Nordic Foodtech

Roberto Flore is the Manager of DTU FoodLab, part of the Danish Technical University's incubator/maker space DTU Sky Lab. Roberto is the former Head of R&D at Noma's Nordic Food Lab. In 2017, Rolling Stone Magazine cited Roberto as one of 25 innovators who are changing the world. In this episode, we discuss how DTU Foodlab is sparking radical innovation by using food to build bridges between disciplines and address the grand global challenges. We also talk about how students & entrepreneurs can get involved and access the lab. 

Keenan Pinto is the founder and CEO of Nordetect, which enables farmers to test their own soil samples for Nitrogren Phosphorous, and Potassium and then see the results in real time. This not only enables smarter farming practices, but also prevents over-fertilizing. With a diverse scientific and international background, Keenan shares his advice, lessons learned, and smart cuts for starting an Ag or FoodTech hardware / software company in the Nordics. We also discuss the pros and cons of building and scaling a company in Denmark and what's needed from the ecosystem to help companies grow. 

Claus Mortensen is the Site Manager for Agro Business Park and the Copenhagen Agrifood Incubator. His job is basically to help startups’ solve the barriers holding them back from scaling across the EU. That could be sourcing, production, distribution, funding, etc. With offices in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Viborg, Agro Business Park is a gateway to the Danish food scene and offers a ton of opportunities and resources. We touch open all of these as well as how he expects the Nordic FoodTech ecosystem to evolve. 

The FoodStack Community started as a meet up - the first one at Techfestival in 2017 - and quickly evolved into a powerful grassroots movement of food enthusiasts, makers, doers, biohackers, and entrepreneurs gathering together to develop new food solutions. Frederik Lean is one of the forces that got the group off the ground. In this episode, he tells the story of how FoodStack got started and why it’s been so important for the Nordic FoodTech ecosystem to gather centrally. We also discuss the application of open source principles to food and how co-ops are being revamped for vertical farming. For more information and episodes visit www.nordicfoodtech.io 

Peter Jorgensen is a Partner at Maersk Growth, the VC arm of Maersk Group. His focus is on investing in startups that address inefficiencies in existing supply chains, particularly to fight food waste. In this episode, we look at how Maersk is thinking about and investing in a future of food based on data, structure, and transparency. We also dive into the details of their investment thesis, how to best pitch them, and what kind of partnerships they are looking to build!