Trace Genomics, Inteligistics and specright Speak AgTech at Meetup
Posted on July 22, 2016 12:49 PM by WGCIT
More than 30 growers, entrepreneurs, agtech enthusiasts and community members gathered on July 19, 2016, for an AgTech Salinas Meetup to learn more about the innovations being developed out of the WG Center for Innovation & Technology. Trace Genomics, specright and Inteligistics spoke about their respective technologies and their experience as finalists in the Thrive Accelerator II program and residents in the Center.
The AgTech Salinas Meetup, which was a follow up to the Forbes AgTech Summit last week, gave audience members a chance to hear more about each of the startup’s offering. It was an opportunity for guests who attended the Summit to follow-up with the startups who they met last week and garner more detail about their technology. For ones who were not able to attend the Summit, the event provided the chance for guests to mix and mingle with agtech start-up companies and ag enthusiasts.
Diane Wu, co-founder of Trace Genomics, spoke about the company’s ability to help farmers diagnose the health of the soil prior to planting their crops. Trace Genomics recently raised $4 million in venture funding and was announced a winner of the coveted Thrive Accelerator Innovation Award at the Forbes AgTech Summit.
During her presentation, Wu explained how the soil testing kit and “pathogen panel” indicates whether or not their soil has harmful bacteria or fungi in it. The product will be incredibly beneficial in assisting farmers in making cost-saving decisions about what types of fertilizers, pesticides or other treatments to put in their soil, how to irrigate or whether or not to switch crops entirely.
Matt Fry, the customer support engineer at Inteligistics, detailed his company’s intelligent data platform for the food supply chain. Inteligistics’ solution offers farm-to-fork visibility and transparency, real-time pulp temperature visibility, precise data analytics and shelf life prediction to guarantee the freshest product. Fry wrapped up his presentation with how Inteligistics’ platform provides a triple bottom line solution: 1) reduces food waste; 2) saves money by helping companies operate more efficiently; and 3) intensifies the level of sustainability by preserving water, land and energy.
Victor Sanchez-Zapata, who handles business development at specright, highlighted how specright empowers companies to increase performance through packaging specification development, certification and management. Specright has built a platform where customers—users of packaging like produce marketers—can input packaging details such as structure, graphics, packing delivery instructions, quantity, price and vendor information. Sanchez-Zapata emphasized how this information ensures users that they have the right specifications for their packaging, as well as help marketers centralize the information in a way that is accessible to both suppliers and clients.
The event was sponsored by the Western Growers, CSU Monterey Bay, AgTech Insight, Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, South Swell Ventures, City of Salinas and Kennedy, Archer & Giffen as part of an ongoing effort by the to create a consistent forum where community members can discuss the integration of tech, investment and ag. Future events can be found on the AgTech Meetup.