Winner of DLG Impulse Pitch show announced

Alganize GmbH from Berlin, Germany, won the DLG Impulse Pitches 2024. Last week on 14 November, the start-up was able to prevail against four other pioneers in the final round of live pitches. The short presentations took place at the "Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food Show" as part of the EuroTier and Energy Decentral 2024 trade fairs for livestock and renewable energy in Hanover, Germany.

Alganize convinced the jury with the Alganize microbiome, which is designed to significantly improve soil health on a microalgae basis. In addition to the depth of innovation and practical relevance, the aspects of economic efficiency and improvement of the environmental and energy situation were also decisive for the win.

This year, international applications for the "DLG Impulse Pitches" came from the fields of alternative protein sources, algae, insects, vertical farming, aquaponics, and aquaculture. A jury of experts used strict selection criteria to determine five nominees, who had the chance to convince the jury of their innovations in a ten-minute presentation in Hanover.

Alganize won with a new technology that uses microalgae to produce valuable metabolites that can help the agricultural industry significantly reduce its use of conventional fertilizers and pesticides. The fertility of soils should be maintained or restored on degraded soils. As different as the nominated products, concepts, and technologies were in their approach, they all shared the potential for new and further development of the production and value chain of indoor farming as well as alternative feed and food production.

The jury
The international jury consisted of seven professionals from research, education, industry, and practice chaired by Christopher Nigischer, considered GmbH (Germany). The deputy chairperson is Prof Katharina Riehn, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany). Other jury members are Jasmin Dold, represented by Aleix Bruns Pérez, BayWa Venture GmbH, New Protein Solutions at BayWa AG (Germany), Adrian Feiler, German Aquaculture Association (Germany); Prof Tilo Hühn, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland) as well as Dr. Stefan Pecoroni, GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH (Germany) and Tom Zöllner, FarmTech Society (Belgium).

Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food
The "Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food Show" is the DLG's (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft - German Agricultural Society) B2B platform for the agricultural and food systems of the future. Closely networked with agricultural practice, it offers technical information, perspectives, innovations, and business - from feed to food. It is part of EuroTier in Hanover. In the future, it will take place in alternate years with the "Inhouse Farming – Feed & Food Convention", a trade conference with a foyer exhibition. It offers experts from the agriculture and food industry, as well as from research and science, a platform for innovation, intensive professional exchange, discussions, and networking. The international business conference will celebrate its premiere in Hamburg on 29 and 30 April 2025.