Industry Space Days with ESA BIC
In September, our team visited ESA BIC’s workshop on scalability and scalable business, with the opportunity to run a booth to showcase our Farm Assistant app and the ways our technology is developing soil health to support increased yield and improved farming practices.
European Space Agency and betterSoil
We have been working alongside the European Space Agency’s Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) to develop our Farm Assistant app. ESA BIC’s partnership with betterSoil has allowed us to amplify our impact in orienting the agricultural business towards regenerative farming and healthy soils. In September, we were invited to a workshop with ESA BIC, running a booth as one of eight startups chosen to explore the challenges of growth and to discuss the difference between scalability and scaling.
Scalability vs scaling
The event highlighted how Europe’s space startup community is driving innovation and turning ideas into commercial technologies. Within this, the workshop led by Professor Erkko Autio (Imperial Business School) discussed scalability and scaling, and the challenges of growth and turning ideas into actualized and beneficial opportunities. This insight is particularly important to our team at betterSoil and these takeaways capture the phase we are in as a business:
- Scalability is about whether a business model can support growth.
- Scaling is about making that growth happen.
- Growth means your output is increasing while your input cost decreases.
Scalability and betterSoil
As part of our attendance, we were able to run a booth showcasing our Farm Assistant app. The use of satellite data and technology, combined with soil science, makes our Farm Assistant a tool to maximise crop quantity and quality. This illustrates how agriculture and space technology can intersect to develop the future of farming, allowing for increased food security and more sustainable practices for our planet. Running our booth allowed for exciting opportunities to meet leading industry members to discuss the benefits of our technology, and increase the scope for partnerships with further companies and initiatives to continue in our mission.
Conclusion
Our experience at Industry Space Days with ESA BIC was an exciting full-circle moment for betterSoil. Last year we received our initial funding from ESA BIC BW to create our Farm Assistant app, our solution to moving the agricultural landscape towards healthy soils and higher yields. Attending this event and running our booth to present our live product was an exciting and reflection on the growth of our mission and the future of agricultural technology. We thank Cornelis Elling, the head of ESA BIC Europe for inviting us to this event and giving us this opportunity to further showcase our mission.