SPRINGDALE, ARK. — Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, hosted its third annual pitch event at its headquarters in Springdale, Ark., on July 17. As part of the Tyson Demo Day 2024, 12 entrepreneurs pitched their supply-chain-related innovations to a group of Tyson Foods senior leaders and team members.

The 12 selected start-ups represented seven US states, Canada and the United Kingdom. They included Acoustic Extra Freezing, Arvist, Dexory, JLE Truckwash, LAMAR IoT Corporation, Lucid Corp., Ndustrial, Orderful, Pactum AI, SnoFox, Tag-N-Trac and Top Hat Engineering.

Each year Tyson Demo Day centers around a critical industry segment, with supply chains being the focus of 2024.

“Transformational solutions come from all over, and to see so much strategic potential in one place was inspiring,” said Heidi Solomon, vice president of global strategy for Tyson Foods. “When protein supply chains become more efficient, we can all do more to feed the world like family and fulfill our corporate mission. The global reach and scale of Tyson Foods can help these companies apply their groundbreaking solutions to make a difference.”

The companies presented solutions to Tyson that could foster more sustainable practices, enhance transparency, create new efficiencies and ensure the highest quality across the protein supply chain. Their solutions targeted supply chain challenges from many different angles using technologies like software, artificial intelligence, cold chain management, recyclable materials, freezing technology, monitoring, cloud platforms and fleet management.

The Tyson Foods panel chose five of the companies to engage in continued conversations within the business, including the following:

  • Acoustic Extra Freezing (Paradigm Labs) manufactures freezing equipment that uses acoustic waves to create nano-sized ice crystals, preserving food’s quality, taste and texture.
  • JLE Truckwash provides premium fleet cleaning solutions that are customized for distribution centers and trucking terminals.
  • Orderful is a modern EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) platform that allows retailers to integrate once and start trading with partners in nine days or less, making EDI efficient, cost-effective and scalable.
  • Pactum AI is a SaaS negotiation solution that enables Enterprise Companies to optimize value by automating supplier negotiations through AI-driven processes.
  • SnoFox is a software platform focused on optimizing system performance, maintenance activities, and energy usage for industrial refrigeration.

Since its inception in 2016, Tyson Ventures has invested more than $100 million in emerging proteins, new technologies for food and worker safety and improved food production.