At a swanky Sydney dinner venue the unlikely subject of ag tech is on the menu and the saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" is ringing true.
Investors from across Australia have gathered, hoping to come across the next small start-up they can back for a massive profit.
The handful of founders who've joined them to present their wares are hoping they're it.
Eighty or so people have converged on the event, some to pitch and others to invest.
On estimate, there's at least four billion dollars in the room.
"There are a lot of big investors here" venture capitalist James Stewart informs AAP.
Jack Cowin, the Jack from Hungry Jacks, is here, one woman whispers.
Five founders have been selected from the agri food innovation space to pitch, each looking for between $5 million and $20 million to progress their business.
The starters arrive, drinks are topped up and the spieling begins.
Venture capitalist Chris Quirk is looking to invest.
His Rapensand fund provides a minimum $100,000 but that figure can reach a million on a first round of funding.
"These people are driven, motivated and often really good at what they do but they're not all going to get backing at this dinner," Mr Quirk says.
There's a lot of money at stake, venture capital types need to show returns for those stumping up the cash.
Entrepreneur Luke Wood takes to the stage. His company Escavox tracks produce through the food supply chain by sending a little blue box along for the ride recording time, temperature and motion.
He counts leading fruit and veggie supplier Costa and the Fresh Produce Group among his clients.
Mr Wood is looking for serious dollars but something more also.
"We want to make sure we get the right investor, not just ten million bucks," he tells AAP.
"As we evolve, our prime investors and our target investors also change."
Each founder is granted a 10-minute pitch followed by a series of questions.
"To have that 10 minutes is powerful," Mr Wood says.
John Harvey from AgriFutures Australia, who runs the EvokAg Investor Pitch dinner, says it's about ensuring the start ups get the attention they deserve and the money they need to get their product to scale.
"The key thing here is just connecting and helping people to find what they're looking for," he says.
"We had about $4 billion worth of capital in that room; and to get them all in one room and you can put people in front of them and it's easy and it's fun and it's enjoyable," he says afterwards.
It's estimated around $50 billion is being invested in agri food technology globally and Australians want a larger piece of the pie.
"There's no shortage of local capital but there is a limited supply of people that have skills, expertise and feel confident investing in agri food," Mr Harvey says.
Events like the dinner are attempting to change that.
Another who took part, Dan Winson, runs Zetifi, an outfit increasing connectivity for farmers by boosting their long range wifi so they can do simple things like make phone calls and use the internet.
He's passionate about it.
"Our farmers in Australia and in other big markets around the world … they don't have enough cellular coverage, there's just not enough mobile broadband or voice connectivity out in the paddocks," he says.
"I think that we've got a growing world population that needs to be fed …and the investors are very, very willing to invest where they see an opportunity for strong returns and for solving big problems."
Mr Stewart likes what he heard on the night but the start-ups pitching were at a more advanced stage than those his own fund, Loyal VC, invests in.
He'll instead introduce the projects to bigger funds who are a better fit.
"It might not work for one (venture capitalist) but the other might be interested in that investment," he says.
"I think the the sheer volume and quality of the ideas and the scale of their impact was incredibly impressive," he says of those who stepped up to the microphone.
One founder asked by AAP if his technology might turn him into the next Elon Musk replied: "I hope not, perhaps just a very successful person."
Speaking four months after the dinner, Mr Harvey told AAP connections had since formed and arrangements begun.
"The feedback I got is that they all ended up talking to somebody as a consequence of that dinner," he says.
"That connecting up is what we see as the critical thing."
According to Mr Wood, the event has introduced him to the right people.
"We've had direct leads with people that were at that dinner, that we are working details on investment with," he says.
"We have been directly approached and we continue those discussions in detail."
All going to plan he'll secure his $10 million through a variety of sources.
In the meantime EvokeAg is already trying to plant the seeds for a new round of start-ups.
Applications for founders hoping to pitch to a room full of investors in 2023, close on Sunday.
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© West Australian Newspapers Limited 2022