Amsterdam-based Merqato, a data and market intelligence company, announced on Tuesday that it has received a €350,000 convertible loan from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland.
Thomas Beelaerts, co-founder of Merqato, says, “We will use the investment from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland to further develop our ‘forecasting tool’ together with pilot partners. In this way we will contribute to better valorisation in the fresh produce market, which is still often a big challenge.”
Merqato: Predicting fruit and vegetable price and volumes
Founded in 2023 by Claire Bénard, Jan-Willem Snoeker and Thomas Beelaerts, Merqato is on a mission to optimise the value chain of fresh fruits and vegetables by developing predictive algorithms.
The company does this through the fusion of various data points, including corporate data and external data such as weather, energy prices and trade data.
Machine learning models can then turn the enriched data into an accurate forecast.
The output of the model is a recommended selling price and volumes for various fruits and vegetables.
The platform will provide insight into historical trends and forecasts, which will better align supply and demand.
Jan-Willem Snoeker, co-founder of Merqato, says, “We are proud of the confidence shown by Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland and pleased with the shared vision to work together to make the fruit and vegetable sector more effective and sustainable with data.”
This will allow users to make data-based decisions in a cost-effective manner, which will also lead to less loss of value of produce.
The Dutch company claims to have developed a predictive price model for 30 different fresh products in the Spanish market that predicts 80 per cent better than the market benchmark.
However, this price model will be tested in the Netherlands through pilots with partners.
The company helps these customers by generating a reliable and long-term prediction of supply and demand.
In doing so, users gain insight into both volume and price.
In addition, forecasts for the expected volume of supply and demand mean better supply chain alignment, leading to lower operational costs and less waste.
Claire Bénard, co-founder Merqato, says, “The innovation fund sends a signal about the importance of data and the value that can be extracted from data. Thanks to the algorithms, cooperatives and wholesalers can reduce their operational costs and create more value.”
The investor
The Innovation Fund North Holland is an initiative of the Province of North Holland, the University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, and Sanquin.
The Fund supports entrepreneurs in the province of North Holland in financing innovation in the Proof-of-Concept phase by providing convertible loans.
The Innovation Fund North Holland manages two funds – a fund for innovative startups supported by the RVO, and a fund for academic startups supported by ERDF.
Wouter Keij, fund manager at Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland, says, “Merqato is developing an innovative price-volume tool for market participants in the fruit and vegetable sector. A particular plus point of Merqato’s tool is that by better matching supply and demand, there will be less food waste.”
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/amsterdams-merqato-secures-350k/
