Clean Crop Technologies announced this week that it has raised $2.75 million in Seed funding for its crop loss prevention tool. The round was led by Prime Impact Fund with participation from Factor[e] Ventures, Innova Memphis, the Syndicate Fund and the Alchemy Fund.
Clean Crop Technologies actually seems pretty cool. Dubbed High Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma (HVACP), it basically zaps the air around food after harvest with electricity to create ionized gases. According to the company website, these ionized gases:
- Remove up to 83% of toxins from grains & nuts without harming food quality in the process.
- Remove 99%+ of molds and pests.
- Extend shelf-life for perishable foods for up to 7 days.
After processing, the reactive gases revert back to ambient air, leaving no harmful residues on the food product.
Dan White, Co-Founder and CEO of Clean Crop Technologies told AgFunder that his company’s approach to crop loss is safer than chemical applications and more effective than on-farm genetic modification approaches.
Clean Crop is part of an emerging cohort of companies looking to reduce food waste. Apeel and Sufresca both make coatings for produce to extend their shelf lives. StixFresh does the same by using a sticker. And TeleSense uses sensors and IoT services to monitor the storage conditions of grains.
Right now, Clean Crop Technologies is focusing on nuts and grains, and is the in process of building its proprietary ionized air generator. It will begin field tests in the US later this year and plans commercial deployments in 2021. The company said it will use its new funding to expand its technical and product development teams.
