October 12, 2023

by Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

German deep-tech company Orbem has closed on a EUR 30 million Series A led by venture investor 83North to advance the company’s AI-driven MRI technology. The round also included new investor La Famiglia and existing investors The Venture Collective, Possible Ventures, Dr. Rüdiger Schmidt, along with an impressive roster of prominent German entrepreneurs. 

Founded in 2019 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich, Orbem combines the powers of rapid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with advanced deep learning resulting in the ability to scan a vast array of biological samples from foods like eggs and nuts, to plants, timber, construction material, and the human body. 

The company explained that its platform handles the roles traditionally performed by technicians and radiologists, eliminating the need for human intervention in the MRI imaging, making the process faster and several hundreds more times more cost effective. 

“Our mission is to unleash AI-powered imaging for everything and everyone,” said Dr. Pedro Gómez, co-founder and CEO, Orbem. “We believe this is the best way to carry out our core purpose of shedding light on the world’s toughest challenges.”

“With 30 million EUR in funding, we will have the utmost flexibility to realize our vision of deploying AI-powered imaging to sustainably address global food security, accelerate the transition to a green economy, and transform disease detection.”

When considering agriculture, Orbem stated that its non-invasive technology will lead to the development of more climate-resilient and resource-efficient crops and enhance food security, while its ability to scan biodegradable materials such as timber will better ensure structural integrity.

“The era of digitization, groundbreaking technological innovation, and the AI revolution present a golden opportunity for companies to solve real-world challenges and establish solid independent businesses,” said Gil Goren, general partner, 83North.

This fundraising follows upon the company’s successful launch of its revolutionary product Orbem Genus Focus for in-ovo sexing, a service that gives hatcheries the ability to sex an egg through an entirely contactless and non-invasive process at a rate of one egg per second. 

Whether organic, free-range, or cage-free, the process remains the same. Since male chicks don’t lay eggs, and do not quickly grow like hens do, making it economically unsound to attempt to fatten them, each year up to 7 billion day-old male chicks are identified and manually sorted directly after hatching to be culled by shredding machines, or suffocated by nitrogen or argon gas. 

Pressure to eliminate culling in the industry has been mounting for years on multiple fronts – from consumers, activists, retailers, regulators, NGOs, and even the producers themselves.

More than five years ago, United Egg Producers, a U.S.-based co-op that accounts for more than 90 percent of all commercial eggs in the country, pledged to eliminate the practice of chick culling by 2020, or at the time that an “economically feasible” technology was commercially available to enable the move. But the hurdle was scale – with more than 100 billion eggs being produced every year in the U.S. alone, such technology able to keep pace was not even close to a reality.

Likewise, countries have begun making the practice illegal. Germany has outlawed chick culling since January 2022, making it one of the first in Europe to do so. France, Austria, Luxembourg, and Italy have also since enacted national bans. 

Now, Orbem’s solution addresses the need for a scalable, cost-effective, and efficient technology that enables the elimination of the fraught industry practice while complying with the latest regulatory requirements laid out by Germany and France.

Having already scanned 21 million eggs, Orbem stated it has achieved profitability – a benchmark that is convincing leading poultry producers to adopt its platform. 

“Orbem has harnessed AI to industrialize MRI technology, unlocking the potential to revolutionize food production, expedite the transition toward a sustainable economy, and enhance disease detection,” said Goren. “It is a great pleasure joining this amazing crew on a journey to a better world.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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