Two Irish start-ups WheyHey and MagGrow are off to California where they will join the THRIVE agritech accelerator in Salinas
Two Irish start-ups, Wheyhey and MagGrow, are among 12 start-ups selected to take part in the THRIVE agritech accelerator that will take place in Salinas, California.
They will take part in the eight-week accelerator where they will hone their business and technology skills and vie to win a role at the Forbes AgTech Summit in July.
THRIVE Accelerator, an initiative driven by SVG Partners, is a highly-selective mentorship and investment programme for agritech and food tech start-ups.
SVG Partners is the Silicon Valley-based venture-capital firm that emerged from the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG). SVG launched the Thrive Accelerator with Forbes to support innovators in the agritech sector.
More than 200 start-ups from 35 countries around the world applied to take part in the 2016 edition.
The 12 finalist companies will take part in an eight-week acceleration programme based on high-level mentorship, collaboration and direct access to some of the world’s top fresh agriculture companies in and around Salinas, the major growing region of California.
“Leveraging the technology expertise in Silicon Valley and the agriculture expertise in Salinas, THRIVE is an ecosystem that is bringing together a global network of innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, as well as technology and ag companies,” said John Hartnett, CEO of SVG Partners.
2016 THRIVE Accelerator programme finalists:
- Acuity Agriculture – Connected sensors for farms
- Agribody Technologies – Yield-enhancing genetic technology
- AGVOICE – Voice-interactive, hands-free data service for Ag professionals on-the-go
- Edyn – Smart soil sensors and irrigation controllers for agriculture and gardening
- Food Origins – Precision harvest data to high-value hand crops
- GeoVisual Analytics – Machine Learning-based platform to rapidly analyze crop imagery from drones
- Inteligistics – Wireless temperature visibility solutions for food products
- MagGrow – Magnetic spraying technology
- Soliculture – Greenhouse integrated photovoltaics for combined power & agriculture
- Specright – Packaging management
- Trace Genomics – Genomics diagnostics for soilborne diseases & early disease risk prediction
- Wheyhey – High-protein, sugar-free ice cream
Main image via Shutterstock
