Nutreco today announces that Aquarech is the winner of the 2022 Nutreco Feed & Food Tech Challenge (NFFTC). Since 2017, the NFFTC has recognised and supported the best breakthrough innovations in sustainable protein production.
Aquarech won first place for its work to build Kenya's first fish farming supply chain platform. Aquarech will receive a validation trial supported by Nutreco experts to further develop its technology.
Jury member Alex Obach said, “Congratulations to Aquarech for winning the 2022 NFFTC! Through their Aquarech platform, fish farmers in Kenya and Africa can buy top-quality feed, sell fish, and learn about best fish farming practices to improve their incomes and in general to improve the entire supply chain of high quality fish to feed to local population. We look forward to supporting Aquarech in further developing their innovative concept.”
This year’s NFFTC received over 100 submissions from 48 countries. These were narrowed down to 15 finalists, who received support from Nutreco mentors to develop a pitch deck and business case that they defended at a virtual pitching event in June. A jury of industry experts selected five top candidates from these finalists. The top five attended an in-person finale this week in the Netherlands to pitch their ideas one last time and network with other start-ups, investors, and Nutreco experts in a program that included speakers and interactive discussions.
The 2022 NFFTC jury included: Laëtitia Gerbe, partner at Seventure Partners; Alexandre van der Wees, investment director at Creadev; Rosie Wardle, Co-Founder and Partner at Synthesis Capital; Nis Bak, Principal at Novo Holdings; Thomas Giehm, Investment Manager at AquaSpark; Silke Birlenbach, Director of Global Innovation at Trouw Nutrition, the Nutreco Livestock feed business line; Alex Obach, Innovation Director at Skretting, the Nutreco Aquaculture business line; Erik Tveteraas, Investment Director at Nutreco NuFrontiers; and Susanne Wiegel, Investment Manager for Alternative Proteins at Nutreco NuFrontiers.
“This year’s entries showed a great deal of promise in helping our industry solve the challenges we face as we work to produce more protein more sustainably and achieve our purpose of Feeding the Future. We’d like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Challenge!” said Nutreco’s Director of Venturing & Business Development Joost Matthijssen.
