The Sprout companies had their last block course in Invercargill from the 12 – 14 February, focusing on Capital Raising and Finance. Guest Speakers included Al Monro, Marcel van den Assum and Alex Wong. They had opportunities to talk more in depth about their company’s next steps with our Sprout team during this course and for most, had their first taste of pitching.
The teams gained valuable feedback from the guests in the room about what was good and what needed improvement in their pitches. Steven Bird, from the Shepherd team, came away with top honour’s for the best pitch of the day.
The Sprout companies have just under three weeks prepare for the Sprout program’s culminating event – the NZTE 2016 New Zealand Agribusiness Investment Showcase* in association with ASB. This showcase, being held on the 16 March, is designed to help New Zealand agri companies raise money to grow internationally, and promote the sector as a vibrant investment destination.
They are working hard on their pitches, as well as continuing to develop their product and service offering. Dean Tilyard recommended the teams practice their pitch a minimum of 100 times before they should feel comfortable their pitch is close to perfect. Based on this recommendation we can see there’s going to be a lot of minutes spent speaking in front of the mirror in the coming weeks.
*The NZTE Agribusiness Investment Showcase is part of NZ Agri Investment week, being held from from 14 – 19 March in Palmerston North.
Read a short description of each of the Sprout companies here.
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