INESC TEC spin-off acknowledged as one of Europe’s most promising while securing a further €1.78M

The Innovation Radar Prize has just recognised the 12 most promising spin-offs in Europe; Seedsight – established in INESC TEC – made the ranking in the Smart Hardware and Robotics category. This comes in the same month that the INESC TEC spin-off successfully concluded an investment round worth €1.78M, including €1M in public funding, marking yet another important milestone in the company’s growth.

The 11^th edition of the Innovation Radar Prize took place on 10 November in Lisbon. The event aims to highlight research and innovation projects with high potential and impact. The 12 finalists were selected from among hundreds of EU-funded projects, and each had the opportunity to present their innovative and distinctive solutions.

There were three categories: Climate, Energy and Mobility; AI and Digital Intelligence; and Smart Hardware and Robotics – the category in which Seedsight was included. It is worth recalling that the company made possible, for the first time in the world, the analysis of seeds and grains in under one-minute, maximising food availability as a result.

Also in November, Seedsight successfully completed an investment round of almost €2 million. The capital raised will support further commercial and operational development of the company’s technology, designed for the agro-food industry.

According to Joana Paiva, one of the founders, “Seedsight aims to create a universal digital language for cereal biology, making information on origin, quality and productivity accessible to the entire industry and not just experts.”

It is also important to remind our readers that the success of this INESC TEC spin-off is not new: in 2024, among several recognitions received, it made the worldwide top 11 published by Nature magazine and won the Altice International Innovation Award.

According to Daniel Vasconcelos, co-manager of INESC TEC’s Entrepreneurship and Spin-offs Office and a long-standing mentor to Seedsight, “Seedsight has charted a very promising path, and this recognition from the Innovation Radar Prize confirms the potential impact this spin-off may have in the near future – in an area so critical to the well-being of many people around the world.”