ZAKA VC is family office in vesting in pre-seed and seed startups. It is focused on early-stage software driven investments across the whole EU with primary focus on UK, DACH, Baltics and CEE.  ZAKA VC is based in Prague with scouts in Berlin, UK, Baltic, Balkan and Turkish region.

ZAKA VC

Business Venture Partners was founded in 2004 as a corporate finance adviser for SME/owner managed businesses. The investment team is comprised of Elliott Griffin, Ronan Smith, Edel Coen and Mark Ruane and the team skills combine deep industry knowledge with experience in venture investing, corporate finance and international expansion. The team works on behalf of its clients buying and selling companies, raising finances, working with start-ups and advising on strategic growth, business succession and owner exits. Since 2007, BVP has successfully raised and managed 10 Simple Green BES and EII Funds. They have invested, on behalf of their investors, in some of Ireland’s most innovative companies such as Celtic Bioenergy, EFT Controls, and UrbanVolt. Our investment strategy is to spread investments over project finance and a portfolio of high potential companies. Their philosophy is to work hard with each investment to deliver valuable support for the company promoters and build shareholder value for their investors. In 2016 BVP launched The 10th BVP Green EII Fund. The fund provides eligible investors with the opportunity to avail of up to 40% income tax relief and provides the investor access to a portfolio of cleantech companies and renewable energy projects. The 11th Green Fund will be launched in Q4 2017.

Business Venture Partners

Enterprise Ireland is the government agency responsible for the development and funding of the indigenous business sector. Their mission is to accelerate the development of companies to achieve strong positions in global markets resulting in increased national and regional prosperity.  It was founded in 1998 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland

primeCROWD is Austria's biggest network of startup investors with currently over 1000 active investors, including the likes of high-profile business angels such as Johannes Siller, Markus Ertler and Heinrich Prokop. We foster the Austrian and European startup eco-system by connecting investors and startups.  Our startup portfolio covers FinTech, CleanTech, HeathTech, IT & Software, Big Data & Social Impact. We have run 19 successful campaigns with seed fundings over € 9M+, including: ::. iDWELL ::. Farmdok ::. MOVEEFFECT ::. Carbon Recovery ::. STRATACT ::. Orderlion ::. Domonda ::. CorpLife ::. Wanderwatch ::. myVeeta ::. goUrban ::. Liimtec | PocketDefi ::. FRUX ::. FOEX ::. Fitapp ::. thesocialbet | herosphere ::. viRaTechnologies | viRaCube ::. Biotan primeCROWD was founded in December 2015. Over 1000 investors and 200 partners are currently participating in the network, including European incubators, accelerators and VCs. https://www.gateway.ventures

Gateway Ventures

HEARTFELT is Europe’s earliest-stage VC. They support and partner with the most pre-seed startups.

HEARTFELT

Positive Carbon

Through the use of their patent-pending food waste sensors & food detection AI, Positive Carbon provides high quality food waste reporting tools to hotels, restaurants & cities to enable them to develop advanced waste reduction strategies which increase their food operations gross profits by 2-8%.

Positive Carbon is an Ireland-based startup offering a fully automated food waste monitoring solution for hotels, restaurants, and cities. Positive Carbon uses overhead LiDAR sensors and AI to record and analyze waste that is put into bins. The solution runs on a cellular network and does not require the client to provide internet access or wiring, with free installation as of&nbsp;October 2024. The system’s reporting dashboard generates trends and insights, as well as real-time alerts to help clients reduce food waste by making better purchasing decisions. Positive Carbon claimed that its technology has contributed to a 50% reduction in food waste at various sites, diverting over 4,000 tons of waste from landfills as of&nbsp;October 2024.

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

Irish start-up Positive Carbon expands in UK

Positive Carbon is an Ireland-based startup offering a fully automated food waste monitoring solution for hotels, restaurants, and cities. Positive Carbon uses overhead LiDAR sensors and AI to record and analyze waste that is put into bins. The solution runs on a cellular network and does not require the client to provide internet access or wiring, with free installation as of&nbsp;October 2024. The system’s reporting dashboard generates trends and insights, as well as real-time alerts to help clients reduce food waste by making better purchasing decisions. Positive Carbon claimed that its technology has contributed to a 50% reduction in food waste at various sites, diverting over 4,000 tons of waste from landfills as of&nbsp;October 2024.Key customers and partnershipsPositive Carbon’s solution is being used by players in the hospitality industry and 1,200+ kitchen staff as of November 2023. Its customers include Dublin City University, Sandymount Hotel, The Grand Hotel Malahide, the Airfield Estate in Dundrum, the Dalata Hotel Group, Radisson Blu, KC Peaches, The Woodlands Hotel, the Shannon College of Hotel Management, and Trinity College Dublin. In 2022, Ireland’s third-largest foodservice provider, KSG Catering, also deployed the company’s solution at 10 of its sites.

