FII Institute invests in green tech for sustainable food security

The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute today announced investments in two innovative tech solutions designed to drive sustainability in agriculture and fishing. The announcements were made at the 6th edition of the FII event, which convenes this year under the theme ‘Investing in Humanity: Enabling a New Global Order’.

The FII Institute will invest GBP 500,000 in Dogtooth Technologies, a UK-based tech start-up that develops and sells autonomous fruit picking robots, helping to reduce crop wasteage and cut CO2 emissions arising from fruit production. 

Dogtooth Technologies was created as a result of work carried out in the Computer Vision & Robotics group at Cambridge University Engineering Department, which is led by Professor Roberto Cipolla. The Company is pioneering the commercial exploitation of autonomous robots in unstructured, outdoor environments, using state of the art machine learning and computer vision technology to achieve near-human visual acuity and dexterity. This investment by the FII Institute will enable Dogtooth, which currently has 70 strawberry picking robots in use in Europe and Australia, to expand into new global markets and develop a new generation of robots, capable of higher speed and of picking different crops. The innovation will help to tackle global greenhouse gas emissions of which an estimated 24% come from the agriculture sector.

Co-Founder and CEO of Dogtooth Technologies, Dr Duncan Robertson, said: “We are delighted to form this strategic partnership with the FII Institute. We know they have a deep commitment to sustainability and that robotics is a priority theme for them. This investment hits all the right notes and will be transformative for our company.”

The FII Institute is also investing USD 500,000 in Seafood Souq, featured in the United Nations Ocean Decade Special edition. Seafood Souq is a technology company offering a vertically integrated digital solution for global seafood trade, traceability and financing in support of the Blue transformation. The company’s product suite includes an open and transparent marketplace for seafood trade, a blue financing solution empowering sustainable fishing practices in emerging markets as well as a supply chain traceability tool to enable responsible seafood sourcing. 

Seafood Souq Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, Fahim Al Qasimi, said: “The fishing industry faces significant global economic and environmental challenges due to illicit and unreported trading, with wastage across supply chains estimated as high as 40%. This strategic partnership with the FII Institute represents a huge advance in the fight for a more sustainable future for us all.”

Richard Attias, CEO of the FII Institute, added: “Our work at the FII Institute focuses on creating a better and more sustainable future for all of humanity. That is exactly why we are investing in these two innovative solutions created by start-ups that help solve important problems in the fields of agriculture and fishing. These investments support key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to climate change, global hunger, and economic growth. These investments are made through the FII Institute’s ACT pillar, which aims to invest in sustainable solutions across our four focus areas – AI & Robotics, Education, Healthcare and Sustainability.”

Earlier this year, the FII Institute announced a EURO 500,000 investment in Timbeter, a leading green tech company specialising in timber measurement and the lumber supply chain. The investment helps to increase supply chain transparency, sustainability and certification, thereby creating better management of forests while suppressing illegal logging.