ICT solutions to current challenges across multiple industries
Heidelberg, Germany
Established in 2013
inova-de.eu
Teaser of the company
Inova aims to solve issues of provenance, transparency, traceability and trust present in both agri-food and in logistics. IoT platforms for digitalization of agriculture production are readily available, as is transport data (routes and temperatures) related to food goods stored by logistic companies. The PlugThings platform will assist in the data integration and provide an added-value with printable reports of food traceability; from production to end-consumer delivery.
Inova’s proposed solution will facilitate checking the conditions in which the fruits, vegetables and animal products are produced and supply this data as an Ethereum ledger. By implementing the right APIs to leverage the authorized access to that data, the interested parties (such as producers, import customs, distributors, traders, buyers and regulators) can gain an unprecedented level of transparency that enables an effective traceability. The IoT data is kept verifiable safe and un-compromised, fostering trust in the value chain.
Inova DE has developed the following blockchain-based prototype in the scope of BlockStart:
PlugThings ))
Inova DE has developed an IoT platform for Industry 4.0, which has capacities for traceability for cross industries. One of the verticals it now applies this technology to is in agroofood. With IoT sensors from production, logistics, processing and delivery of food products, it can seamlessly generate traceability reports for different product lots. The Blockchain implementation facilitates the data exchange between Inova DE’s platform and third-party platforms, as well as the secure and trusted access to lot data across the company’s users.
Technical development during Prototype stage
Inova DE has implemented the smart contracts from its platform and validated the secure exchange of data between users. Now it is possible to generate reports from its own production and aggregate data from past producers.
Business development during Prototype stage
The company increased the knowledge about the competition and different approaches towards solving traceability. This helped them structure their go-to-market approach. For one, the presentation of Inova DE’s platform in the different verticals is fundamental, as well as structuring public information about it. As it does not target a Platform-as-a-Service approach, but rather Traceability-as-a-Service, the company needs to change its approach before boarding the marketing efforts.
Inova DE met several potential adopters during this process and understood better their concerns and pain points: Usability is a key point.
It had no meetings with investors yet.
Meet the Team
The process was exciting, from pitching the concept to develop the solution we were engaged from beginning to the end. The expert considerations really helped to put focus on our strengths and to compensate for our weaknesses
Total funding received by Inova DE GmbH under BlockStart: €16,000 (€1,000 for Ideation Kick-off and €15,000 for Prototype stage)