Apeel Sciences is a California-based food technology company that produces edible coatings made of plant materials that extend the lifetime of fruits by 2x–3x to prevent food wastage in regions where refrigeration is scarce.&nbsp;The coatings are intended for use on fruits and vegetables, with a primary focus on avocados, apples, mangos, cucumbers, and citrus fruits.&nbsp;According to the company, US retailers that used Apeel experienced a 50% reduction in waste alongside a 5%–10% growth in sales on average. As of&nbsp;April 2024, Apeel Sciences reported to have saved&nbsp;over&nbsp;60 million pieces of produce from going to waste at retail stores by partnering with small family-owned farmers, local organic growers, grocery stores, and large food brands.&nbsp;As of October&nbsp;2024, the company was offering its solution to a network of 30 suppliers and 40 retailers across eight countries, including the US, UK, Spain, Netherlands, and Kenya. The company focuses on expanding its market presence across North America and the EU.In May 2020, Apeel announced plans to expand to Sub-Saharan Africa, Central, and South America—all regions where food wastage was increasing.&nbsp;Following this, Apeel expanded to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2022 and began its expansion to South America in 2024.In May 2021, Apeel Sciences acquired&nbsp;the&nbsp;startup Impact Vision for an undisclosed amount. Impact Vision’s technology allows suppliers to see inside their fresh produce and ultimately reduce post-harvest loss and optimize distribution while continuing to extend shelf life.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;Apeel has partnered with various distributors for the distribution of its avocados, including The Kroger Company in September 2018 for Cincinnati, Calavo Growers in January 2021, and Nature’s Pride for Europe in March 2021.&nbsp;The company also collaborated with Topline Farms in February 2023 for the development of the Apeel-Protected Mini Cucumber and licensed its coating technology to Limoneira in May 2023 for use on lemons.&nbsp;

Apeel Sciences

Shelf Engine provides demand forecasting tools,&nbsp;which leverage AI and machine learning, for perishable food items to reduce inefficiencies in the ordering system and minimize overall costs. According to Shelf Engine, more than 30% of highly perishable foods in grocery stores such as meat and vegetables expire before the sell-by date. Shelf Engine’s scan-based trade (SBT) technology guarantees sales and pays for any items that remain unsold. Via the SBT, Shelf Engine manages orders, pays vendors, and only charges the retailer for what sells while still paying suppliers for their full order and increasing its accuracy over time. Shelf generates revenue by charging a markup on the product from the vendor to the retailer.As of October 2024, Shelf Engine operated in more than 3,000 grocery stores and claimed to increase profit margins by more than 50% by reducing food waste by as much as 32%.&nbsp;Shelf Engine also reported that it prevented 5.2 million lbs of food wastage, decreased 8,200 tons of CO2, and saved 500 million gallons of water.Key customers and partnershipsIn January 2024, Shelf Engine partnered with Dollar General to implement fully automated AI-powered ordering for produce, aiming to enhance inventory management and reduce food waste across Dollar General's stores. This collaboration would leverage Shelf Engine's technology to optimize ordering processes and improve the freshness of perishable items.Shelf Engine also worked with supermarket and grocery chains Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, Walmart, Ralphs, Harmons, and Bi‑Rite to manage orders and reduce food waste.

Shelf Engine

Afresh began as a research project in 2017 to develop AI-powered software that optimizes the entire food supply chain. Specifically, the company offers an in-store solution for grocery stores that applies artificial intelligence to manage the freshness of food. According to the company, the implementation of its technology has led to a 25%–45% reduction of in-store food waste and increased gross margin of fresh produce sales by 4 percentage points. The company generates revenue under a SaaS model. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16835">March 2023,</a> the company expanded into fresh departments, including meat, seafood, deli, and food service.As of&nbsp;October 2024, the company’s technology was deployed across 3,000 stores in 40 states in the US and it reported that it was able to triple its customer base in 2021.&nbsp;Afresh also reported that it prevented 44 million lbs of food wastage as of 2024 while reducing 24 million kg of CO2 emissions and saving 886 million gallons of water.Key customers and partnershipsSome of Afresh's key customers include Fresh Thyme Market, WinCo Foods, and Heinen’s. In 2019, the company also reported that it had established partnerships with three US grocery chains, each with more than 100 stores in operation.&nbsp;&nbsp;The company also collaborated with Bashas’ Supermarkets Inc. (a chain of grocery stores based in North America with over 100 stores) in September 2021 and New Season Market (a chain of 19 privately owned grocery stores) in October 2021 to pilot the “Afresh AI-driven software solution” at selected stores.In December 2022, Afresh partnered with SpartanNash to pilot the AI-powered Afresh platform at 10 of SpartanNash’s Family Fare grocery stores.&nbsp;&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15786">January 2023</a>, Afresh and Albertsons Companies announced the completion of an enterprise rollout of the Afresh predictive ordering and inventory management platform.&nbsp;Afresh also partnered with Albertsons Companies again in October 2024 for the launch of Afresh DC Forecasts, where Albertsons was its first customer.

