Wednesday, 10 April 2013 13:59

Dragon’s Den style event at Fieldays

Written by Pamela Tipa

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The 2013 National Agricultural Fieldays will experience a dose of SODA energy as together with the Waikato's entrepreneurship centre they launch the Fieldays Innovation Den – Pitch for Investment; a new "Dragon's Den" style event.

SODA has signed a partnership agreement with Fieldays to co-create this new event that will see New Zealand inventors pitching to investors at Fieldays 2013.

SODA will select up to 10 commercially viable inventions participating in the Fieldays Innovation Centre to showcase, and will support the inventors to get their invention pitch-ready prior to the big event.

The event will follow a similar format to the acclaimed 'Dragon's Den' programme where participants pitch their inventions to a panel of esteemed investors and business leaders in the hope of securing advice and investment.

The Fieldays Innovation Den judging panel will feature influential business moguls and investors from around New Zealand including heavyweight Ray Thompson, who is also the NZ Angel Association Chair.

The event will be a highlight of the 'Innovation Centre' and will give national inventors the chance to obtain knowledge about the business world and how to take their inventions into global markets.

"Innovation has always been at the heart of Fieldays," says Jon Calder, NZ National Agricultural Fieldays chief executive. "It's one of the principles on which Fieldays was founded and we've seen a number of individuals and companies launch new products and innovations at Fieldays, going on to achieve global success.

"Our partnership with SODA builds on Fieldays success and enables us to help foster entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity in new ways, creating a program which gives aspiring innovators a path to market."

SODA chief executive Cheryl Reynolds says SODA is excited about joining forces with Fieldays to create this new Innovation Den. "It's a great opportunity to help New Zealand investors to spot some great inventions worthy of investment," Reynolds says. "It will also provide support to Kiwi inventors who are really motivated and want to develop their skills to help build a viable business model around their inventions to take them into global markets."

The investment community is also excited about this showcase as it shines a spotlight on potential investment opportunities for NZ investors.

Published in Rural Life

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