EPIC startup teams: Food.net and COWnet

At the beginning of October, Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) of the American University of Armenia (AUA) welcomed its 3rd batch of venture startup teams to the EPIC business incubator.

During the course of the program, 9 teams participate in a 12-week ideas-stage incubation training to shape their ventures, validate their business concepts, and build the business model, benefiting from the advantages of AUA ecosystem.

Itel.am introduces teams of EPIC Fall 2018 Batch. In the third part and final part of the series we will talk about Food.net and COWnet startups, which aim to provide innovation in livestock management and food waste recovery.

Food.net is aimed at solving the major issue of food wastage in Armenia and the Caucasus region.

According to startup founders, they wanted to create a platform for catering companies, restaurants, and other vendors to sell their surplus food at a reduced price to potential customers.

photo © EPIC

Before joining the third batch of EPIC startup incubator, Food.net team members were accepted into Impact Hub Fellowship and Repat Armenia Startup Incubator programs, and participated in the Sevan Startup Summit, Abovyan Startup Boomerang, and Startup Boost Weekend.

COWnet develops a monitoring device for livestock industry, which will track cows’ body temperature, heart rate, oxygen level in blood, calorie level, and other variables.

photo © EPIC

According to startup founder Sargis Keveyan, one out of ten cows dies because of health problems that are not diagnosed on time.

COWnet will help farmers expose the cows’ health problems as soon as the symptoms appear. Sargis Keveyan developed this idea after opening his innovation center in Gavar, Armenia. He spent time with farmers throughout the region and noticed the need for innovation in Armenia’s livestock and agriculture industry.

The COWnet team finished third in the Startup Boost Weekend competition and is currently planning to test a prototype. Additionally, they were among the winners of EU4Business Science and Technology Entrepreneurship (EU4Business STEP2) grant competition held in November.