1871 Announces 2024 Summer Innovation Lab Cohort: FoodTech and Supply Chain Tracks

1871 is excited to announce the launch of our 2024 Summer Innovation Labs, featuring two cohort tracks with 52 companies in total: FoodTech Innovation Lab and Supply Chain Innovation Lab. These industry-focused labs bring together innovators from across the globe to address key challenges and drive transformation within their respective sectors. Both tracks offer a unique opportunity for startups to collaborate with corporate leaders, venture capitalists, and industry experts, fostering innovation and growth.

About the 2024 Summer Innovation Labs

The 2024 Summer Innovation Labs at 1871 are designed to accelerate the growth and impact of startups in the FoodTech and Supply Chain sectors. Over the course of four months, the selected cohort companies will engage in a series of tailored programs, workshops, and collaborative sessions aimed at addressing critical challenges and driving innovation within their respective industries.

These labs provide a unique opportunity for participants to connect with corporate leaders, venture capitalists, and industry experts, offering invaluable insights and mentorship. The structured programming is designed to foster collaboration, spark new ideas, and equip these startups with the tools they need to scale their innovations.

Public Engagement and Events
Throughout the program, a selection of Lab programming will be open to the public, offering a chance for industry professionals and enthusiasts to immerse themselves in FoodTech and Supply Chain discussions. These events will feature talks from industry experts and provide a platform for networking and knowledge exchange. Event details and RSVP information can be found here.

The Culmination: The 2024 Fall Innovation Summit
The Labs will culminate in the 2024 Fall Innovation Summit, where the cohort companies will showcase their groundbreaking solutions. This summit will feature a startup expo, pitch competitions for both tracks, and opportunities for attendees to engage directly with the innovators. Details about the summit, including how to attend, will be announced soon. Stay informed by subscribing to our updates.

For those interested in partnering with us or exploring sponsorship opportunities for the Innovation Summit, please connect with our team.

Foodtech Innovation Lab Cohort

Supported by Levy, World Business Chicago, Ex3 Labs, and Lab EIR Nate Cooper, Founder & Managing Partner of Barrel Ventures.

This cohort of 18 is dedicated to pre-seed, seed, early, growth, and late stage startups innovating within the food technology space, focusing on sustainability, supply chain efficiency, and innovative food products. 

The companies in this cohort include:

Appetronix
Appetronix.com
Nipun Sharma, CEO
Appetronix is a fully autonomous robotic restaurant that combines advanced robotics, AI, and data science to create a seamless dining experience.

Arvist
arvist.ai
Nilay Parikh, Founder and CEO
Arvist leverages AI-powered digital twins to optimize industrial operations, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

Attribute Analytics
attributeanalytics.com
Beth Kimmerle, Founder and CEO
Attribute Analytics is revolutionizing the food industry by providing deep insights into product attributes, helping companies improve quality and customer satisfaction.

Bluicity
blui.city
Dianne Myers, CEO
Bluicity specializes in providing supply chain visibility solutions that leverage IoT and blockchain technology for enhanced transparency and efficiency.

bellie 
www.drinkbellie.com
Catalina Castaneda, Co-Founder 
bellie is a prebiotic drink that uses a new super-ingredient to rebuild the microbiome, providing consumers with a tasty way to improve their gut health.

Curuba Tech
http://curuba.tech
Paula Aponte, Co-Founder and CEO
CurubaTech bridges the knowledge gap with data driven farming by connecting farmers with experts via simple and accessible platforms, allowing them to organize and digitalize the agricultural sector. we generate food traceability, improve yields and generate a social impact, making the agricultural sector fair. We are the platform that connects the agrifood chain form the seed to the supermarket aisle.

Earnest Agriculture
growearnest.com
Eddy Mejia, CEO
Earnest Agriculture creates advanced probiotic solutions for sustainable agriculture, focusing on enhancing soil health and crop productivity.