AFresh

UK-based Winnow Solutions identifies and measures waste in commercial kitchens. The company records the reason for the waste, calculates the value of the wasted food, and keeps track of this data in the cloud. The company’s self-titled product shares technology with autonomous vehicles, using cameras to record and learn about food being wasted and calculate the financial and environmental cost of this discarded food. Winnow Vision also provides a Waste Monitor solution to help kitchen staff track how and what food is wasted to adjust their spending on food ingredients and eliminate overproduction.As of October 2024, Winnow Solutions reported that it had annually saved over 50 million meals, reduced 87,000 tons of CO2, and saved USD 70 million for customers.Key customers and partnershipsWinnow’s customers include the catering company&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5386">ISS</a> and hotels such as Accor, Fairmont, The Westin, Four Seasons, and Hilton Tokyo Bay.&nbsp;In September 2023, Winnow Solutions partnered with Ne’ma, the UAE’s National Food Loss and Waste Initiative, to support Ne’ma with data, benchmarking, and best practices for the hotels, restaurants, and catering (HoReCa) sector.&nbsp; Following this, Winnow was selected as a preferred food waste management vendor by Dayblink GPO in November 2023.

Winnow Solutions

Hazel Technologies is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded technology company that develops packaging that releases vapors that slow the aging process and prevent fungus or decay. Its solution is claimed to double the shelf life of produce. Hazel operates a B2B business that targets large enterprises. The company has reported treating&nbsp;5 billion lbs of produce as of October 2024, saving about 4 billion lbs from going bad. The company has a target to save one billion&nbsp;lbs of produce from going to waste by the end of 2021. Hazel operates in&nbsp;13 countries&nbsp;across the US, South America, and Europe, as of October 2024.&nbsp;Hazel works with around 250 food service and produce companies including the likes of Sysco, Mission Produce, Zespri, Calavo, and Oppy.&nbsp;As of October 2024, the company offers Hazel Endure, its antimicrobial packaging for berries, grapes, and other fruit, which uses an anti-fungal pad to extend the shelf life and quality of fruits and other produce.Key customers and partnershipsHazel Technologies has formed several partnerships to reduce food waste and extend the shelf life of various produce. These included collaborations with Mission Produce for avocados in July 2020, Migiva Group for grape trials in March 2021, Specialty Crop Company for figs and Symms Fruit for apples in May 2021, Oppy and Brar Farms for California-grown table grapes in July 2022, and Kliewer Farms for kiwifruit in November 2022.

Hazel Technologies

Startups that prevent food wastage by prolonging the lifetime of food or better managing food production through the supply chain. Companies that develop products such as sanitizers, containers, and machines that allow food to stay fresh longer are included here. Startups that develop algorithms to determine food preservation strategies are also included.

These startups ensure work to reroute surplus food to different sets of end-users including charity organizations and consumers seeking discounted items. This segment mainly consists of on-demand online platforms that connect producers, retailers, and restaurants with consumers via mobile app.

Startups that recycle food waste for industrial uses such as soil enrichment.

Startups that recycle food waste into edible food and beverages.

Solutions that keep food waste out of landfills

Recycling and upcycling food waste to keep them out of landfills

IoT-enabled waste prevention techniques for purposes such as longer shelf-life and inventory management

Waste prevention analysis platforms use AI/ML

<div>
 <ul>
 <li>Positive Carbon, a firm that develops sensors to manage food waste in commercial kitchens, has secured EUR 2.3 million (~USD 2.46 million) during its seed funding round led by Business Venture Partners' EIIS fund, with Heartfelt, Gateway Ventures, and Enterprise Ireland also participating. This brings the company's total funding to just over EUR 3 million (~USD 3.2 million).</li>
 <li>The funds will be utilized for research and development, strengthening marketing strategies, and expanding the company's operations across the UK and EU. The company claims its technology has contributed to a 50% reduction in food waste at various sites, diverting over 4,000 tonnes of waste from landfills.</li>
 </ul>
</div> 

Positive Carbon, a firm that develops sensors to manage food waste in commercial kitchens, has raised EUR 2.3 million (~USD 2.46 million) in seed funding. Business Venture Partners' EIIS fund led the round, with Heartfelt, Gateway Ventures, and Enterprise Ireland also participating. This brings the company's total funding to just over EUR 3 million (~USD 3.2 million). The funds will be used for research and development, marketing, and expanding operations in the UK and EU. The company claims its technology has reduced food waste by 50% and diverted over 4,000 tonnes of waste from landfills.

Positive Carbon

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless