AgraME News
PepsiCo names startups selected for 2023 Greenhouse Accelerator Program: MENA Sustainability Edition
PepsiCo announced the six companies that will be a part of the second cohort of its Greenhouse Accelerator Program: MENA Sustainability Edition, focused on sustainable agriculture.
This year’s cohort brought forward innovative ideas across five key criteria: alignment to PepsiCo’s sustainability strategy – PepsiCo Positive (pep+) – strategic synergy with PepsiCo, scalability, relevance to MENA, and breakthrough potential.
Reigniting the partnership with UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Food Tech Valley, PepsiCo’s Greenhouse Accelerator Program intends to unlock innovative and disruptive agricultural solutions in partnership with purpose-driven startups from the region that share PepsiCo’s vision for a more sustainable food system.
The six shortlisted companies, Dooda Solutions, NoorNation, RoboCare, SmartWTI, Smart Green, and YY ReGen, were selected from over 180 applications across the MENA region. Each of the companies bring a unique level of expertise and innovative solution to the table from all aspects of the agriculture value chain from water preservation to soil cultivation.
Dooda Solutions, a woman-led earthworm farm from Lebanon, specializes in raising worms and producing premium-grade vermicompost at commercial scale. NoorNation, a renewable energy startup from Egypt, aims to provide sustainable decentralized energy and water infrastructure solutions. RoboCare from Tunisia specializes in using technology to provide a digital monitoring system for preventing the late detection of plant disease, enabling fast propagation, and reducing pesticide use.
SmartWTI, an IoT/AI solutions provider from Jordan, specializes in designing and manufacturing water management solutions to enable the Internet of Things (IoT). Smart Green, another Jordanian startup, provides agri-tech solutions to agribusinesses for digital transformation from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. Finally, YY ReGen, another Lebanese startup, provides innovative solutions through the promotion of renewable energy, sustainable water management, and regenerative farming.
Each startup will receive an initial grant of $20,000 to support their business and help scale up their innovation, along with guided mentorship from regional subject matter professionals, as well as PepsiCo and Food Tech Valley experts. At the end of the six-month program, one winning company will be awarded an additional $100,000 in funding to continue its expansion and have an opportunity to extend its collaboration with PepsiCo to further expedite its growth.
Introduced regionally in 2021, the winner of last year’s inaugural program of the PepsiCo Greenhouse Accelerator Program: MENA Sustainability Edition, focused on sustainable packaging and recycling, was UAE-based startup Nadeera, a social enterprise that leverages technology to promote waste sorting at source. Through its ‘Yalla Return’ product, the company applies a trash-for-cash model, providing cash rewards based on the quantity of recyclables consumers turn in.
16 Jun 2023
Sourced from New AG International, a brand of Informa Connect