Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOIT20240805008
- Term of Validity
- 23 August 2024 - 23 August 2025
- Company's Country
- Italy
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Investment agreement
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- Italian startup specialized in the design and development of innovative materials that extend shelf-life of fresh food, reducing food waste and related resource misuse, is looking for partners in the agrifood sector such as fruit distributors, packers and retailers to continue testing and validating products on target fresh fruits (such as citrus, berries, cherries, strawberries and table grape), and food packaging enterprises to co-design disruptive products. Also VCs are sought.
- Full Description
-
The startup specializes in developing innovative materials aimed at protecting fresh food and optimizing its shelf life. The mission is to combat food waste and enhance food safety through the use of active biodegradable biopolymers derived from vegetal sources.
The worldwide issue of food waste results in staggering economic losses, seeing at its peak the ‘fresh fruit and vegetables’ category with over 50% waste along the supply chain due to inadequate conservation conditions. This problem is particularly acute for actors involved in the distribution of packed fresh produce, who face challenges in preserving product quality amidst temperature fluctuations along the supply chain. Existing solutions such as artificial ripening control and modified atmosphere packaging have limitations, including high costs, maintenance requirements, and potential alterations to organoleptic properties.
To address these challenges, the startup developed a biobased and biodegradable device to protect fresh fruits and vegetables: the device is a small active tag (1-euro-coin-like dimensions) that once is placed within fruit packaging, releases natural and plant-extracted substances that reduce fungi and bacteria proliferation, thus extending the shelf-life of packed fresh produce.
The startup is collaborating with research institutes and Italian industrial partners to validate effectiveness, demonstrating a commitment to evidence-based open-innovation and continuous improvement: offering a simple, cost-effective solution accessible to actors across the supply chain, fostering widespread adoption and systemic change towards sustainability.
Our flagship product represents a breakthrough innovation for product life extension, strategically placed within fruit and vegetable packaging to reduce the growth of pathogens responsible for deterioration.
The startup plans to continue performing collaborative pilot projects with stakeholders interested in adopting its product looking to gather essential information to refine and scale the solution, demonstrating its feasibility and impact on reducing food waste by using agricultural by-products.
The company has already carried out, in collaboration with industrial partners, lab-scale pilot tests in realistic-environment conditions with promising results, paving the way for mass adoption among target produce.
The startup is looking forward to cooperate with stakeholders interested in adopting the patented technology, to refine and scale the solution, demonstrating its feasibility and impact on reducing food waste by using natural plug-and-play solutions: in particular fruit distributors, packers, and retailers (GDO) to continue testing and validating the product on fresh fruits such as whole or cut citrus, berries, cherries, strawberries and table grape. The cooperation will be in the form of material transfer agreement with technical assistance, aimed at becoming a Supply Commercial Agreement once regulatory testing is concluded.
The startup is also looking for enterprises in the food packaging sector who are active in open-innovation and are interested in either co-developing groundbreaking packaging solutions leveraging on the startup’s technology, or provide services for the production of the device at scale.
The startup is also open to investors and VCs active in the AgriFoodTech and Impact spaces to fund its Seed Round, following the pre-seed acceleration program FoodSeed, which granted a SAFE ticket in late 2023. The Round will be focused on:
• performing necessary tests for product market launch in 8-12 months;
• setup a production facility with enough capacity to prove the business model;
• expand the team to increase R&D capacity and to rank up the sales pipeline. - Advantages and Innovations
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The startup specializes in developing innovative materials aimed at protecting fresh food and optimizing its shelf life.
The innovation aims to:
• fight food waste and enhance food safety through the use of active, biodegradable, and bio-based materials in the form of biopolymers derived from natural molecules found in agricultural by-products, combined with natural food ingredients commonly used in the food industry as additives.
• reduce economic losses and water and soil resources waste associated with fresh produce spoilage;
• minimize the need for costly and environmentally harmful preservation methods, such as synthetic coatings or chemical treatments;
• offer a simple, cost-effective solution accessible to actors across the supply chain, without the need of any equipment;
• enhance produce quality perceived by retailers and consumers;
Compared to competitors, the startup’s technology allows to extend the persistence of natural volatile active ingredients in the packaging of fresh fruits to over 30 days (compared to 2-3 days of direct competitors). - Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
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• Fruit distributors, packers, and retailers (GDO) to continue testing and validating our product on fresh fruits such as whole or cut citrus, berries, cherries, strawberries and table grape;
• Enterprises in the food packaging sector, active in open-innovation and interested in co-developing packaging solutions;
• Co-packers interested in produce our product at scale;
• Investors and VCs active in AgriFoodTech and Impact spaces. - Stage of Development
- Lab tested
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 2: Zero Hunger
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- IPR status
- IPR applied but not yet granted
- IPR notes
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Patent filed to the Italian Office of Trade Marks and Patents (UIBM); patent application filed to the EUIPO for extended protection in Europe and the PCT application.
Trademark has been registered.
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
• Fruit distributors, packers, and retailers (GDO) to continue testing and validating our product on fresh fruits such as whole or cut citrus, berries, cherries, strawberries and table grape;
• Enterprises in the food packaging sector, active in open-innovation and interested in co-developing packaging solutions;
• Co-packers interested in produce our product at scale;
• Investors and VCs active in AgriFoodTech and Impact spaces. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 50 - 249
- Big company
- R&D Institution
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Investment agreement
- Research and development cooperation agreement
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 06006001 - Biobased Materials
- 08001003 - Food Packaging / Handling
- Market keywords
- 09004006 - Packing products and systems
- Sector Groups Involved
- Retail
- Agri-Food
- Targeted countries
- All countries
