NUMA STARTUP WINDOW - FOOD TECH:

“Everything in food is science. The only subjective part is when you eat it” - Alton Brown.

NUMA gives startups from specific sectors to pitch their ideas in front of an expert jury. Every month, it focusses on different sectors. This month, Food Tech startups got a chance to pitch at the event.

The food tech industry in India is poised for an exponential growth. Startups are exploring various ways to connect with the restaurants or directly with the consumers. Three startups pitched at the NUMA startup window on the 28th of September, 2017. The audience voted for each of the presenters using the solution provided by Crowd Product’s platform. The three presenters were:

• Receptio: Receptio offers full restaurant management solution, aiming to bring down operational costs and maximize profits. It aims to integrate its platform with the restaurant’s own, enabling customers to book seats as well as order food using its solution. It analyzes the data of repeating customers of the restaurants and finds out their spending patterns. It also offers marketing, branding and social media solution for the restaurants. Receptio is incubated at NUMA, Bangalore.
• FlyBird: FlyBird Innovations aims to solve key problems of the agricultural sector using Internet of Things connected sensors. It aims to save water, improvise the livelihood of farmers through the use of technology and to ensure optimum agricultural yield in agricultural sectors. Boasting of a team that has diverse experience in this sector, FlyBird has come up with its own signature product called Siri - Smart Irrigation Controller, which is an all -in-one solution for farmers.

• Total Organiacs: The organic food sector is a niche place, with lots of major players already in the market. Total Organiacs aims to redefine this sector by selling organic, straight from farm food, at a cost that is 30% lower than the market standards for organic foods. It currently has tied up with farmers for growing organic foods, and manufactures, markets and sell the food.

The audience at the pitch event voted Receptio as the best presenter among the three. Even the jury agreed that the market potential for them is huge. FlyBird also won the applause of the jury members for their innovative products. The jury members questioned the sustainability of Total Organiacs, as there are already major players in the market targeting that sector.

After the pitches, a panel discussion followed. The jury members discussed about the possibilities and opportunities for the food tech space.

By Shibangsh Chowdhury