Rabobank Announces Winners of the 2017 MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize

NEW YORK, June 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rabobank and MIT have announced that Cambridge Crops, Ecospray, and WISRAN have taken home the top honors at the second annual Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize, a student food and agribusiness plan. This competition is sponsored by Rabobank and supported by the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) and the MIT Food and Agriculture Club.

Rabobank North America Wholesale CEO Rajiv Singh explains, "While we continue to actively support people already engaged in food and ag entrepreneurial activity through initiatives such as FoodBytes! (pitch competition meets networking event) and Terra – the food and ag accelerator, we want to make sure that Rabobank's Banking for Food strategy of feeding more people around the world sustainably in the coming years reaches the campus level. That is where young minds will be inspired to think creatively about how to solve these important global challenges."

Specifically, increasing the availability of food, improving access to food, promoting balanced nutrition, and strengthening stability in markets and production chains are central to Banking for Food, and students participating in the Rabobank - MIT prize program are tackling these food and agribusiness issues in their own way.

On the evening of May 2^nd at MIT's campus, seven finalist startups and teams from MIT and other universities – including UC Davis, Stanford, Harvard and Tufts – pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win cash prizes and in-kind support valued at over $50,000.

A first-place cash prize of $12,000 went to Cambridge Crops, who are developing a silk-based coating that extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by up to 50 percent. Livio Valenti traveled to the Netherlands to pitch his concept at Rabobank's FoodBytes! at  F&A Next, a two-day innovation event at Wageningen Campus, and had this to say about the experience: "Thanks to the generous support from Rabobank, we were able to attend the F&A Next conference to present Cambridge Crops' edible food coating to a broad audience of investors and potential commercial partners, which will help take our innovation to the next level."  

Winning second place for $8,000 was Ecospray, who are developing a spray that helps farmers drastically cut pesticide usage, lowering costs and reducing pollution. The third-place $5,000 cash prize was awarded to WISRAN, who improve profits for farmers with software that analyzes, in real-time, the time, cost, and effectiveness of farming activities. WISRAN will present its innovative product in front of a 300+ audience of investors, innovators and food and agribusiness stakeholders at FoodBytes! NYC on June 15.

For more information on the Rabobank – MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize visit the MIT News page and MIT Food + Agriculture Club.  

About Rabobank
Rabobank Group is a global financial services leader providing wholesale and retail banking, leasing, and real estate services in more than 40 countries worldwide. Founded over a century ago, Rabobank today is one of the world's largest banks with over $750 billion in assets. In the Americas, Rabobank is a premier bank to the food, agribusiness and beverage industry, providing sector expertise, strategic counsel and tailored financial solutions to clients across the entire food value chain. We know that sustainability and innovation are critical in promoting a thriving food and ag industry that will feed growing global populations for years to come, which is a key focus our Banking for Food strategy. Additional information is available on Twitter: @RaboWholesale and LinkedIn: Rabobank North America Wholesale.

SOURCE Rabobank

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