Newcastle Startup leverages bespoke sensory technology to disrupt the agricultural industry and enable carbon sequestration – all in the fight against climate change

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Hone Carbon's mission is to unlock the potential for carbon storage and agricultural environments and become a global leader in the measurement verification and optimisation of soil carbon projects, for the benefit of the land, its custodians and our shared atmosphere.

Storing carbon in soil is the most cost effective and sustainable practice for our farms. Traditional lab testing in agriculture is labor and capital intensive; Hone’s hardware and software technology reduces this by 5 to 10 times. This makes generating a carbon credit accessible for all farmers and eliminates previous costly, time poor and carbon intensive processes.

Founded by three former Newcastle PhD students, the Hone Group delivers solutions in spectroscopy for a range of applications. Hone Ag provides handheld devices for monitoring nutrients in soil, plant tissue and commodities. Hone Liquid provides instruments for food and commodity processing. Hone Create offers Hone's machine learning platform to other organisations seeking to build their own chemometric models.

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Top Takeaways:

  • There are a lot of funds and individuals with significant wealth who are looking to use their money for good in the world, so work to identify those that want to align with your values. A lot of investors are willing to back innovative ideas: impact and mission driven investing is BIG right now.
  • The skills from working in the not-for-profit sector to building a profit-based company are transferable; your previous experience in that sector can help you.
  • Be strategic about what exactly you are putting your time into. For example, don’t necessarily put large amounts of time into small grants that you haven’t got much chance of getting; reassess your rubrics for prioritising your time.
  • Rejection is an important part of the learning process and is an important bit of information in making your product as good as it can be.
  • Your technology and creations need to be delightful to use – customer satisfaction is number one to sell your products and services.
  • Learn how to set up your ideas and communicate to meet current markets. Consider taking part in the Navigator for Researchers program, where you will learn the skills and mindset to discover the massive potential of your invention or research project.

The University of Newcastle's I2N works with individuals and organisations from across the Hunter region and beyond to turn ideas and challenges into opportunity. As a leading driver of economic and business growth, the I2N cultivates an entrepreneurial mindset that is behind many of the region's most innovative businesses and leaders.

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