An American agri-tech start-up has beaten more than 100 international entrants to win the first Tesco Agri T-Jam, hosted at World Agri-Tech’s Pitch Day on Monday, October 15 in London.
San Francisco-based firm ImpactVision uses advanced imaging technology to deliver consistent food quality, generate premium products and reduce waste in the agri-food supply chain.
The competition was run by Tesco in partnership with the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit, searching for new agri-food technologies to support its supply chain partners to improve efficiency and sustainability.
The winning start-up will enjoy introductions to the retailer’s key supplier partners, with the opportunity to trial or implement their technologies and feedback with results.
ImpactVision’s software then provides insights about the quality of foods, such as the shelf-life of meat, the freshness of fish, the dry matter content of avocados or the presence of foreign objects non-invasively and rapidly at production grade speeds.
Tesco’s Agri-Food team led the judging panel along with supply chain representatives Vee Gururajan of Branston, Ian Tremain of Bridgwater College and Ash Gilman of Cranswick.
Tesco’s food technical director, Emmanuelle Lerges, said: “We’ve seen some fantastic technologies and it’s been fascinating to see the sheer breadth of solutions and their applications – in fact, we will be continuing the conversation with several companies.”
Abi Ramanan, chief executive of Impact Vision, said: “The whole process has been rigorous – we were already delighted to make the top 10.
Our technology can help Tesco set realistic objectives for reducing supply chain waste and improve transparency in the supply chain to ensure consistent quality for their customers.
“We’re thrilled, and particularly as a Brit myself I’m delighted to have this opportunity to work with such a prominent UK retailer.”
Impact Vision will pitch again today to the World Agri-Tech audience of over 450 agri-food business leaders and investors, as part of the summit’s acclaimed start-up Technology Showcase.
The other nine Agri T-Jam finalists were: Agrotech USA (USA), ArqAqua (Spain), Azotic Technologies (Switzerland), eggXYt (Israel), Fixed Phage (UK), FungiAlert (UK), Soil Steam International (Norway), Thrive Multi Visual (Netherlands) and ZELP (UK).
