2020 Winners

Provides a traceability solution that incorporates farming information and captures, stores, and processes data while connecting stakeholders

Florianopolis, Brazil

AgTrace’s data-driven platform tracks all stages of the food value chain. Its solution provides a real-time analysis of information on planting, harvesting and distribution that guarantees good quality data, connects different stakeholders, and simplifies decision-making and risk prevention throughout the supply chain. 

The company’s software enables farmers and brands to potentialize profits through brand equity, reduce costs, and increase transparency in the food production value chain. AgTrace’s customizable easy-to-use platform leverages the power of IoT and blockchain technologies so customers can tell the history behind food products and build long lasting relationship with their clients.

AgTrace website

AgTrace on LinkedIn

Creates and integrates heavy-lifting drones that apply pesticides in a fast and localized manner, with uniformity and precision

Porte Alegre, Brazil

Arpac designs and manufactures heavy-lifting drones to provide agricultural services, such as imagery and application of pesticides and beneficial insects for pest control. The company’s scalable business model offers support at every step of operations from providing spare parts, to maintenance, and assistance.

ARPAC website

ARPACdrones

@arpacdrones

ARPAC on LinkedIn

Recovers the wasted 97% maple water by-products of the maple industry, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional bottled water

Katonah, NY

Asarasi produces the world’s only pure, plant-sourced sparkling water recovered from a one-billion-gallon byproduct of the maple industry; sugar-free maple sap. Asarasi purchases this wasted maple crop which yields deliciously crisp, refreshing, and elementally pure water. This “Tree Water” is then bottled, carbonated, flavored, and sold as an environmentally responsible, organic, plant-sourced alternative to bottled waters. Asarasi converts these voluminous plant-sourced waters to finished goods and sells the water as an ingredient to be used in other food and beverage products. Asarasi is providing consumers with a pure, ethical, sustainable, and renewable alternative to bottled water while helping family farms double their profits on their existing maple crops ensuring farmers, consumers, and the environment all benefit.

Asarasi website

AsarasiSparklingTreeWater

@asarasi

Asarasi on LinkedIn

@AsarasiWater

Crafts sustainably sourced, vegan artisanal cheese and yogurt with next level nutrition from 100% plants

Kerhonkson, NY

brytlife foods produces dairy free plant-based cheese and yogurt made from 100% plants and sustainably sourced functional superfood ingredients that enhance the nutritional value of its products without compromising the taste. brytlife use the purest forms of spirulina algae, medicinal mushrooms, phycocyanin-rich spirulina extract, wheatgrass and chlorella for the most amazing, and nutrition packed plant-based foods using sustainable processing, packaging and ingredients.

brytlife website

brytlifefoods

@brytlifefoods

brytlife on LinkedIn

@brytlifefoods

Develops cost-effective supplemental lighting strategies and control systems for commercial greenhouse operations

Hull, Georgia

Candidus’ adaptive lighting control system provides greenhouse growers in NY and the rest of the U.S. a feasible solution to optimize lighting conditions, thus increasing production consistency while reducing operational costs. Candidus optimizes energy use by providing supplemental lighting only when it is needed. It turns any fixed greenhouse lighting installation into a dynamic system that can respond to changing weather conditions, allowing growers to save energy when light is not needed while ensuring crops receive enough light throughout the day to meet their requirements and thrive.

Candidus website

Candidus.us

Candidus on LinkedIn

Converts soluble phosphorous in liquid manure into a non-soluble, revenue-generating, solid by-product

Rochester, NY

Crystal Creek Organics converts soluble phosphorous contained in liquid manure into a non-soluble, revenue-generating, solid by-product thereby significantly reducing phosphorous runoff and helping to mitigate harmful algae blooms.

Crystal Creek Organics website

Empowers smallholder farmers by connecting them to fair, modern, and transparent markets

Giza, Egypt

FreshSource is disrupting the agriculture value chain by providing innovative solutions to integrate smallholder farmers into the modern value chain, guaranteeing fair prices while minimizing food losses. FreshSource partners with smallholder farmers to provide a market driven approach to demand planning, giving farmers access to micro-financing and agri-inputs, while also increasing their income by 20%. FreshSource leverages its data to predict market prices and fluctuations in supply and connects farmers to businesses, while providing convenience through last-mile delivery, transparent prices, and reduced costs averaging 15%. FreshSource’s holistic cold chain has garnered a food loss rate of 2% versus the national average of 45%.

