Thursday, September 27, 2018

Maersk's Venture Arm Will Be Interviewing For The Second Cohort Of Food-Focused Startup Investees

Following up on June's "Maersk Chooses 10 Startups For The First Cohort of FoodTrack (out of 310 applications)"
From AgFunder:

Maersk is Looking for AgriFood Startups Combatting Food Loss in Wake of Two Investments
Maersk, the end-to-end transport and logistics company and the biggest food transporter in the world, is currently accepting applications from agrifood tech startups for the second edition of its equity-free venture program, FoodTrack by Maersk. The focal point of the program is to identify startups with solutions to tackle food loss and improve efficiency across food value chains for a potential investment from the company’s venture arm Maersk Growth

Ten selected startups will receive a travel and accommodation grant to participate in the program, which runs for four weeks in Copenhagen at the office of Maersk Growth. And the second edition of FoodTrack by Maersk will put extra emphasis on connecting the startups to relevant partners and experts as this proved particularly valuable for the startups in first edition.

Maersk Growth has been actively investing in agrifood tech startups in the last couple of months, recently announcing two investments in startups with solutions that will improve the efficiency in food value chains and drive down food loss. TeleSense, a grain monitoring IoT platform that detects nonoptimal storage conditions and reduce spoilage, raised $6.5 million at Series A as Maersk’s first agtech investment. And Ripe.io, a startup using blockchain technology to create a digital bridge enabling transparency, trust, and honesty for food producers, distributors, and consumers across the supply chain, raised $2.4 million in seed funding with Maersk leading the round.

““The purpose of FoodTrack is not to offer training; it’s us investing. During the program we use the opportunity of having four weeks together with the startups to consider team, solution, fit with Maersk and several other aspects – all forming part of our investment due diligence and decision-making process. This process is unique and enables both parties to become comfortable with what each party brings to the table in an investment,” saysPeter Votkjaer Jorgensen, Venture Partner at Maersk Growth....
...MUCH MORE

As noted in the outro from the June post:
Although it didn't make the cut we are intrigued by the autonomous refrigerated seafood containers from SEATrue:
"In the outro"?