After the three-day AgTech and FoodTech Bootcamp of the Rentenbank and the TechQuartier in Frankfurt, the Constance-based start-up Organifarms convinced the jury at the Demo Day. Eleven startups participated in the competition and presented their innovative ideas for agriculture and food production.
While the audience award went to "muTech" from Hanover, Organifarms won the Rentenbank prize of €5,000 by the voting of the expert jury. "A totally convincing, sustainable business model with great scalability," announced Nikola Steinbock, jury member and divisional director of the Rentenbank at the award ceremony.
Organifarms develops robotics solutions to automate various processes in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables in protected environments. "Our first product is a harvesting robot for strawberries grown vertically and in greenhouses," explains Hannah Brown, CCO, and Co-Founder of Organifarms. After the harvest, the fruit is inspected by the robot for defects, weighed, and packaged in a fully automated process. "The fruit can go from harvest, directly to sale," the founder says.
The next milestones for the young company are pilot tests with partners and the sale of the harvesting robot to a pilot customer. "We have already received several inquiries from vertical farmers and fruit producers and are pleased that our idea could also convince the audience and participants here," explains CEO and co-founder Dominik Feiden.
In addition to the Demo Day, the AgTech and FoodTech Bootcamp also included workshops in the areas of growth strategies, negotiation techniques, and pitching. The program also included exchanges with representatives from the agricultural industry, startup experts, and potential investors.
For more information: 
Organifarms
www.organifarms.de