FreshSource website

freshsourceglobal

@freshsourceglobal

FreshSource on LinkedIn

Develops anti-microbial products to ensure the safety of our food supply

Ithaca, NY

Halomine develops antimicrobial coating products that make most any surface into an antimicrobial surface that can protect against pathogens for as long as thirty days. Foodborne pathogens, e.g. listeria and salmonella, are part of a $55 billion food safety problem that kills up to 3,000 people a year. Other organisms, like mold, can shorten food shelf life. Halomine’s first product, HaloFilm, can be sprayed on any surface and leaves behind a thin film that combats pathogens for as long as a month. Continuous protection on most every surface in food processing environments will reduce the likelihood of product recalls and extend the longevity of produce.

Halomine website

HalomineInc

@halomineinc

Halomine on LinkedIn

@HalomineInc

Genetically transforms plants into living sensors to increase yield and reduce agrochemical waste

Davis, CA

InnerPlant codes sensing capabilities into plants’ DNA to turn them into living sensors. By making the plant itself, the sensor that optically signals stress as soon as it appears, InnerPlant shortens the feedback loop from 2-4 weeks with external technologies to 24 hours, helping farmers reduce yield loss and reduce agrochemical waste, all while making their lives easier. InnerPlant’s technology transforms each hectare into a million living sensors. The company’s proprietary data is integrated with field data (weather, soil, genetics, etc.) and analyzed using machine learning to provide farmers with actionable recommendations, unlocking new value across the supply chain. InnerPlant eliminates the tradeoff between efficiency and sustainability.

InnerPlant website

InnerPlant on LinkedIn

@Inner_Plant

Grows premium organic mushrooms using regenerative soil methods on nutrient-enriched American hardwoods for consumers and restaurants

Rochester, NY

Leep Foods uses regenerative soil methods to grow the best mushrooms in the world. The mushroom gurus at Leep Foods grow USDA-certified organic Blue Oyster, Lion’s Mane, and Skiitake mushrooms packed with incredible flavor and healthy nutrients. The company’s latest innovations, beef and mushroom blended burgers and chicken and mushroom blended sausages, help consumers eat healthier without compromising on flavor. Leep Foods plans to continue expanding to shorten the supply chain for large metropolitan cities and to improve access to fresh, local, organic mushrooms.

Leep Foods website

leepfoods

@leepfoods

Leep Foods on LinkedIn

Provides rapid chemical analysis for nutrients in the Agrifood industry

Copenhagen, Denmark

Nordetect, a biochemical analytics company, has developed lab-on-a-chip systems for addressing the issues of optimization and traceability in the AgriFood industry. The company’s first product is a test for nutrients found in soil, water and leaf samples aimed at optimizing the amount of fertilizer used to cultivate crops. Currently, farm managers and agricultural service providers are faced with barriers to obtaining nutrient data in an affordable, understandable, and easy to use format to ensure impressive harvests. By cutting down the cycle time to a matter of minutes, Nordetect empowers agronomists, extension workers, and precision farming consultants to make faster decisions that impact crop yield and input cost.

Nordetect website

Nordetect

@nordetect

Nordetect on LinkedIn

Transforms New York state’s yogurt whey into delicious and sustainable alcoholic beverages

Ithaca, NY

Norwhey is a Nordic twist on beer, brewed from yogurt whey and blended with fruit. It is refreshingly tart and naturally full of vitamins and minerals. It is gluten-free, lactose-free, and less than 100 calories per bottle. New York state is the leading producer of strained yogurts, like Icelandic and Greek, and each cup creates two to four cups of excess whey. Though rich in nutrients and lactose, many companies waste the whey, creating an environmental challenge for the planet. Norwhey works with companies to responsibly capture and ferment every precious drop of whey into sustainability you can taste. The company encourages consumers to: “Enjoy a bottle. Sustain your body, your life, and your planet.”

Norwhey website

NorwheyBrewing

@norwheybrewing

@NorwheyBrewing

Produces a next generation growing media that is proven to grow bigger, stronger plants than most peat-based mixes

Ambridge, PA

PittMoss makes and sells engineered fiber growing media made from reclaimed paper and cardboard and a proprietary mix of organic additives. PittMoss products look similar to peat moss, are light-weight, and offer superior physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Those characteristics include moisture retention, nutrient absorption, and soil aeration. Traditional peat moss has many disadvantages—it can carry weed seed, mold spores, and insect larvae that require chemical treatment, and peat harvesting creates CO2 emissions. PittMoss offers a more natural and sustainable alternative. PittMoss offers multiple branded products for e-commerce, wholesale distribution, and commercial growers.

