Episode 7 | Linley Houwen — Inside the Venture Studio Model Shaping AgTech's Future

In this episode of The Dirt, we sit down with Linley Houwen, Perth Director of Beanstalk — a team working across deep-tech, startups, commercialisation, and agribusiness with offices across Australia and Southeast Asia. Linley takes us behind the scenes of how Beanstalk helps turn agricultural innovation into real-world impact — and gives us a window into the global agtech landscape.

We cover:

• Linley's journey into the agtech ecosystem and what drew her to the space
• What Beanstalk does and how it works with everyone from early-stage startups to large agribusinesses
• The venture studio model — what it is and why it's particularly well suited to agtech
• The global agtech landscape — startup trends and innovation across Asia, Africa, and beyond
• Where investment is flowing and which areas are attracting the most attention
• Where AI fits into the agtech investment landscape — and what technologies might matter more right now
• How building agtech for Australian agriculture differs from the rest of the world
• Practical advice for anyone thinking about founding an agtech startup
• How to know whether your startup is actually solving the right problem

Whether you're thinking about launching a startup, working in agribusiness, or just curious about how agricultural innovation gets funded and built around the world — this one's for you.

Hosts: Dr Wesley Moss and Associate Professor Andrew Guzzomi

Produced by Stephanie Lye

This podcast is brought to you by The University of Western Australia's Centre for Engineering Innovation: Agriculture and Ecological Restoration. Find out more about our research or get in touch at https://www.uwa-cei.org/