TSUKUBA CONNÉCT #89 BEYOND FARM TO TABLE: Frontiers of Food and Agriculture

TSUKUBA CONNÉCT #89 is an evening innovation-community gathering at Tsukuba Startup Park themed "BEYOND FARM TO TABLE: Frontiers of Food and Agriculture". It looks at how technology is reshaping every stage of food, from microbial protein and upcycled ingredients to crop breeding and robots in harvesting and processing, through the lenses of research, policy, and startups. Session 1 brings speakers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, AIST, and the University of Tsukuba to discuss the public-private Food Tech council and industry-academia-government collaboration for putting research into practice. Session 2 is a Pitch Arena on novel foods, where startups get feedback from corporate and venture commentators. Session 3 features speakers from the Japan Research Institute, UnlocX, and Venture Café Tokyo on how research, startups, and local companies can build new industries in Ibaraki and Tsukuba. Parallel programming includes mini-pitches from Startup Weekend Tsukuba teams, a welcome meetup for first-timers, a casual science talk with a science communicator, and networking throughout. Remote participation is also available.