Innisfail Entrepreneur's Chance to Harvest Business Potential

Luke Lum

A digital compliance management solution developed by an Innisfail local has been given an opportunity to scale thanks to the Tropical North Queensland Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (TNQ Drought Hub).

Jennifer McKee, the founder of Spades, a centralised platform for Australian growers and producers to manage their compliance needs, is one of two North Queensland entrepreneurs currently taking part in the Farmers2Founders Harvest program, a three-month accelerator program designed to equip high-potential AgTech businesses with the capability to scale and expand the scope of their business.

Her participation has been sponsored by the TNQ Drought Hub, which is supported by the Federal Government's Future Drought Fund.

"I saw how overwhelmed and frustrated farmers were with paper-based compliance management systems," Ms McKee said.

"I became determined to provide them with a simple digital solution."

With a background in government policy, resource management and compliance, Ms McKee developed Spades to help farmers cut down on lost time keeping their compliance records up to date, provide a centralised platform for those records and reduce the stress this causes.

"Growers and producers already must comply with an increasing number of regulations and standards. Here in Tropical North Queensland, there is the added biosecurity and reef regulation requirements," she continued.

"There are already a lot of individual digital tools to support the ag industry in their compliance however there is a lack of adoption as people are reluctant to use multiple apps or platforms. Spades solves this problem by having all their compliance needs in one place."

Nicole Lucas, Program Lead for the Agricultural Innovation program at TNQ Drought Hub said that Ms McKee was an ideal candidate for the Harvest program.

"Jennifer's solution was already proven with a solid customer base. She simply needs some guidance to take it to the next level. The Harvest program provides not only a pathway to help her to consolidate her ideas, but also connections and mentors to open doors to help Jennifer scale the business into national and international markets," Ms Lucas said.

"Our goal with The Harvest program is to drive the growth of businesses that will benefit the entire industry, particularly producers in the Tropical North Queensland region.

We couldn't be more thrilled to be supporting Jennifer on her journey through the program."

together and worked incredibly hard to get this concept off the ground, and Chamber has auspiced a grant – which if successful, should enable more eligible participants to enrol," said Mrs Brown.

"This is the first step in our bigger picture strategy to introduce comprehensive training which provides established career pathways for interested candidates to join the cane and other agricultural industries.

"There are so many opportunities available for employment and professional growth within Hinchinbrook's agricultural sector, and Chamber is excited to play a part for the benefit of our region's industries, employment, and skilled worker count." Mrs Brown said.