On the 15th of October 2019 Australian Business Volunteers (ABV), an International Development agency, entered into a partnership with AgUnity Pty Ltd, an Australian-based social enterprise and technology company founded in 2016, which aims to address challenges facing the 2-billion unbanked, and last-mile communities in the world.
Tackling issues of poor connectivity, a lack of digital literacy, and a lack of trust, AgUnity has developed a smartphone and blockchain-based solution for the world’s smallholder farmers and their communities, a simple mobile product restoring trust and enabling cooperation.
Both ABV and AgUnity have a complementary focus on development in countries such as Papua New Guinea, and a natural overlap of goals and strategy. With nearly four decades of experience supporting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Australia, the Asia Pacific and beyond, ABV enters into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as a first step towards pursuing our shared aims.
“ABV is unique in that as an international development agency we are skilled in business management and facilitation skills, supported through our ABV team and that of our Skilled Business Professionals who volunteer their time to support our mission, and the mission of our partners.” ABV CEO, Liz Mackinlay commented upon signing the MOU: “We’re excited to be able to work with Angus and the team at AgUnity and hope our collaboration can bring about real, sustainable change at scale.”
The purpose of the MOU is to enable both organisations to seek opportunities for collaboration on potential projects. ABV will play a strong business strategy and opportunity assessment role and bring a focus on community development. AgUnity brings a focus on technology, user-centered design and impact monitoring. The current focus of these shared efforts is on Papua New Guinea, but further opportunities in other Pacific countries, Indonesia and beyond will also be assessed.
“As an impact-focused tech company, the opportunity to collaborate with ABV and utilise an extensive network of business professionals is very significant. While we have a lot of in-house talent, ABV brings decades of experience in business strategy and project implementation.” After signing the MOU at ABV’s Sydney offices Angus stated: “Our hope is that we can drive greater impact and efficiency in the projects we run where ABV are involved.” AgUnity has high hopes for this collaboration as it prepares for an upcoming equity crowdfunding raise, with plans to expand its projects in the Pacific and scale existing projects in 2020.
If anyone would like to learn more please contact Michelle Bevans at michelle.bevans@abv.org.au or reach out directly to Angus Keck at angus@agunity.com.
ABV manages a range of domestic and international partnerships with resource development companies, banks, and social enterprises, as well as consulting firms, international organisations, and governments. ABV seeks out corporate partners who are committed to strengthening communities and contributing to the achievement of the 2030 targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals. Recognising the enabling potential of blockchain technology to promote transparency, decentralization, and trust, ABV is excited to find in AgUnity a technology partner with aligned values and aims.
AgUnity Pty. Ltd is conducting a Crowd-Sourced Funding (CSF) on the Equitise (https://www.agunity.com/invest) platform. This document is not intended to, and does not, constitute an offer or invitation of securities in any place outside Australia where it would not be lawful to make such an offer or invitation. It is the responsibility of the Investor to ensure compliance with all laws of any country outside Australia relevant to any investment in the Company. The distribution of this document outside Australia may be restricted by law and any person who comes into possession of this document outside Australia should seek advice on and observe any such restrictions. The failure to comply with such restrictions may constitute a violation of securities law in those jurisdictions.
Like any investment, Crowd-Sourced Funding (CSF) is risky. Investors may lose their money and the business may not achieve its objectives. You should consider the CSF offer document and the general CSF risk warning (https://equitise.com/warning-statement-au) contained in the offer document in deciding whether to apply under the offer.
