Unilis Agtech join Inarix to develop a new quality grain measurement solution

With an innovation approach, based on images analysis and artificial intelligence (AI), Inarix re-think the quality measurement of grains.

Unilis Agtech, a joint venture between Unigrains and Arvalis created in early 2020 to support young innovative companies in the field of agrotechnology, has signed a financial and technical agreement with Inarix. The ambition is to provide the grain sectors with a new high-performance tool to better evaluate, and therefore enhance, the qualities of cereals.

 

Image credit: Bruce Guenter on Flickr
(CC BY 2.0)

Image analysis and AI for a rapid and multi-criteria evaluation of plant production
Inarix, founded in 2018 by Pierre Chapelle, develops PocketLab, a mobile application that transforms a smartphone into a pocket laboratory allowing a quick analysis of the quality of plant productions via a simple photograph. The company's core business is the development of artificial intelligence for biological analysis, freeing itself from time-consuming and often costly methods.

Since 2020, Inarix has been marketing a first module used to evaluate the degree of varietal purity of a batch of malting barley. In 2020, PocketLab has thus made it possible to analyse about 10 percent of French malting barley production for several agricultural cooperatives.

Many other modules are currently being developed: multi-species varietal characterisation, assessment of protein content, identification of mycotoxins, measurement of impurities, seed analysis, etc. They are developed in close partnership with the clients of the user sectors: malting, milling, starch production, seed industry... For several months now, the project has been extended to other agricultural sectors.

A financial and technical contribution to accompany the development of Inarix
The financial and technical agreement includes the strengthening of the company's equity capital and the provision of services, notably to perfect the Inarix algorithms based on Arvalis' cereal grain sample library, built up over a significant number of campaigns and representative of the diversity of French regions. Unilis Agtech will also mobilise its network of partners - and more widely the networks of Unigrains and Arvalis - to accompany Inarix in the deployment of its solution and projects.

Inarix is the first company to benefit from the support of Unilis Agtech, following its launch in early 2020. Endowed with 4 M€, Unilis Agtech's ambition is to accompany about ten startups in order to promote the optimisation and adoption of innovative solutions for the production of crops.

Alexandre Biau, Managing Director of Unilis Agtech says, "Access to this type of solution, which is quick and inexpensive, can help to rethink quality assessment strategies, with more systematic tests for more efficient production chains. Inarix has already demonstrated its ability to successfully launch a first product on the market and has many opportunities for development. We are pleased to start this collaboration with Pierre Chapelle and his team.'

Pierre Chapelle, Founder and President of Inarix comments, "With Unilis Agtech, we have found an expert partner committed to the innovation and optimisation of new solutions such as ours. Beyond the financial and technical support - essential for our young company - and the access to the Unigrains and Arvalis networks, we are very proud to receive this mark of confidence and support from the French cereal industry which supports the relevance of our mission and our development projects.'

Visit the Inarix website, HERE.

Visit the Unilis website, HERE.

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.