Milan Expogate presents 5 new sustainable startups
Alimenta2Talent 2014 winners open a new era for Biotechnologies and Agriculture
Expo 2015 - the international exposition to be held in Milan in May 2015, launched the competition Alimenta2Talent for business ideas focused on sustainable agriculture and waste reduction.
Cristina Tajani - Milan council assessor for employment, economic development, university and research, recently stated that more than 100 projects answered the call and this tells us how the food sector is a concrete opportunity for Italian youth to research and innovate the old "environmental-UNfriendly" practices.
The main themes of the winning initiatives concern acquaponic, farming systems, aerogel, packed lunch for celiac and food intolerant people and wastes awareness raising.
Alimenta is offering the successful competitors a dedicated and supportive plan for the next 6 months, named Alimenta Accelerating Program. It includes 1.500 ? per month, an advisor who will counsel them in every single step, a group of mentors to lead the "newbies" in the creation of the company and co-working spaces.
Alimenta2Talent 2014 received applications from all over Italy with a remarkable female proportion. A technical commission made up of experts in several fields assessed the ideas, selecting 5 winners. In particular, they are Agricoltura 2.0 from Frosinone, whose project focuses on the creation of mini-ecosystems where plants use water deriving from fish tanks and solar energy. Nano Analysis and Materials that works with eco-aerogels and sustainable insulation materials; MyFoody active in food waste reduction through an online platform where companies can sell products close to the expiry date, defective or in excess; Outdoors Safe Food in the field on food intolerances and allergy prepares pre-cooked meals for people affected by these pathologies. Finally, Quomi is an online platform where people can choose a specific dish to make and every week - according to the chosen recipe - they have all the ingredients home delivered in the exact quantities to avoid dissipations.
To sum up, all the projects have somehow contributed to improve human relationship with nature, in order to benefit from it without destroy it. And this is a challenging goal for the years to come.
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