Matriark Foods
matriarkfoods.com
Anna Hammond, CEO
Matriark Foods upcycles vegetable byproducts and farm surplus into delicious, healthy ingredients and products for food service, retail, and emergency food.

Nakinoku
nakinoku.com
Tonny and Merly Thomas, Co-Founders
Through their platform, Nakinoku facilitates manufacturing of sample sized CPG food products. This allows small food brands to scale sustainably.

Nucicer
Nucicer.com/
Kathryn Cook, CEO and Co-Founder
NuCicer is revolutionizing the plant-protein industry and enabling a sustainable, nutritious future through chickpea protein. Our customized chickpea protein comes from new high-protein chickpea varieties we develop with targeted functional, nutritional, and agronomic properties.

Organic Harvest Digital
Organicharvestdigital.org
Oluwaseyi Olaleye, Founder and CEO
Organic Harvest Digital’s mission is to empower communities and nourish our planet. Our focus is on leveraging climate action and tech innovation to transform the food system, starting with the establishment of hyperlocal grocery stores.

Pleease Foods
saypleese.com
Kobi Regev, Co-Founder and CEO
Pleease® is what happens when New Yorkers ditch dairy. They make plant-based cheese that melts perfectly on pizza and in other delicious dishes.

Pureture
pureture.com
Anna Cheung, Co-Founder and CEO
Pureture creates plant-based, sustainable food packaging solutions designed to reduce waste and environmental impact.

Qilo
http://qilowatt.com
Dave Brost, Co-Founder and CEO
Qilo leverages AMI data to help utilities select the best energy solutions for their grid and pinpoint households with the greatest potential value and probability of solution adoption.

Relocalize
https://relocalize.com
Benjamin Chalier, Head of Growth
Relocalize revolutionizes the food supply chain with advanced micro-factories that produce, package, and palletize food directly at distribution centers, eliminating middle-mile logistics and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

ShrimpIQ
https://www.getshrimpiq.com
Mrutyunjay A, Founder
ShrimpIQ uses advanced image recognition to swiftly identify imperfections—irregular sizes, discolorations, shapes, and foreign substances—eliminating manual inspections and errors. 

Tomato Bliss
tomatobliss.com
Monique Hypes, CEO and Co-Founder
Tomato Bliss is a biodiverse food company that fights climate change by growing and upcycling heirloom and specialty tomatoes to create nutrient-dense soups and sauces.

 

Supply Chain Innovation Lab Cohort

Built with Accenture. Supported by Microsoft, GS1, World Business Chicago, and Ex3 Labs.

This cohort of 34 focuses on seed, early stage, and growth companies pushing the boundaries in supply chain management, logistics, and related technologies.

 The following are the companies leading the charge:

14bis Supply Tracking
14bis.aero
Eleanor Mitch, CEO and Co-Founder
14bis is a secure data-sharing platform for complex, multi-tiered industrial supply chains, focusing on last-mile logistics. It enhances security and simplifies complexity by offering AI-driven insights, patented access and identity management, and resilience to reduce downtime. This adaptable solution integrates with existing systems, resulting in greater control, enhanced security, and reduced operating expenses for customers.

AutoMetrics
autometrics.ca
Mike Mohseni, CEO
AutoMetrics empowers manufacturers across industries with its comprehensive suite for intelligent process monitoring, giving both automated and human workers real-time feedback during fabrication, preventing defects, avoiding downtime for inspecting finished goods, and enabling full traceability for rapid response and troubleshooting.

Axya Inc.
axya.co/en/
Félix Belisle-Dockrill, CEO & Co-Founder
Axya increases the productivity of procurement teams by allowing them to focus on strategic and value-added activities. Manufacturers now have an optimized and data-driven approach for supplier relationship management, agreement negotiation, risk mitigation, and cost reduction. Axya automates low-value tasks and provides real-time insights and alerts to increase visibility on the supply chain and improve decisions.

Babelus
babelus.com
Luis Juarez, CEO
Babelus is a leading supplier data provider focused on suppliers’ offerings and technical competencies portfolio.

