Meet the most innovative agrifood startups in Hungary
In June through July 2020, EIT Food holds seventeen online country finals of the startup competition Innovation Prizes. On July 15, the Hungarian finals featured eight agrifood startups covering many agri-innovation solutions ranging from blockchain-based food safety certification through regenerative almond production to indoor farming practices.
Innovation Prizes is one of the largest startup competitions in the agrifood vertical in Southern and Eastern Europe. It awards prizes to entrepreneurs and early-stage startups that can transform the food industry innovative products and services. This year, the finals will take place in 17 countries. In each of the 17 online country finals, the three best startups win €1,000, €3,000 and €5,000. The viewers also have a chance to vote for their favorite startup during the live stream and help them winning the Audience Prize of €2,000. The winners of each Country finals will have a chance to compete for the prizes of €10,000, €15,000 and €25,000 in the Grand Final in October. The core partners of the Hungarian event was Campden BRI Hungary, the local branch of a global food R&D organization and Pannon Pro Innovations, a frontrunner in supporting green entrepreneurship and innovation management. The jury members were delegated by Campden BRI, Climate-KIC and the Netherlands Embassy in Hungary.
The €1,000 Third prize of the competition was awarded to SpaceCrop, an agritech company that forecasts soil water requirement in farming and sends an irrigation schedule to farmers using deep learning (machine learning). Their technology to predict soil water requirements uses sensors and satellite images to capture and analyze data from the ground.
The €3,000 Second prize went to Green Drops Farm Ltd. The company presented an innovative hydroponic equipment that enables more efficient crop production compared to traditional agriculture. Their goal is to provide humanity with vegetables in a sustainable way by producing them locally, thus reducing atmospheric pollution caused by transportation.
The winner of the finals and the €5,000 First prize was a startup called SMAPP LAB. Their team is currently developing a digitized trap family to predict strategic control points against a variety of pests. Only 10-15 pests are enough to ruin a healthy crop in a few days. If the plant protection is not conscious and stringent, 50-75% damage can occur. The goal of the company is to enable farmers to keep track of all the insect pests in an area so they can plan their protection against pests based on reliable real-time data. The viewers’ opinion was very much in line with the jury because the €2,000 Audience prize was awarded to the winner of the competition, SMAPP LAB.
The full recording of the event is accessible following this link.