Maersk Partners in Food Loss Project

Maersk and Rockstart, a European startup accelerator, have partnered in an initiative called FoodTrack to foster startups with ideas for tackling global food loss.

Today, one-third of the global food production for human consumption is lost or wasted, and approximately 80 percent of the food loss occurs before it reaches stores. 

Together with Rockstart, Maersk will run three rounds of the month-long FoodTrack program in 2018 and 2019. 10 startups will be chosen for each round, focusing on technologies and new business models that reduce food loss in the early stages of the value chain - from harvest to distribution. Solutions of interest include logistics and supply chain technologies, sensing IoT and data monitoring, storage and packaging solutions, as well as farm and stock management systems.

The startups chosen for the first edition of the FoodTrack program will spend a month at Maersk's office in Copenhagen and receive intensive support and guidance from mentors. The program itself consists of a series of workshops and focused mentoring sessions on problem validation, team development, competitive strategy and pitching, conducted by mentors from both Maersk and the Rockstart network. When the program is completed, the FoodTrack startups will have a chance to get follow-on funding from Maersk or engage in a partnership. 

The applications for the first FoodTrack program will be open from April 17 to May 13. The program itself will kick off on June 6 and finish with a Demo Day on July 6.