PittMoss website

PittMossLLC

@growwithpittmoss

PittMoss on LinkedIn

@pittmoss

Extends shelf-life and improves food safety by decomposing ethylene gas, airborne mold, and viruses effectively and efficiently

Busan, South Korea

PureSpace produces a nanotechnology device that can effectively decompose ethylene, mold, and viruses. If applied in the cold chain for the fresh food industry, the shelf-life of fresh food can be systematically increased, thus reducing post-harvest losses. The device can be deployed at multiple points of the supply chain including long-term storage, distribution centers, refrigerated trucks, food processing facilities and retail storage. When applied, PurSpace’s technology lowers the ethylene concentration levels and airborne molds to extend the shelf-life of food like fruits and vegetables without needing to chemically treat them.

PureSpace website

@purespace.io

@purespaceinc

Transforms food waste into industrial-grade, water soluble, organic hydroponic nutrients for soilless farming

New York, NY

Re-Nuble is an agtech company that uniquely uses organic cycling science and proprietary technology to convert food waste into industrial-grade, water soluble, organic hydroponic nutrients for soilless farming. Re-Nuble’s solution aims to decarbonize the global fertilizer supply chain and help soilless farms obtain 20-60% in profit margin by producing food in the organic category while lowering their carbon footprint. Re-Nuble’s proprietary nutrient delivery system produces organic hydroponic nutrients that are 2X more cost-effective than the dominant, conventional mineral salts.

Re-Nuble website

ReNuble

@Re_Nuble

Re-Nuble on LinkedIn

@Re_Nuble

Provides a platform to access transparent and reliable information on the origin, journey, and quality of one’s food

New York, NY

ripe.io is one of the leading forces in introducing and deploying the Blockchain of Food. The company provides visibility across the food supply chain. Through collaboration, ripe.io is able to showcase and verify traceability, authenticity and sustainability claims by utilizing IoT devices and blockchain among other technologies such as machine learning and AI. These tools allow the company to address food safety issues, supply chain tracking, labor practices, proof of origin, environmental impact, food waste reduction, growing practices, and certification validity while amplifying issues like financial inclusion and equal pay. ripe.io has been recognized by Forbes as one of the “25 Most Innovative Ag-Tech Startups.”

Ripe.io website

Ripe.io on LinkedIn

@ripeio

Expands access to sustainable, restaurant quality meals in a convenient, pre-packaged format

Philadelphia, PA

Simply Good Jars is a Certified B Corporation that produces and distributes chef-crafted meals in convenient ways. Founded by a chef in the fall of 2017, the company is driven to provide fast on-the-go food that is tastier, healthier, and better for the environment. Currently, Simply Good Jars is distributed through retail and food service partners in the Mid-Atlantic States, Cincinnati, and Chicago. All products are inspected by on-site USDA inspectors and have exceeded the highest standard for food safety.

Simply Good Jars website

SimplyGoodJars

@SimplyGoodJars

Simply Good Jars on LinkedIn

@SimplyGoodJars

Manufactures a unique packaging material with an organic vapor to extend the shelf life of fresh bread

Pleasant Prairie, WI

SoFresh manufactures packaging materials that extend the shelf life of fresh foods such as bread, berries, and cheese. The company is committed to mitigating food spoilage and dedicated to fighting food waste in the U.S. and throughout the world. Their innovative packaging products allow food producers, wholesalers, and retailers to naturally extend the shelf life of fresh foods and extend the consumable life for their consumers. Their company’s organic mold inhibiting packaging technology allows food to stay fresh longer with no preservatives and less refrigeration therefore saving their customers money while reducing Green House Gas emissions.

SoFresh website

SoFresh on LinkedIn

Mitigates male-chick culling by transforming male chickens into egg-laying females

Kidron, Israel

Soos Technology develops sex determination technology to solve the biggest challenge the egg-production industry has today, male-chick culling. Every year around 7.5 billion male chicks are killed and about 50% of the industry production (incubated male eggs), wasted incubation capacity, electricity, water, and staff efforts are lost in the process. The company’s solution is an incubation system (AI-driven software controlling a customized incubation cell) that affects the sex development process in chicken embryo and results in more functional female chickens that lay eggs.

Soos Technology website

Soos Technology on LinkedIn

Enables farmers to access fast and reliable connectivity across the entirety of their property

New South Wales, Australia

Zetifi designs and manufactures ruggedized wireless network devices that solve connectivity problems in rural and remote areas. Lack of connectivity is holding back the ag tech revolution. Farmers around the world desperately need fast and reliable communications not just to their houses but across their entire farm to make use of technologies that increase productivity, profitability, safety, and quality of life. Zetifi is bridging this digital divide with patent pending ‘sleepy’ wireless infrastructure that enables on demand connectivity across farms for voice, video, and data.

Zetifi website

Zetifi

@zetifiofficial

Zetifi on LinkedIn

@ZetifiOfficial