Saudi Uvera Selected among Finalists for Global FoodTech Challenge

Saudi startup Uvera has been selected as one of the 12 finalists for the second edition of the global FoodTech Challenge, which is organized by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Tamkeen, with ASPIRE as the lead partner.

The 12 finalists moved forward to the final stage of the competition where four winning startups will be selected for the pooled prize of up to $2 million from an initial submission of 667 applications across 79 countries.

The final 12 startups represent markets across the UAE, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, the UK and the US.

Five of the 12 finalists focus on food production. This will include fog-based technology that delivers more nutritious crops with 95% less water, using food waste to create all-natural insect products to support food production and optimizing soil quality for maximum watering efficiency.

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One of the 12 finalists, Uvera, is a Saudi Arabian startup that created an IoT device for extending food shelf life within 30 seconds, coupled with an AI-powered app for maintaining food inventory and predicting food spoilage.

Asrar Damdam, the founder of Uvera, said: Uvera’s products are designed to reduce food loss and waste at both the household and retailer levels. Within 30 seconds of using this device, fresh fruits and vegetables can increase their shelf life by up to 97% on average.

"Since Uvera is a technology startup that needs to conduct a lot of biological testing on food products the tenancy, according to Damdam, helped them during prototyping and R&D. This positioned them well to enter the market at this point."

Moreover, Uvera received grants worth $160,000 from the Taqadam accelerator, MIT Enterprise Forum, and stc InspireU accelerator, as well as venture capital funding from the Kingdom.

The selected startups have been enrolled in a six-week mentoring program with key local stakeholders in the UAE as part of the finalist phase, so they can gain insight into the country’s agricultural ecosystem and maximize their chances of integrating and establishing.

Previous winners of the FoodTech Challenge, competition partners, and key players in the agritech ecosystem will provide mentorship.

This will include the MoCCAE, ASPIRE, track partners Silal, ADQ, and Emirates Foundation, as well as enablement partners Abu Dhabi Global Market, Competitiveness Office Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Residents Office, Hub71, Khalifa Fund, Ma’an, and Catalyst.

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