Calculum Inc.
calculum.ai
Eric Zager, Sales A&E
Calculum Inc. is an AI-powered Supply Chain Analytics Platform that facilitates companies to unlock Working Capital and generate billions in Free Cash Flow.

CodeData, Inc.
Makoro.ai
Sam Sur, CEO
CodeData’s mission is to use the power of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to augment the workforce and optimize operations to increase profitability and drive sustainability. The company’s vision is to innovate for a world of smart operations, making operations competitive, creating value, and making a difference.

Custom Product Engine Software
laudividni.com
Laura Kofoid, CEO
The Custom Product Engine Software (CPES) is a woman-led SaaS company that enables consumer-oriented manufacturers and brands to efficiently leverage on-demand manufacturing to meet the increasingly individual preferences of customers of the future.

EAIGLE US Inc.
eaigle.com
Amir Hoss, CEO
EAIGLE is an end-to-end AI vision platform that enables logistics, retail, CPG, and manufacturing enterprises to operate a fully unmanned/automated gate and yard by leveraging their existing security cameras in logistics facilities.

Eyana Tech Corp (EaseworkAI)
easeworkai.com
Shiv Shankar, CEO
EaseworkAI offers a unified AI-native intelligence and automation suite designed to enhance procurement and supply chain functions, streamlining workflows and providing holistic insights.

Findings
findings.co
Kobi Freedman, CEO
Findings is a supply chain compliance automation platform, enabling to digitize, automate, and scale visibility, verification and risk mitigation for the entire regulated or sensitive supply chain.

G2RL
g2rl.com
Julie Massey, VP, Marketing & Sales
Powered by proprietary technology, G2RL minimizes costs by constantly analyzing and optimizing returns in real-time, ensuring the most cost-effective decisions across the entire returns ecosystem.

Granularity
granularity.ca
Tali Remennik, CEO
Granularity detects product trends for merchandisers and marketers using an AI-powered platform that identifies growing categories, products, and brands through social media and search indicators.

InStockRx
instockrx.com
Jeremy Froehner, CTO
InStockRx is revolutionizing pharmacy supply chains by aggregating, centralizing, and identifying surplus medications for redistribution, reducing medication waste and addressing drug shortages.

iPurvey
ipurvey.com
Abdul Isiaq, CEO
iPurvey streamlines air or rail travel and freight disruptions through an AI-driven solution, ensuring traveler well-being, sustainability, and reliability for both travelers and businesses.

KNNX Corp.
knnx.com
Pete Gowanlock, EVP – Supply Chain Solutions
KNNX Corp’s purpose is to provide Trusted & Automated Supply Chains…with Payments as simple as using your credit card….Today.

Logistify AI, Inc.
logistify.ai
Daniel Emaasit, Co-Founder & CEO
Logistify AI is the AI Assistant for Logistics and Supply Chain Managers, integrating into ERP systems to automate workflows that are manual, time-consuming, and repetitive.

Looks For Lease Inc.
looksforlease.com
Nyleve Henry, CEO / COO
Looks For Lease provides a scalable carbon-neutral Infrastructure for Rental Operations, offering solutions for managing and optimizing dynamic supply-chains within a rental infrastructure.

Mammoth
mammothcpg.com
Julia Cohen, CEO
Mammoth is an AI-powered supply chain copilot for CPG businesses, helping high-growth consumer companies get the most accurate picture of their supply chain and streamline decision-making.

Map-Collective Inc
map-collective.com
Tara Gupta, CEO
Map Collective provides a software solution for corporate and government sustainability and supply chain teams to automate transparency, sustainability metrics tracking, and procurement decisions using AI.

Mely.ai Solutions Inc.
mely.ai
Edward Ko, CEO
Mely.ai automates document processing for transportation and logistics, saving companies 80% of operating costs and improving productivity by 50% with its AI-powered solution.

