GreenPod Labs Secures $50,000 Post-Harvest Loss Innovation Prize for Active Packaging Solution

GreenPod Labs Secures $50K Post-Harvest Loss Innovation Prize for Groundbreaking Active Packaging Solution

The prize was awarded to GreenPod Labs at an innovation gathering during New York Climate Week, dedicated to addressing critical challenges in the energy and agricultural sectors and the innovations that support the vital role of smallholder farmers.

Globally, one-third of food is lost or wasted, causing substantial economic losses and worsening greenhouse gas emissions. This is a particular challenge for smallholder farmers in emerging markets, who bear a disproportionate share of the burden. Yet, new breakthrough technologies designed to combat post-harvest losses hold promise for both boosting these farmers’ incomes and significantly reducing global food waste. The Post-Harvest Loss Innovation Prize, launched by Factor E Ventures and supported by Shell Foundation, FCDO, ISF Advisors, MicroSave Consulting (MSC), and AndMore Associates, aims to discover scalable and practical solutions to this critical issue.

The innovations were evaluated on their potential to effectively address post-harvest losses for smallholder farmers in emerging markets. To make a real impact, these solutions must be affordable, practical, and scalable.

GreenPod Wins with Ambient Technology

Greenpod lab’s technology, which leverages ambient active packaging, impressed the judging panel with its ability to activate the natural defenses of fruits and vegetables. This innovation extends shelf life at ambient temperatures, thus eliminating the need for costly cold storage and potentially revolutionizing the preservation of produce in resource-limited settings.

The competition’s runners-up presented a diverse array of solutions, each with its own unique approach:

• Zebra CropBank (Nigeria): A micro-warehousing platform for farmers to store, manage and monetise their produce.
• Natural Offset Farming ​​(Israel): An in-field cooling system that utilizes CO2 in its liquid state to produce cooling energy to extend the shelf life of fresh produce with a “cooling-as-a-service” model.
• Anatsor (Nigeria): A mobile, solar-powered cassava and yam processing machines.
• Ecoresin (Nigeria): A plant-based powder coating to extend the shelf-life of produce. 
• Bio Pel (Israel): Uses essential oils slow-release technology to develop powder coatings that extend the shelf-life of produce at ambient temperature.
• AgroSustain (Switzerland): An edible coatings to extend shelf life and reduce waste. 

In addition to the $50,000 prize, the GreenPod Labs will receive valuable post-investment support, including resources and recognition to accelerate their agritech journey, advance their innovation and impact.

“Serving Smallholder Farmers with clean energy raises incomes while cutting emissions. This is critical to Shell Foundation’s charitable mission. We are proud to partner with Factor E to identify radical innovations such as GreenPod Labs and excited to work with them to identify pathways to scale,” said Jonathan Berman, CEO at Shell Foundation.

“We’re thrilled to award the Post-Harvest Loss Innovation Prize to GreenPod Labs. Their innovative active packaging technology holds tremendous promise for tackling the global challenge of food waste” said Morgan Defoort, Managing Partner at Factor E. “We were deeply impressed by the calibre of all the finalists. The competition showcased a diverse range of solutions with the potential to significantly impact smallholder farmers in emerging and frontier markets.”

About Factor E

Factor E is an impact investment platform that identifies and invests in solutions to some of the world’s toughest climate and development problems. Working at the intersection of risk capital, technology, and emerging markets, Factor E accelerates the pace at which innovation positively impacts economies, environments, and communities.  

About Shell Foundation

Shell Foundation is, UK-registered charity that catalyses clean energy innovation and unlocks inclusive investments in Africa and Asia, empowering millions of underserved customers to increase their incomes while cutting emissions.

To achieve its charitable mission, Shell Foundation supports early-stage innovation and then partners with finance and corporate organisations to accelerate scale. It has had a co-funding partnership with the UK Government’s FDCDO since 2016, with specific workstreams on venture building, research, and agriculture. www.shellfoundation.org