Press Release
Amman, May 2021 – Hassad, an agrifoodtech accelerator supporting businesses in the agricultural sector of Jordan, is now in full swing in preparation for the launch of an online “Future Agro Challenge” in its national version. Its purpose is to attract Jordanian entrepreneurial companies working in agricultural technology to qualify the best company to participate in the global version of this challenge.
Hassad, a subsidy accelerator from VentureX, will launch the challenge in cooperation with Future Agro Challenge’s (FAC) network, an assembly created by a non-profit organization “Industry Disruptors Game Changers”. The Future Agro Challenge is a leading global network active in more than 60 countries across 5 continents dedicated to finding real sustainable solutions to the complex global food puzzle.
In its outline, this challenge aims to attract and qualify entrepreneurial companies to solve food and agricultural problems to enhance the food system and empower farmers to lead a movement for change in regards to food security and the economy in general.
According to a memorandum of understanding signed between the two parties, Hassad accelerator will be the local partner leading the launch and execution of the Future Agro challenge on a local scale. They will hold a local competition online while a committee of experts and specialists chooses the winning project.
The competition targets startups in a number of sectors specialized in agricultural and food security, such as “Food Tech”, agriculture production and processing, nutrition and health, farmers’ income, food or beverage waste, product or retail, education, agricultural tourism, health and safety, packaging, logistics, and other subsectors.
Yousef Hamidaddin, the managing partner of VentureX, stressed the importance of this challenge and the cooperation with a global network of the size of Future Agro Challenge. It will encourage, motivate and qualify entrepreneurial companies working in agriculture in Jordan and present their ideas to the international community to accelerate their growth and help them expand in the Arab region and globally. Moreover, he pointed out that such partnerships expand and reinforce the role of Hassad accelerator in Jordan as a specialized accelerator to accelerate the growth of entrepreneurial agricultural companies.
The Future Agro Challenge is a leading global network active in over 60 countries across 5 continents dedicated to find real sustainable solutions to the complex global food puzzle challenging food insecurity, biodiversity, and climate change by bringing together a passionate and innovative ecosystem of agrifood entrepreneurs, impact makers, farmers, investors, corporates, researchers, and industry experts.
Abu Obeid, Accelerator Unit Manager at VentureX, elaborated that as part of the framework and preparations, the opportunity will be announced during the next phase and will be the beginning of attracting applications from entrepreneurs in Jordan. Afterwards, a dialogue session will be held to provide answers to questions and inquiries.
She also added that about 10 projects/ideas would be selected to participate in the competition at the national level. The national competition will be held online, where a committee of experts and specialists will select the winning project that will qualify to participate in the global competition.
She also added that the participating Jordanian entrepreneurial would gain many benefits and advantages, including presenting their ideas and projects, thus creating interest around them, as well as to have the ability to enroll into Hassad Acceleration Program to help them build their business models and access various investment opportunities. The local winner, therefore the participant in the global competition, will get help from the global network and its media partners, enabling the final candidates to obtain global recognition and opportunities to accelerate their growth. They will also benefit from the guidance provided by the leading network experts through a series of webinars and pioneering training camps that support agricultural entrepreneurs to reach their best potential.
A recent study by Blue Weave Consulting revealed that the global market value for digital agriculture has reached $4,770.8 million in 2020 and is expected to reach $10,702.3 million by 2027, with an annual growth rate of 12.7%. This is due to the increased demand for food and the increasing use of technology in agriculture, as well as the significant savings in production costs from applying modern agricultural technologies.