“Our company does not
view itself as a traditional
economic development or-
ganization whose mandate
is to attract Israeli compa-
nies to particular cities or
states for local economic
impact,” says Schoen. “We
are more of a relationship-
building organization.”
What differentiates
welaunch from competing
organizations, notes Schoen,
is the fact that it has boots
on the ground in both the
U.S. and Israel. “Our team in
Israel understands and works
with the Israeli companies,”
he explains. “Our U.S. team,
with a representative in seven
Midwest states, works to un-
derstand what problems U.S.
clients have in their current
work environments.”
Some of the trends taking
place in the Israeli ag tech
sector, include growing
more with less, reducing
food waste, overcoming the
ag labor crisis, and merging
AG TECH AROUND THE WORLD CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS
ARE BEING DEVELOPED TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF A GROWING POPULATION.
T
he United
Nations Food
and Agriculture
Organization
estimates that at
current consumption levels,
60% more food will need
to be produced globally by
- The world is looking
to the emerging ag tech
sector to meet this demand.
Cutting-edge solutions are
coming from every corner
of the globe.
Israel
A
bout the size of New
Jersey, Israel is often
referred to as the start-up
nation because it has risen
to become a super power in
terms of innovation and tech-
nological advancement. With
the largest number of start-
ups per capita in the world,
this country is home to more
than 3,000 start-ups launched
in just the past decade.
“We have seen a big em-
phasis on the development of
Photography: ELIKA, cybrain, iStockphoto.com
food and health. According
to welaunch, three key
things make Israel the ideal
site to ground truth ag tech
advances in these areas.
- It has four climate zones.
- Its diverse landscape
makes it easy to test new
methods in different soils,
precipitation levels, and
temperatures.
- It has early adopter farm-
ers willing to experiment and
implement ag tech.
One thing welaunch has
seen with start-ups, and
particularly with Israeli
companies, is the hammer-
and-nail syndrome.
“A start-up shows up and
says to a potential client, ‘I
have a hammer and I am
looking for a nail.’ We be-
lieve in the opposite scenario
for success and sustainabil-
ity of relationships,” says
Schoen.
First and foremost,
welaunch works with U.S.
clients to learn about their
August 2019 | Successful Farming at Agriculture.com bonus
t e c h n o l o g y
By Laurie Bedord, Executive Editor, Ag Technology
the ag tech sector by the gov-
ernment and start-up nation
in the past 18 months,” says
Donald Schoen, cofounder
and COO, welaunch. “There
is a realization that the world
is going to need more food,
cleaner water, more energy,
and less pollution. Israel has
realized it has a resource,
which is now differentiating
it in the world. The country
wants to capitalize on this in-
novation resource, especially
in the ag tech space.”
In 2017 and in the first
quarter of 2018, the Israeli ag
tech sector demonstrated it
was moving toward maturity
and attracting continued
global interest. This means
more technologies are reach-
ing final stages of develop-
ment and are ready to expand
into the U.S.
Connecting Israeli compa-
nies to business opportunities
and resources in the Midwest
is the role U.S.-based
welaunch wants to play.
