FOOD IT: Solution Harvest; challenges, solutions, design thinking and innovation from all around.
On July 12th, 2016 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, representatives spanning the food, agriculture and technology sectors from at least 20 countries and 20 US states came together for the Mixing Bowl’s FOOD IT: Solution Summit. The event kicked off with an intriguing group startups applying IT in innovative ways in the food and agriculture sectors in the Golden Blender competition. Eight early stage companies pitched their ideas to the audience and a panel of four experienced venture capitalists from Band of Angels/Aurora Equity, BlueRun Ventures, Ecosystem Integrity, and Cultivian Sandbox.
Athena, a food-centric platform and supply chain risk management application utilizing natural resource, processing, and production practice data.
Avolved, providing a smart plant growing system that measures air temperature, humidity, lighting variables, CO2, soil moisture, and nutrient levels.
Byte, feeding the millions of office workers stranded in food deserts using RFID-enabled refrigerators to sell fresh food 24/7.
Edenworks, powering year round production of fresh, local produce through indoor aquaponic agriculture at enterprise scale.
FreshSurety, tackling the problem of produce shelf-life by enabling accurate tracking and measurement of freshness throughout the supply chain.
Maiaki, led by the former Minister of Agriculture from Georgia, is an online platform for international food trade allowing farmers to easily reach new global markets.
Monj, a mobile app, provided through corporate wellness programs, inspires healthier eating habits through social gaming centered on cooking and skill building in the kitchen.
SnapDNA, enables complex DNA tests in minutes from a fully automated low-cost handheld device allowing food producers and farmers to test for pathogens at the source.
And the winner of the competition was…SnapDNA, receiving the Golden Blender and a scholarship for innovation courses at the Food Business School. |