Ten startups advance to the final round of the second Agri-Aqua Innovation Challenge of the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) following the Top 20 product pitch presentations held on March 3, 2025.
The second Agri-Aqua Innovation Challenge is a project spearheaded by DOST-PCAARRD in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).
STUDENT STARTUP QUALIFIERS
- AVAMOS uSORB Innovators upcycles mussel shells as bio-circular absorbent for removing ammonia, phosphate, and carbon dioxide in waterforms.
- Axiom launched Aquasim, a mobile application that can mitigate fish shortage and propel aquaculture by providing assistance on aquaculture-related expenses and tutorials on a virtual aquatic environment simulator.
- BioCoat-Z utilizes Zeolite and microbes to maximize water retention and protect cacao from insect damage, sunburn, and heat stress.
- Mi-DNA provides biosecurity solutions by producing African Swine Flu (ASF) test kits, providing effective diagnostic measures for the swine industry.
- SENSITECH invented Fertilitech, a soil parameter tester that can be connected to a mobile application that measures the nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus levels in the soil for optimal crop production.
PROFESSIONAL STARTUP QUALIFIERS
- AGRITEKTURA innovates the SHIP (smart, sustainable, holistic, human-centered, integrated, and innovation platform) solution in creating portable aquaculture facilities for smart farm integration.
- AniTech launched CropNote, an online webapp platform for remotely monitoring farms. It provides various hardware for optimizing crop conditions.
- B4U: Coffee Blends For You offers customized coffee blends through services such as client consultation, coffee bean sourcing, and quality assurance, among others, that best suit their clients’ branding and packaging.
- CirPro Innovations processes locally-sourced calamansi and uses the peels to extract liquid pectin, which provides antioxidant properties as health benefits.
- Lesstics turns single-use plastics into valuable resources such as coco fiber boards, providing livelihood to farmers while preventing plastic pollution.
Witness their final business pitch on the Demo Day on April 30, 2025, at the Fuller Hall, Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Makati City. Find out who will be the next champions of the Agri-Aqua Innovation Challenge and will enjoy the prize of Php 400,000 for student teams and Php 1,000,000 for startups. To learn more about Agri-Aqua Innovation Challenge, visit agri-aqua.aim.edu.