Germany: Final five announced for DLG Impulse Pitches

The five nominees for the final round of the DLG Impulse Pitches have been determined. The nominees from four countries now have the opportunity to present their practice-driven innovations to an audience at the 'Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food Show' as part of EuroTier 2024 in Hanover, Germany. The nominees are Alganize GmbH (Germany); Blue Planet Ecosystems GmbH (Austria); FreezeM (Israel); PUR GmbH (Germany); and VerticalGreen (Spain).

The winners will be determined in the final round on 14 November at the trade fair grounds in Hanover. The pitching session will take place from 11.15 a.m. to 1.05 p.m. on the Expert Stage Inhouse Farming in hall 24 (stand C29) followed by the award ceremony from 2.30 to 3.15 p.m.

The international applications for the 'DLG Impulse Pitches' were received from the areas of alternative protein sources, algae, insects, vertical farming, aquaponics, and aquaculture. An expert jury determined the five nominees based on stringent selection criteria. As diverse as the nominated products, concepts and technologies are in their approach, they all have one thing in common: they have the potential to shake up and evolve the production and value chain of indoor farming as well as alternative feed and food production. The practical maturity and relevance of their concepts were also crucial to the pioneers' nomination.

The jury
The international jury consists of seven jurors whose experience ranges from research, teaching, industry, and farming. It is chaired by Christopher Nigischer, consider it GmbH (Germany). The deputy chairperson is Prof. Katharina Riehn, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany). The other jury members are Jasmin Dold, BayWa Venture GmbH, New Protein Solutions at BayWa AG (Germany), Adrian Feiler, Bundesverband Aquakultur e.V. (Germany), Prof. Tilo Hühn, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland), Dr Stefan Pecoroni, GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH (Germany) and Tom Zöllner, FarmTech Society (Belgium).

Final round on 14 November 2024
As part of the final round in Hanover, the nominees will put forth their innovations in the form of short presentations ('impulse pitches'). During these, each participant has the opportunity to convince the expert committee of their innovative product/concept in a ten-minute presentation and a subsequent five-minute panel discussion. The live impulse pitches will take place before an expert audience on 14 November in Hanover. The one nominee that can convince the expert jury, will be presented with the 'DLG Impulse Pitches Winner 2024' award there and then. Besides the depth of innovation and possible practical relevance, the aspects of cost-effectiveness and improvement of the environmental and/or energy situation will be particularly relevant for the presentation of an award.

Inhouse-Farming – Feed & Food Show
The Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food Show is the new DLG (German Agricultural Society) platform for the agricultural and food systems of the future. Closely networked with hands-on farming, it offers professional information, perspectives, innovations and business – from feed to food. It will be taking place from 12 to 15 November 2024 at the trade fair grounds in Hanover as part of EuroTier, the world's leading trade fair for professional animal farming and livestock management.