Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, hosted its third annual pitch event, which aims to position the company as the strategic partner of choice for the most promising innovators working toward a better food system. Twelve companies pitched their supply chain-related innovations to a group of Tyson Foods senior leaders and team members as part of Tyson Demo Day 2024.

Tyson Demo Day encouraged innovators and entrepreneurs worldwide to apply with breakthrough solutions that can help Tyson Foods foster more sustainable practices, enhance transparency, create new efficiencies and ensure high standards of quality across the protein supply chain.

“Transformational solutions come from all over, and to see so much strategic potential in one place was inspiring,” said Heidi Solomon, vice president of global strategy for Tyson Foods. “When protein supply chains become more efficient, we can all do more to feed the world like family and fulfill our corporate mission. The global reach and scale of Tyson Foods can help these companies apply their groundbreaking solutions to make a difference.”

Each year, Tyson Demo Day centers on a critical industry segment. For 2024, Tyson Ventures sought out innovative startups that have the potential to revolutionize the supply chain. The participating companies, which represent seven U.S. states, Canada and the United Kingdom, pitched their business solutions at Tyson Foods world headquarters on July 17, 2024. Their solutions targeted supply chain challenges from many different angles using technologies that include software, artificial intelligence, cold chain management, recyclable materials, freezing technology, monitoring, cloud platforms and fleet management.

The Tyson Foods panel represented a broad cross-functional group of team members in roles that directly engage with the company’s supply chain. They selected five Demo Day startups to engage in continued conversations within the business, paving the way for further high-impact opportunities:

• Acoustic Extra Freezing (Paradigm Labs) manufactures freezing equipment that uses acoustic waves to create nano-sized ice crystals, preserving food's quality, taste and texture.
• JLE Truckwash provides premium fleet-cleaning solutions that are customized for distribution centers and trucking terminals.
• Orderful is a modern EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) platform that allows retailers to integrate once and start trading with partners in nine days or less, making EDI efficient, cost-effective and scalable.
• Pactum AI is a SaaS negotiation solution that enables Enterprise Cos. to optimize value by automating supplier negotiations through AI-driven processes.
• SnoFox is a software platform focused on optimizing system performance, maintenance activities and energy usage for industrial refrigeration.

Twelve companies in total participated in Tyson Demo Day 2024:

• Acoustic Extra Freezing
• Arvist
• Dexory
• JLE Truckwash
• LAMAR IoT Corp.
• Lucid Corp
• Ndustrial
• Orderful
• Pactum AI
• SnoFox
• Tag-N-Trac
• Top Hat Engineering

Since its inception in 2016, Tyson Ventures has invested more than $100 million in emerging proteins, new technologies for food and worker safety and improved food production.

Source: Tyson Foods Inc.