Tech in the SouthAKOLogic: “We felt that everything stopped for us in the first weeks”
Tech in the South
AKOLogic: “We felt that everything stopped for us in the first weeks”
The Sderot-based company has joined CTech to share how it has remained resilient in the days following 7/10
“Unfortunately, we have clients who were killed and kidnapped, or some of them left the area near the border,” explained AKOLogic Co-Founder Ron Shani. “Our employees who live close to the border left the area, the company's offices in Sderot were closed, and mothers of small children who work for us could not work because their husbands left for the reserves.”
Shani has joined CTech for its new series, Tech in the South, set to explore how companies that operate near the Gaza border have adjusted to new times following the massacre committed by Hamas. The company, which tracks fresh products in a variety of food safety standards, initially moved to the region citing Zionism as a primary reason, and uses the soil in the area as a tool to help improve its product.
You can learn about the company and its journey since 7/10 below:
Company Name: AKOLogic
Location: Sderot
Sector: Climatech, Agrotech
Founder Bio: Ron Shani
Year of Founding: 2019
Total Investment (to date): $2.7m
Investors: Kibbutz Bror Ha'il & Ron Shani
Number of Employees: 6
Open Positions: 3
Website and Socials: www.akologic.info
Product/Service Description:
AKOLogic is a food intelligence solution that tracks fresh "farm-to-fork" products in a variety of food safety standards.
To save the planet, farmers must promote sustainability, improve food quality, food waste must be reduced (over 35% of the fresh produce is wasted), and reduce carbon emissions (25% of pollution by carbon emissions comes from agriculture). The AKOLogic platform has proven to greatly improve food quality, prevent waste along the value chain and reduce carbon emissions.
- We were selected by the world's leading regulatory organization GLOBAL.G.A.P. as a real-time agricultural control system.
- In 2021, AKOLogic was chosen as one of the top 5 brands for redefining agribusiness through big data, according to Brand Redefining the Future of Agribusiness.
- In its sustainability initiative to reduce carbon emissions from agriculture, Microsoft chose the AKOLogic platform as a key tool.
Our goal is to fully automate the implementation and collection of data from the field. Using Microsoft's assistance, make AKOLogic a global standard for agricultural sustainability, which improves efficiency, reduces waste, increases quality, and reduces carbon emissions.
Why is your company located in the south? Please describe your decision and its advantages.
Zionism - a decision to operate in settlements near Gaza, as part of the investors' ideology.
How did the events of October 7 impact operations?
Unfortunately, we have clients who were killed and kidnapped, or some of them left the area near the border.
Our employees who live close to the border left the area, the company's offices in Sderot were closed, and mothers of small children who work for us could not work because their husbands left for the reserves.
Customers along the border had difficulty operating our systems, we felt that everything stopped for us in the first weeks.
How was the idea born?
The idea came from an experience the founder had in the past in banking, to develop a cloud-based platform for agriculture that would be able to collect different information from many sources, most of it automatically, into a "uniform digital language", it doesn't matter where you are in the world, the farmer will be able to continue working in his language according to the parameters he is familiar with (Hectare, Acre, dunam, gallon, liter, etc...) the system will translate everything into a uniform language for the end user.
What is the need for the product?
The most difficult problem in agriculture is collecting reliable information from farmers.
In agriculture, for example, each country approves pesticides and fertilizers with local names in different doses.
It is very difficult to produce a uniform digital language, and a clean and uniform database (without garbage).
We automatically establish agricultural big data that can be used to develop various applications.
Does the product exist already? If not - at what stage is it and when is it expected to hit the market?
The product is already sold on the market in several applications.
Who are the main competitors in this sector and how big are they?
Most of the competitors in our market are very small, digital agriculture is a "niche" that has been developing in recent years. We see the five companies chosen by Global Gap, the leading regulatory organization in the world, as direct competitors.
What needs to be done to promote the tech and innovation sector in this region of Israel?
It's hard to recruit workers in this area and invest, "it's not as flashy as Tel Aviv".
It is necessary to combine philanthropy with business. To give incentives for international marketing and contact professionals who are experts in international marketing.
‘Tech in the South’ is a new CTech series highlighting Israeli startups who are located in the Gaza Envelope (within 7km from the border) following the Hamas Massacre on 7/10. Companies from the region are invited to complete this form to share their insights and experiences for CTech and its audience.
