Irish AgTech Start-Up to Compete for the 2021 Future Food Asia Award with a $100k Prize
Iamus Technologies, an artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics start-up headquartered at NovaUCD, has been named as a finalist for the 2021 Future Food Asia Award with a US$100k prize.
The company is among 10 start-ups from around the world, and the only one from Ireland, selected to pitch their innovative AgTech solutions to investors, industry leaders and sector experts during this week’s 2021 Future Food Asia (virtual) conference which is being hosted from Singapore.
Iamus has developed an AI and autonomous robot solution called ‘Gallus’ that works within the chicken houses to constantly monitor key welfare and environmental variables in the chicken shed.
By monitoring these variables the company’s technology allows farmers to make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency and sustainability outcomes while also improving biosecurity and animal welfare of chicken flocks. These improvements result in higher margins through the reduction the feed costs and improvement in meat yields.
Shane Kiernan, CEO, Iamus Technologies said, “The 2021 Future Food Asia Award finals represents a massive opportunity for Iamus to raise our profile in the key Asia market. Iamus has already established a significant pipeline of customers in the region, including a trial commencing in Thailand later this year. The opportunity to pitch at the Future Food Asia Award finals to an audience that can further expand access to potential customers and investors is a massive opportunity for us to continue to deliver on our mission.”
Last year the company, which has to date raised over €1.1 million in seed funding from multiple investors, including Enterprise Ireland, won the Alfie Cox Best Start-Up Award 2020 at the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena Awards run in association with the National Ploughing Association (NPA).
Shane Kiernan added, “To support further product development and our trials in Asia and Europe we are opening a funding round this June and look forward to speaking to investors who are excited to join us in our journey to bring robotics in the $200bn poultry industry.”
The other nine (9) finalists for the 2021 Future Food Asia Award in addition to Iamus are; Allozymes (Singapore); Bondi Bio (Australia); Bygen (Australia); Change Foods (Australia); Fasal (India); IXON (Hong Kong SAR, China); REharvest (South Korea); Senior Deli (Hong Kong SAR, China); and Sustainable Foods (New Zealand).
“Whilst coming up with the most diverse value propositions, what unites these entrepreneurs is this capacity to keep their feet on the ground and their heads in the clouds. They are the testament to human ingenuity, said Isabelle Decitre, CEO and Founder of ID Capital, the Future Food Asia conference organiser.
The jury which will select the winner of the Award includes, Dr Ralph Graichen, Senior Director of Food & Consumer Cluster at Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Biomedical Research Council; Xiuling Guo, Managing Director, Cargill Global Edible Oil Solutions, Asia; Francesca Kleemans, Managing Director, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, Asia; and Isabelle Decitre, Founder and CEO of ID Capital.
The fifth annual Future Food Asia conference, with a theme of AgriFoodTech 2.0, is being hosted this week from Singapore and brings together decision makers from leading agriculture and food corporations, influential investors, rising innovators and other key ecosystem players.
Further information on the conference is available via https://futurefoodasia.com/ffa2021/
ENDS
8 June 2021
For more information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie or Shane Kiernan, CEO, Iamus Technologies, e: shane@iamus.ai.