HIplan, organizers of the Tropical AgTech Conference, has signed an agreement with SVG Ventures|THRIVE, an international venture and innovation company that advances the food and agriculture industries.

HONOLULU, Feb. 21, 2023—HIplan, organizers of the Tropical AgTech Conference, today announced it has signed an agreement with SVG Ventures|THRIVE, an international venture and innovation company that advances the food and agriculture industries. Based in Silicon Valley, SVG Ventures|THRIVE works with leading corporations, startups, universities and growers to solve the biggest challenges facing the food and agriculture industries.

"Our goal is to position Hawaii as the hub for agrifood tech in the Asia Pacific and tropics, and this partnership with THRIVE brings us closer to that," said Jason Ueki, co-organizer of the Tropical AgTech Conference. "This exciting partnership is a big boost for Hawaii's agriculture, agtech innovators and investors."


CEO and Founder of Thrive John Hartnett believes Hawaii is strategic in bringing the Asia Pacific Rim corridor together to advance technology.


"We are pleased to partner with HIplan to bring SVG| Thrive to Hawaii and the Asia Pacific to advance the future of food and agriculture through Innovation," said Hartnett.


This year's agrifood tech conference has been rebranded as the THRIVE Hawaii Agrifood Summit and will be held at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu on September 26-27. A third day (September 28) will focus on Hawaii aquaculture technology. Ueki said the rebranding aligns with the goals of positioning Hawaii as an agrifood tech hub and bringing the conference to the Convention Center will give greater access to participants and vendors.


About Tropical AgTech Conference


The first of its kind conference focusing on agtech -- advanced digital, engineering, and biological tools that increase precision, reduce labor and make agriculture more productive - was organized by Jim Wyban and Jason Ueki who originally launched HIplan to develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Hawai‘i. Before that they developed High Health Aquaculture, an SPF shrimp breeding company at NELHA in Kona. Their company exported broodstock to 26 countries resulting in a sixfold increase in global shrimp production and established a new high value export industry for Hawaii. The first Tropical AgTech Conference was held in Hilo June 22-23, 2022, with approximately 200 people attending in person and 50 virtually. https://www.tropagtech.com/

About SVG Ventures|THRIVE

SVG Ventures|THRIVE is a global agrifood investment and innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, THRIVE is the most active agrifood tech investor in the world — investing in, accelerating, and providing market access to more than 8,000 startups throughout more than 100 countries. THRIVE works with promising startups, leading corporations, top universities, and global growers to commercialize agrifood tech and food tech solutions to the biggest challenges facing agrifood. THRIVE experts, events, programs, and platforms work to foster large-scale adoption of climate-smart technologies. Learn more about the THRIVE Global Impact Summit and THRIVE events, challenges, and programs, at https://thriveagrifood.com.