After the egg comes the avocado: With fresh capital, the deep-tech start-up Orbem now wants to make its non-invasive analysis technology usable for the quality assessment of food. Orbem has developed an AI-powered system based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that allows a look inside biological materials without cutting them open. In this way, the young company is able to scale its technology and expand it to other markets.
The technology is already established in the poultry industry. The “Genus Focus” system can detect the gender of embryos in the egg in less than a second. Over 170 million eggs have been scanned so far. Now the company is going one step further. The “genus scale” is intended to determine the fertilization status of eggs before incubation. Non-fertilized eggs do not block breeding capacity and can instead be sent to the food industry.
Most recently, Orbem was able to raise €55.5 million in a financing round from investors such as Innovation Industries, Supernova Invest, General Catalyst, 83North, The Venture Collective and Possible Ventures. According to company information, the capital will be used to prepare for market entry in the USA and to further develop solutions for the poultry industry.
In addition, the technology is to be expanded to new markets such as fruit and vegetables in order to detect internal defects or the degree of ripeness of avocados, watermelons or mangos at an early stage. This is intended to help producers sort their goods precisely, ensure consistent quality and reduce food waste before products reach consumers.
CEO Dr. Pedro Gómez sees great potential beyond previous applications: “We are the first and so far only company in the world to have demonstrated the use of MRI in less than a second and without human intervention. We have shown the poultry industry what is possible when you can see inside an egg. And that is just the beginning.” With the new funding, Orbem can help food producers make better decisions based on data.
