen Christian, Head of Open Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at the Crop Science Division of Bayer. 'With initiatives like this Challenge, we're engaging the broader innovation ecosystem to identify and develop the tools farmers need to run successful and sustainable operations.'
Agtech and foodtech startups and scaleups whose solutions embody the combination of the Bayer sustainability commitments and THRIVE's Global Initiative focus on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals are invited to apply. Through this challenge, Bayer and THRIVE are seeking to identify and support the development of sustainable technologies that help reduce the environmental impact of crop protection, reduce field greenhouse gas emissions, and improve smallholder farmer access to agronomic knowledge, products, and services.
'Our aim is to help farmers be more productive and lower their environmental footprint, which requires next-level collaboration across many sectors,' said Sara Boettiger, Head of Global Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability at the Crop Science Division of Bayer. 'By working with organizations like THRIVE to identify innovative ideas and partners, we'll be able to bring farmers more solutions that add value to their businesses while also contributing to a more sustainable future for agriculture.'
In addition to investment, the startup winner will receive an invitation to participate in THRIVE's award-winning accelerator program, access to the Leaps by Bayer impact investment team and open innovation resources, expert mentorship, and extensive media spotlight and exposure through THRIVE and Bayer channels. The scaleup winner will have the opportunity to execute a proof-of-concept pilot with Bayer, access the Leaps by Bayer impact investment team and open innovation resources, and receive automatic nomination for THRIVE's annual TOP 50 listing.
'The solution to the farming challenge and feeding the world in a sustainable way will be driven by innovation and entrepreneurship around the world. The THRIVE | Bayer Challenge is focused on identifying and accelerating these solutions into the field,' said John Hartnett, Founder & CEO SVG Ventures | THRIVE. 'We're delighted to be partnering with a progressive leader like Bayer to help advance a sustainable future for farming.'
Interested applicants can learn more and fill out an application on the THRIVE | Bayer Sustainability Challengewebpage. Application deadline is June 11, 2021.
About SVG Ventures | THRIVE
SVG Ventures | THRIVE is the leading global agrifood investment and innovation platform headquartered in Silicon Valley, and comprised of top agriculture, food & technology corporations, universities, and investors. With a community of over 5,000 startups from 100 countries, the THRIVE platform invests, accelerates, and creates unparalleled access for entrepreneurs to scale globally to solve the biggest challenges facing the food and agriculture industries. SVG's existing global partners include Media Partner Forbes and leading government, agriculture, and technology corporations such as Corteva, Driscoll's, FCC, Kubota, Land O'Lakes, Trimble, Taylor Farms, Valmont, Yamaha Motor Ventures and Wilbur-Ellis. Crunchbase recognizes SVG Ventures as the most active AgTech investor in the world with a portfolio count of 50 investments in the space. Learn more at www.thriveagrifood.com.
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to drive sustainable development and generate a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2020, the Group employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 41.4 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 4.9 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conformthem to future events or developments.
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Bayer AG published this content on 14 April 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 14 April 2021 14:02:01 UTC.
