TechCrunch is pleased to announce the winner of the TechCrunch Sessions: Climate virtual pitch-off — AELER. As a part of the prize, AELER gets free exhibition space at TechCrunch Disrupt, a spot in the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 and bragging rights. You can watch the pitches from last week at the end of this post.
Climate tech pitch-off companies
AELER aims to reimagine the logistics industry with insulated, connected shipping containers. The container is made of lightweight composite material, providing thermal insulation during transport. Presenting for AELER was David Baur — co-founder and CTO.
The UNIT ONE container is IOT connected, allowing clients to monitor and track everything from temperature, location, door open/close, etc. AELER owns the containers and licenses the units to clients. AELER manages all maintenance of the unit. According to Baur, the structure and connectivity allow for greater payloads, fewer shipments, decreased emissions and transparency around impact data. During his presentation, Baur hinted that the connected container is just the start — with additional products in the pipeline based on the data collected throughout the shipping lifecycle.
Two additional startups pitched on stage along AELER. Based out of Canada, Pulsenics provides monitoring for electrochemical systems. The hardware based solution also provides a data platform for clients to track and optimize performance. Nat4Bio, a biotech company, created an edible coating for fruits and vegetables that prevents produce from spoiling. The coating extends the life of the produce by preventing the impacts of bacteria and pathogens.
Each company had four minutes to pitch followed by a five-minute Q&A with our fantastic judges — Rajesh Swaminathan, partner at Khosla Ventures and Kamil Saeid, partner and Creation Lead at Defy.vc.