Nutrād
nutrad.io
Scott Essington, Senior Vice President – Operations
Nutrād provides AI-enabled smart supply chain technology that links brands, distributors, and retailers, replacing labor-intensive tasks and creating frictionless commercial trade at scale.

OrdrSmart
ordrsmart.com
Prarthana Gupta, CEO
OrdrSmart streamlines product sampling and catalog operations, enabling manufacturers to reduce costs, manual errors, and increase revenue through an optimized platform.

Parakeet Financial
parakeetfinancial.com
Jowanza Joseph, Founder/CEO
Parakeet is a Risk and Regulatory Compliance automation platform for Industrial Companies, providing innovative solutions in manufacturing, oil & gas, and renewable energy sectors.

PartRunner
partrunner.com
Yosh Rozen, CEO
PartRunner is a logistics marketplace focused on the “big & bulky” sector, connecting companies to independent truckers for last-mile, middle-mile, and first-mile services.

Partsimony
partsimony.com
Rich Mokuolu, Co-founder & CEO
Partsimony brings harmony to parts and manufacturing supply chains, offering solutions for industries like automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, defense, and robotics.

Peelon
peelon.co
Taraka Ramji Moturu, CEO
Peelon revolutionizes the fresh produce supply chain with plant-based packaging solutions that extend shelf life, reduce waste, and eliminate the need for ice during transportation.

Qila.io
qila.io
Sid Ugrankar, Founder & CEO
Qila.io provides infrastructure on-demand service for enterprises to build, run, and manage dedicated Blockchain networks, simplifying blockchain network setup and management.

Resin
raisewithresin.com
Kelly Koskelin, CEO and Co-Founder
Resin builds modular, automated recycling stations to increase access to recycling in underserved areas, enabling community groups to fundraise by recycling.

SC Tech
sctech.io
Jeff Beyle, CEO
SC Tech offers a hardware-agnostic software system that makes advanced technologies like AI and sensors accessible to small and mid-size companies.

Statwig
statwig.com
Sid Chakravarthy, Founder & CEO
Statwig revolutionizes supply chain management with its platform Farview, using AI, IoT, and Blockchain to provide real-time tracking and end-to-end traceability.

Stroma

stroma.io
Anil Uzengi, Co-Founder & CEO
Stroma enhances safety and efficiency in manufacturing with AI-powered rugged edge processing devices and advanced computer vision models.

TradeSee
tsalemetals.com
Cezar Tondini, CEO & Founder
TradeSee simplifies the global metals market by providing commercial advantages for international traders and assisting in all stages of buying and selling metals.

Xorosoft
xorosoft.com
Yadwinder Singh, CEO
Xorosoft is a premier provider of cloud-based ERP solutions designed to streamline operations for wholesale, retail, and e-commerce businesses. Headquartered in Canada, Xorosoft prides itself on leveraging advanced technology to enhance business efficiency and drive growth. With a focus on integrating various aspects of business operations into a single platform, Xorosoft helps companies of all sizes achieve better visibility and control over their processes.

Zagitas
zagitas.com
Carlos Secada, Co-Founder & CEO
Zagitas leads in AI-driven workflow automation, enhancing supply chain and financial operations for mid-sized enterprises across North and Latin America.

About 1871

1871, a nonprofit global innovation hub, exists to inspire, equip, and support early-stage, growth-stage, late-stage, and corporate innovators in building extraordinary businesses. 1871 is home to ~500 early-stage startups, ~250 growth and late-stage companies, and ~60 corporates, and is supported by an entire community focused on accelerating their growth and creating jobs in the Chicagoland area. The member experience includes virtual and in-person access to workshops, events, mentorship, and more. The nonprofit organization has 350 mentors available to its members, alongside access to more than 200 partner corporations, universities, education programs, accelerators, venture funds, and others. Since its inception in 2012, more than 1,050+ alum companies are still active, have created over 14,700 jobs, and have raised more than $3.7 billion in follow-on capital