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EIT Food announces 2019 winners

The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food has announced the winners of its 2019 EIT Food Accelerator Network Programme: Orbem AI, uFraction8 and Trigger Systems.

The finalists were invited to compete for three awards, consisting of financial support worth €100,000 each.

Orbem AI, based in Germany, has developed a patented Al technology for the poultry industry to revolutionise the way we produce food. uFraction8, from the UK, is helping biomanufacturers to de-water and concentrate biomass using the latest technology to build sustainable and scalable systems. Trigger Systems is a Portugal-based company that provides a web platform to control several systems for the automatic and efficient management of water and energy.

The 12 finalists were selected from a group of 52 agrifood technology startups involved in the 2019 EIT Food Accelerator Network (EIT FAN) Programme. Over a four-month acceleration period, these startups have had access to tools, connections, mentors and expertise to help them succeed.

Held in Switzerland, Germany and Israel, the EIT FAN aims to make Europe the go-to innovation hub for the world’s most promising agrifood startups.

The winners of the 2019 EIT Food Accelerator Network Programme received their awards at The Venture Summit in Lisbon, EIT Food’s annual event that brings together Europe’s best agrifood startups, investors and key figures from across the agrifood system.

Benoit Buntinx, Director of Business Creation for EIT Food, said: “Many congratulations to our winners from our EIT Food Accelerator Network Programme. The ideas of these startups are helping to tackle global food challenges and address the gap between innovation and the realisation of genuine business opportunities. It has been a pleasure collaborating with the 52 agrifood startups over the last months and seeing first-hand the disruptive ideas they are working on.”