On the last day of VERGE 20, five startups that won lightning-round pitch sessions during the Food, Carbon, Circular, Energy and Transport conference competed for the vote of the viewers. The overall winner addressed a unique blend of environmental and social concerns.
这是这两轮方法的第一年，整个星期整周举行了特定于市场的会议，最终在最后的边缘加速。主持人不到三分钟就向观众提出了令人信服的论点，即他们的公司和创新今年应该赢得胜利。
The overall winner,change:WATER labs, presented by Diana Yousef, founder and CEO, did just that, after winning the Circular pitch session. Yousef’s pitch began with the stark statistic that half of the world’s population lives without access to a safe, clean toilet, given lack of sewage infrastructure in their area. The common solution thus far has been offline portable toilets, which Yousef claims is an $18 billion-year investment, given the frequency of maintenance.
更改：水实验室的Ithrone创造通过消除厕所内部的废物并将其变成纯水，从而减少了废物物流。Yousef说，这是通过一种蒸发原始污水蒸发而无需任何能源的膜完成的，可以提供功能性，安全的厕所而无需使用电源或管道。
尤塞夫（Yousef）谈到了乌干达伊斯罗尼斯（Ithrones）的第一次部署：“目前，我们的第一个伊斯罗尼斯（Ithrones）正在为人口提供服务，并为他们提供安全可持续的卫生设施。收获的蒸气将为当地医院提供纯净的水，干尿液盐将施肥当地的农业。”
An added benefit, Yousef noted, is that iThrone "makes sanitation much more accessible because it's five times cheaper than comparable toilets. It cuts collection costs in half, and makes collections 20 times more scalable, demonstrating pent-up demand for this type of solution."
This cost-effective and efficient innovation has earned change:WATER labs funding from the Turkish government, the United Nations Development Program and other private-sector contractors, as well as recognition fromBloomberg,每日野兽和the Boston Globe.
An international soil carbon offset marketplace
VERGE Accelerate runner-upConserWaterTechnologies, represented by CEO Aadith Moorthy, won the Carbon Pitch session earlier in the week. Moorthy’s compelling narrative began with ConserWater’s impetus five years ago: "I was traveling to a small village in South India, and I saw a funeral procession. That year, a farming family had committed suicide because the monsoon rains had failed. And that got me thinking: Why do farmers have a struggle like this? This is the face of climate change that brought me to conserve water, where we use [artificial intelligence] to help farmers to mitigate climate change at scale."
ConserWater’s software analyzes satellite data and images to help predict actionable insights about the farmland, such as soil moisture, nutrients and carbon levels, without using sensors or hardware. "We’re able to help the farmers grow more with less by optimizing their resource usage and verifiably increasing their soil carbon sequestering," Moorthy said.
The company already has global operations, and Moorthy claims ConserWater is running the world’s largest international soil carbon market, with credits associated with millions of acres of farmland that can be purchased by companies, governments or individuals for offsetting emission. According to ConserWater, farmers can make up to $40 or more per acre through the marketplace.
Industry experts break with audience choice
DBL Partners的执行合伙人Nancy Pfund和Campious Ventures的高级合伙人Meera Clark，两位行业专家提供了有关Verge Accelerate Pitches的反馈的行业专家，他为Food Pitch Session赢得了Eggxyt的票数。克拉克（Clark）为自己的选择有理由，鉴于业务的潜力，并且像Pfund一样，将其视为具有市场吸引力。
EggXYt uses CRISPR, the gene-editing tool, to detect the genes of chicken eggs through the shell. Co-founder and CEO Yehuda Elram said the technology helps mitigate the billions of dollars that go into incubation and hatching of eggs, only to kill over 4 billion male chicks annually that are not viable for the market. EggXYt is developing what Elram calls "the ultrasound for eggs," which allows for sex detection of chick embryos immediately after the eggs are laid and before the eggs enter the 21-day incubation process. The non-incubated male eggs can be sent to market.
The other two presenters spoke about their company’s interface in the energy and electric grid.
由联合创始人兼首席执行官乔纳森·奈特（Jonathan Knight）代表的能源宣传会议冠军Upise Energy推销了Uprise的移动发电站。该公司创建了一种便携式可再生能源系统，该系统可以通过获得专利的10公里便携式风力涡轮机提供可靠的功率。奈特说，便携式涡轮机旨在适合标准的运输容器，只需要一个小时就可以由一个人设置。
Andrew Krulewitz, co-founder and CEO of Flux, winner of the Transport pitch session, spoke about his startup’s potential role in reducing the cost barrier to electric vehicle deployment. Flux’s model offers what is essentially a power purchase agreement for EVs that helps defray the capital expenditure, with plans starting at $99 per month and 10 cents per mile.
