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Story 20 September 2021
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Stories: It's all about data - 4 Big Data EIC Startup Success Stories

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Mariana Marques

The collection and analysis of data is currently supporting the management of very important information, boosting time response and work efficiency in several different activities and markets. In this article, you can get to know the success stories of 4 EIC-funded startups that are using big data concepts to promote innovation in the pharmaceutical, agriculture, food and real estate markets. 

 

Genome Biologics: Big data improving research in the pharmaceutical industry

Recent scientific and technological advances are changing the way we define and target diseases. Genome Biologics provides an innovative integrated platform, with a disruptive effect on the time, cost and risk of drug discovery and pre-clinical trial development. The company, headquartered in Germany, combines two tools, GENISYST and GENIMAPS, to deliver their cutting-edge results. 

On one hand, GENISYST facilitates the delivery of cheaper, more rapidly developed, drugs, with a greater target to market success rate. On the other hand, GENIMAPS combines big data, AI and a unique multi-omics approach to provide precision medicine and a rapid evaluation of an existing pipeline, increasing the return on public and private investment. With their work, Genome Biologics ultimately aims to reduce the cost, time, and ethical burden of preclinical research in the pharmaceutical industry.

We sat down with two representatives of Genome Biologics, Jaya Krishnan, Co-Founder, and Jonathan Ward, CEO, that talked to us about the company’s goals and next steps. Jaya mentioned that their “objective is to get medicines to the patients quicker and to ensure that they reach the patients safely and efficiently”. Jonathan also explained that “at the moment, we are looking for investors, raising a series A financing to boost our growth and pursue the development of cardiovascular drugs that can serve unmet needs in a much quicker way than what is being currently done in the market”.

 

3Bee: Data management to support busy bees’ living

Bees pollinate more than 80% of all the food we eat and are vital to sustaining Earth’s ecosystem. Nowadays, beekeepers face several difficulties, namely increased mortality due to climate change altering the photosynthetic cycles of the blooms; high consumption of resources to visit the apiary frequently; and difficulty in obtaining adequate remuneration for their products. That’s why the Agri-Tech startup 3Bee started to develop innovative solutions to improve the health of the bees and their management.

Besides their technology, which supports beekeepers to optimise hive management and improve the sustainability of their businesses, 3Bee has developed the “Adopt a Hive” programme, which allows beekeepers to sell their honey at a fair price through our online platform. 

According to Federico Faugno, CFO of 3Bee, the idea to start their activity “came from an analysis of the daily needs of Riccardo Balzaretti (company Founder and CTO), who has been a beekeeper since he was a child”, and their objective was, and still is, to create “products and services to help solve these difficulties for Riccardo and thousands of other beekeepers”. Federico continued to add that “after reaching 2% of Italian beekeepers, we are expanding into 3 related countries: France, Germany and Spain. The aim is to improve the sustainability of beekeeping in Europe, ensuring economic benefits for beekeepers and positive eco-systemic impact”.

 

Clarifruit: Digitally assessing fresh products conditions

Quality control of fresh products is essential in this market, however, the processes used are very outdated. Clarifruit has developed a next-generation quality control SaaS platform that automates the data collection process through a mobile app, making it objective and consistent across the entire supply chain. This innovation will ultimately contribute to a world standard for fresh produce evaluation.

The application uses advanced technology to precisely indicate the status of the products. Data is then collected into a cloud-based database that generates real-time info and actionable insights that allow customers to make data-driven decisions, thus avoiding rejections and maximising their revenue opportunities.

We had the opportunity of talking with Elad Mardix, CEO of Clarifruit, who told us that the company aims to “continue deepening our technology capabilities and further automate the entire QC processes for all fresh produce categories” and “expand our global presence in the EU & USA to better serve our target customers”.

 

GEOWOX: Digitisation speeding up house buying processes

The current process to perform a residential property valuation is inaccurate, slow and costly. To solve this problem, automation is key, since big data and accredited surveyors can help put order in the data-driven residential property valuations. Geowox has developed an innovative technological platform that can speed up the process by providing property valuations in real-time. 

The Irish startup’s technology is useful for mortgage providers and home buyers, improving the customer experience and speeding up the entire lending and home buying journey. As Stefano Francavilla, CEO and Co-founder of Geowox explained to us “the current property valuation process takes 10 days. It’s still slow, manual, and error-prone. We do it in 1 hour by combining the expertise of a valuer  with a data-driven approach”.

Stefano also talked with us about the potential of the market: “We envision a future where the full mortgage journey is digital and the approval takes just a few days. In this future, our innovation is a key advantage”. Regarding the future of the company, he added that Geowox aims “to consolidate our presence in Ireland and expand into 2 additional European markets in the coming 12 months”.

 

DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.

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