Nine Start-Ups Selected for University College Dublin’s New Accelerator Programme Dedicated to AgTech and FoodTech
The AgTechUCD Innovation Centre today announced the 9 (nine) start-ups (profiled below) selected to participate in University College Dublin’s new accelerator programme dedicated to early-stage AgTech and FoodTech start-up companies.
The inaugural AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme, which commenced today, is an intensive 12-week virtual programme which includes dedicated business development workshops and investor readiness training, mentoring from AgTech and FoodTech experts and business advisors, guest speakers and facilitated introductions to AgTechUCD’s venture capital and business angel networks.
Participating start-ups are based in Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Roscommon, Westmeath in addition to Northern Ireland and Tunisia. Programme applications were also received from start-ups based in Chile, Croatia, England, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kenya, The Netherlands and Ukraine.
Tom Flanagan, Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation, NovaUCD, said, "We are delighted with the calibre and global potential of the start-ups selected to participate in the inaugural AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme. The programme received applications from all across Ireland, and indeed from all around the world. This highlights the demand for this accelerator programme in Ireland and the interest from international start-ups underscores Ireland's leading reputation in the AgTech and FoodTech sectors."
AgTechUCD, based at UCD Lyons Farm and part of NovaUCD, is focused on accelerating the launch and scaling of AgTech and FoodTech start-ups in Ireland and has been funded through the Regional Enterprise Development Fund administered by Enterprise Ireland.
AgTechUCD’s focus is supporting founding entrepreneurs as they build their innovative businesses into leading enterprises, though the AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme, and by providing access to incubation space and to on-farm testing for new products and services at UCD Lyons Farm.
"During the next 12-weeks the AgTechUCD Agccelerator programme will focus on supporting the commercial development of the nine participating start-ups. Through the programme we will also be working with the start-ups to help increase their visibility in the marketplace, attract new customers and investors and forge new partnerships, said Niamh Collins, Manager, AgTechUCD Innovation Centre.
She added, “AgTech has already established key relationships with strategic players in the agtech and foodtech sectors in Ireland, across Europe and in the US, which will now leverage to support the participating start-ups to launch their products or services into new territories. We now look forward to working with our first cohort on our inaugural AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme.”
The AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme will conclude in early-December when participating start-ups will pitch their businesses to a panel of investors with the opportunity to be awarded prize funding in a number of award categories.
Partners on the AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme include; AIB, The Yield Lab Europe, Bimeda, Devenish, Carberry, Origin Enterprises, Ornua and HerdWatch who are providing financial and mentoring support. Additional mentoring support will be provided by Greencore, Kubota, Dairymaster, Dawn Farms, the Virtual Vet, IFAC, Finistere, Macra Na Feirme, HBAN and Atlantic Bridge. Participating start-ups will have access to specific supports from AWS Activation, Catalyze, Deloitte and FR Kelly.
ENDS
21 September 2021
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.
Editors Notes
The participating start-ups in the 2021 AgTechUCD Agccelerator Programme are;
Cotter Agritech is developing the Cotter Crate, a novel sheep handling and monitoring system to transform how sheep farmers care for their animals. The Cotter Crate combines hardware, which addresses animal handling and labour issues, with novel software that addresses anthelmintic (or wormer) resistance. This enables farmers to move from treating all sheep to only drenching sheep that require treatment. The founders of Cotter Agritech, based in Limerick, are brothers Jack and Nick Cotter. www.thecottercrate.com
CropHound uses remote sensors and artificial intelligence to monitor crop health, growing conditions and crop potential from planting to harvest giving early insights and recommendations to users. CropHound enables farmers and growers to increase yields and decrease their costs and carbon footprint through reductions in chemical usage and unnecessary trips to check crops. The founder of CropHound, based in Belfast, is Mark Elliott. www.crophound.com
FodderBox has developed and built a fully-fitted, self-contained, computer-controlled fodder production system that arrives on-site, ready to plug-and-play. Sustainably producing a ton of fresh premium fodder per day, in pure water, FodderBox – A Field In a Box - is the equivalent of a 40-acre field in a 40’ container, with zero water pollution, zero air pollution, zero herbicides, zero pesticides, and zero insecticides. The founder of FodderBox, based in Cork, is Ella Goddin. www.fodderbox.ie
FreshGraze has developed a robotic moving fence and management system which portions out new pasture to grazing animals as they require it. By constantly allocating small portions of fresh grass it ensures that the animals do not walk on or soil the food they are about to eat, enabling farmers to obtain the best utilisation of their grassland. The founders of Freshgraze, based in Co. Westmeath, are Thomas Drumm and his sons Charlie and James. www.freshgraze.ie
Izario has developed an autonomous poultry robot that operates in broiler-breeder and commercial egg-laying hen houses. Using custom built proprietary artificial intelligence and computer vision software the robot detects eggs laid on the floor by birds and retrieves them reducing labour inputs. The robot also monitors the birds’ welfare and environmental status of the sheds to allow farmers/producers to make informed decisions based on data. The founders of Izario, based in Galway, are Raymond Heneghan and Stepan Dzhanov. www.izario.co
Niskus BioTec is focused on the provision of innovative products and services to the agri-food and biotech sectors in fungal large-scale solid-state fermentation. The company works with customers to select the most suitable fungal strains for their process and growing media and to develop and scale-up new fungal derived high-value products such as proteins, enzymes and intermediates. The founder of Niskus BioTec, based in Donegal, is Vincent Farrelly.
Positive Carbon is developing food waste monitoring technology for the food service industry. This will enable food service providers establish where they are wasting food and assist them in making informed food purchasing, preparation and production decisions helping them to reduce food bills and food waste and reach sustainability goals. The founders of Positive Carbon, based in Roscommon, are Aisling Kirwan and Mark Kirwan. www.positivecarbon.org
ProvEye, a spin-out from the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, provides advanced processing software to derive quantitative data from images, collected by drones and other platforms, at unprecedent levels of accuracy, which can be used to create actionable management decisions in agriculture and other industries. The founders of ProvEye, based in Dublin, are Dr Jerome O’Connell and Dr Nick Holden. www.proveye.ie
SmartBeeKeeper is developing SmartBee a cutting-edge hardware and software platform to enable beekeepers monitor and track their beehives. SmartBeeKeeper also provides access to a luxury and traceable honey marketplace. The founder of SmartBeeKeeper, based in Tunisia, is Khaled Bouchoucha. www.smartbeekeeper.com
The goal of the AgTechUCD is to bring together the AgTech and FoodTech ecosystem in Ireland to accelerate the launch and scaling of AgTech & FoodTech companies. AgTechUCD, led by NovaUCD, and funded through the Regional Enterprise Development Fund administered by Enterprise Ireland, is a collaboration with AIB, Kildare County Council, and Kildare LEO; agri-companies including, Bimeda, Devenish, Carberry, Ornua and Origin Enterprises; investors The Yield Lab Europe, Finistere and Atlantic Bridge, and leading AgTech researchers and innovators at UCD, Teagasc and Wageningen. https://www.ucd.ie/innovation/about-agtechucd/ and @AgTechUCD