The Animal AgTech Innovation Summit will host the final of the Manure Innovation Challenge,
organised by The Yield Lab Institute for early-stage companies to advance innovative manure-
management technologies.
Eight start-ups from around the world have been announced as the finalists to compete in the
Manure Innovation Challenge at a special pre-summit breakfast event in San Francisco on March 16. All summit delegates will be welcome to join.
A panel of judges including Aidan Connolly (Cainthus / AgriTech Capital), Aaron Magenheim (AgTech Insight), Joost Matthijssen (Nutreco), William Goure (Business Model Innovation) and Paul Duncan (Anuvia Plant Nutrients) will critique the start-ups. The winner will be announced in the afternoon of the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit to over 350 leading livestock producers, animal health providers, feed companies and ingredients manufacturers.
Commenting on the start-ups, Brandon Day, Chief Operating Officer of The Yield Lab Institute, said:
“Now is an exciting time for agtech innovators to accelerate the future of a sustainable manure
industry and we’re delighted to support their route to market with this platform to showcase their
solutions and benefit from our mentoring. We’re looking forward to the presentations and working
with the winner.”
All finalists will benefit from commercializing their products through The Yield Lab Institute’s
mentorship and guidance.
The eight finalists:
BioFiltro (USA): is a wastewater system that catalyzes the digestive power of worms and microbes to convert waste streams into beneficial revenue streams. It delivers patented wastewater solutions
that improve not only companies’ environmental impact, but also their bottom line.
Biomass Controls (USA): is a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation founded in 2015 in Connecticut as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Re-Invented Toilet Challenge. Biomass Controls’ 22 patents protect the environment and return nutrients to the soil. Its Biogenic Refinery provides thermochemical treatment of high moisture materials such as manures, excreta, agriculture residues and food waste.
Chonex (USA): is a nutrient recycling company that has developed a biological process to
convert 100% of poultry manure into high-value organic fertilizer and animal feed products.
CowPots (USA) provides biodegradable, plantable pots manufactured in Connecticut utilizing the by- product from its dairy farm. Invented as a sustainable solution to managing cow manure, CowPots offer growers a renewable and recycled alternative to plastic and peat planting containers. Using the same process, CowPots packaging was recently introduced as a sustainable alternative to the packaging industry.
Digested Organics (USA): manufactures advanced filtration solutions to help customers reduce
wastewater disposal costs, reclaim clean water for reuse, and produce valuable co-products. It
specializes in helping farms improve manure management to reduce spreading and hauling costs,
minimize nutrient runoff, reuse water, and create new fertilizer products.
N2 Applied (Norway) is a Norwegian technology development company that aims to fundamentally improve global food production by increasing yield and reducing emissions. N2 has developed a patented technology that enables farmers to produce environmentally friendly fertilizer on-farm, only by using manure, air and renewable energy. The result is a fertilizer produced with lower greenhouse gas emissions, improved resource efficiency at a competitive cost.
Phinite (USA): is building the renewable fertilizer mines of the future, by recycling animal manure
into bulk renewable fertilizer.
SoMax BioEnergy (USA) utilizes organic waste as a resource for sustainable development and
resilient waste management in the agriculture, manufacturing and sanitation industries. The
company allows its partners to reduce their carbon footprint while creating savings or additional
revenue streams by diverting agricultural, food, septic, green and other organic wastes from landfills and wastewater treatment plants.
For more information on the Manure Innovation Challenge and finalists at the summit, visit:
animalagtech.com/manure-innovation-challenge
Held annually in San Francisco and Amsterdam, the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit is an
international networking and deal-making event for livestock dairy and poultry producers, animal
health providers, feed companies, ingredients manufacturers, technology companies, entrepreneurs
and investors. More than 350+ animal agtech leaders will gather in San Francisco on March 16 to connect business and innovation for a healthy, sustainable and high-welfare industry.
The Yield Lab Institute is a non-profit, agtech think tank with the overarching mission of driving
agtech innovation, technology and start-ups faster to market and commercialization. As a two-year
old non-profit, the Institute does this through a variety of levers that include but are not limited to
prize challenges, start-up ecosystem assessments, white papers, and newsletters. The Yield Lab
Institute is a voice, advocate and nexus for early, seed stage agtech innovations and start-ups.
Manure Innovation Challenge - animalagtech.com/manure-innovation-challenge
The goal of the Manure Innovation Challenge is to create an expedited pathway to circular farm
economies through the creation of new revenue streams from waste and by-products (water,
manure and nutrients). The Challenge started in partnership with the WWF, Dairy Farmers of
America and Newtrient, and is sponsored by Cargill, The Maschhoffs and WeWork Food Labs.
UK-based Rethink Events organizes international, world-renowned business summits for
entrepreneurs, businesses and global investors in sustainable food, agriculture, energy and water.
Further contact:
Tate Slyfield, Marketing Executive, Rethink Events
tate.slyfield@rethinkevents.com
+44 (0)1273 789989
Brandon Day, Chief Executive Officer, The Yield Lab Institute
brandon@theyieldlab.com