FoodTech startup OneThird wants to tackle our globally inefficient and wasteful food supply system. The Dutch team has just secured €2.75 million to scale.
One-third of all food produced is lost due to spoilage, and it comes at both a human and economic cost. It’s estimated that this level of food waste comes at a cost of $1 trillion and about 40% of the food wasted is fresh, edible produce. While this wastage is happening, there are millions around the world suffering from a lack of food security, and facing famine.
Spurred on by the challenge to tackle this global issue is OneThird. The Dutch foodtech team are using AI to minimize food wastage. Now, the startup has secured €2.75 million in a late-seed funding round, bringing its total funding raised to €5.75 million.
Marco Snikkers, CEO and founder of OneThird: “Global food waste has an enormous environmental impact; reducing global food waste can help to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and embolden global food security. One-third of global food produced annually is lost or wasted, which is an astronomical volume given the number of people worldwide who go to bed hungry. Global food waste is both inefficient and a major social justice issue — one that is compounded across multiple touchpoints in the supply chain — from agricultural production all the way to the landfill.”
The funding was led by impact investor Pymwymic, with participation from prior investors Halma Ventures Limited, SHIFT Invest and Oost NL.
Sophie Pickering, Investment Manager at Pymwymic: “Increasing food security is key to supporting a growing global population. We’re excited by the possibilities OneThird’s technology presents in tackling the alarming quantities of global food loss across the supply chain.”
Launched in 2019, OneThird’s AI-powered, near-infrared scanning technology enables growers, food distributors, retailers and consumers to accurately predict the shelf life of fresh produce and minimize food waste. Currently, it’s able to predict the shelf life of tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries and avocados. The plan to is extend to ten types of produce by the end of 2023.
The UN reports that one-third of food brought to market is currently wasted – and about 40% of that food is fresh produce. It’s a shocking statistic, and simply unsustainable. Food waste is now viewed as a major sustainable development challenge and we urgently need to take action.
Based in Enschede, OneThird wants to deliver a meaningful solution to improve sustainability efforts, feed those in need, and save customers money.
The tech has been proven to reduce up to 25% of food waste across the produce supply chain. It provides different stakeholders with real-time information to help them make smarter decisions, such as optimizing best-before codes, opting to ship locally or within a shorter trucking distance to maintain shelf-life, or choosing to divert produce that would otherwise spoil by turning it into smoothies, dry frozen products, soups and more.
With his new investment, the innovative team plan to scale its technology and operations to expand to new markets – notably growing within Europe and North America.
Marco Snikkers: “The latest seed funding we’ve received will allow us to accelerate the implementation of OneThird’s technology beyond our initial customer base, expand internationally and increase the impact we can create for our customers to help them generate higher ROI, and also meet their sustainability and ESG goals.”
