A Hungarian company is among the winners of a competition announced by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for new firms specializing in the development of green technologies for use in the agricultural sector and food production.

According to the London-based financial institution’s report issued on Tuesday, it has selected three winners from participants in the AgVenture 2024 competition, one of which is the Hungary-based company Proofminder.

As described by the EBRD, Proofminder operates as an easy-to-use, artificial intelligence-based platform that supports agricultural producers in achieving their production goals sustainably.

The company provides time-sensitive information to farmers by analysing ‘hyper-precision’ images taken by drones of each crop, even down to individual leaves. This leads to increased yields, reduced chemical usage, and prevents the erosion of biodiversity, according to the EBRD.

The other two winners of the competition are Green Growth from Latvia and Algebra Intelligence from Jordan.

The EBRD selected the winners based on several criteria, including the timeliness of the problem the companies’ solutions address. The bank also considered how distinct the companies’ products or services are from those already on the market, and the strategies they plan to use for market entry.

The EBRD is providing the winners of the AgVenture 2024 programme with tailored advisory support valued at up to 80,000 EUR. In addition, the winning companies will receive a 10,000 EUR grant to access further services, such as mentorship from crop cultivation experts or opportunities to present at global agri-tech forums.

The AgVenture programme supports early-stage businesses that are developing technologies aimed at making the agricultural and food sectors greener and more sustainable.

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