Panellists Speaker
Panel 3: Technologies to Promote Sustainable Farming and Food Security
Mr Michael Dean
Michael has over 20 years of legal, business management and project development experience. He leads the AgFunder investment team and oversees opportunity identification, origination and execution on the AgFunder platform. A seasoned agriculture investor and operator, prior to starting AgFunder, Michael founded and operated SeedRock Africa Agriculture, an African agribusiness. He managed all development activities in West Africa including the implementation of farming operations; the construction of the company’s edible oil processing facility; the launch of the “Africa Gold” sunflower oil brand and the granting of official government leaseholds to over 43,000 hectares of agricultural land. He has substantial experience of large-scale projects incorporating complex development and structuring issues. Michael is a regular speaker on food and agriculture technology investing at various global conferences, and sits on the advisory boards of the World Agri-Tech Investment Summit and the Ag Innovation Showcase. He is a board member of the SproutX Agtech Accelerator and holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Sydney.
Cofounder AgFunder
Michael is co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at AgFunder, a San Francisco based online investment platform for global agriculture and food technology.Michael has over 20 years of legal, business management and project development experience. He leads the AgFunder investment team and oversees opportunity identification, origination and execution on the AgFunder platform. A seasoned agriculture investor and operator, prior to starting AgFunder, Michael founded and operated SeedRock Africa Agriculture, an African agribusiness. He managed all development activities in West Africa including the implementation of farming operations; the construction of the company’s edible oil processing facility; the launch of the “Africa Gold” sunflower oil brand and the granting of official government leaseholds to over 43,000 hectares of agricultural land. He has substantial experience of large-scale projects incorporating complex development and structuring issues. Michael is a regular speaker on food and agriculture technology investing at various global conferences, and sits on the advisory boards of the World Agri-Tech Investment Summit and the Ag Innovation Showcase. He is a board member of the SproutX Agtech Accelerator and holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Sydney.