A staggering amount of food is wasted. While we are often quick to point the finger at consumers or households, nearly half of all food waste occurs during production and distribution, caused by challenges in food preservation—a critical area where I-Challenge‘s technology aims to make a difference.

“We’re committed to addressing food waste at its source,” says CEO Wendy Ossieur. “By focusing on the production stage, including ingredients and intermediate products, I-Challenge aims to prevent food from being discarded before it even reaches consumers.”

“We’re committed to addressing food waste at its source. By focusing on the production stage, including ingredients and intermediate products, I-Challenge aims to prevent food from being discarded before it even reaches consumers.”

Wendy Ossieur, CEO I-Challenge

Bringing together the right expertise

The team’s testing solution and software package are built on decades of expertise built up at UGhent’s Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation, co-lead by one of I-Challenge’s founders: professor Frank Devlieghere.

“Frank is a leading scientist in the field of food preservation, predictive microbiology, and spoilage,” explains Katrien Begyn, co-founder and COO of I-Challenge, and former PhD student in Devliegehere’s team. “He originally came with the idea of bringing shelf-life testing kits to the market, and after I finished my PhD, I worked with him to turn our research results into a successful product and spinoff.”

The project was incubated within Ghent University for a few years, giving the team space and time to refine their ideas.

Devlieghere and Begyn realized they needed someone more business-savvy in their team to complement the academic expertise they brought to the table. At the same time, Wendy Ossieur was scouting the market for an entrepreneurial opportunity. With a background in bioengineering and extensive experience in both the food and pharmaceutical industries, she was a good match, and not only on paper. The team hit it off and in November 2023, the Devlieghere, Begyn and Ossieur officially founded I-Challenge.

Fast, reliable, and accessible

While the initial focus was on bringing test kits to the market, client feedback would soon steer them in a new direction. “We realized that simply offering lab tests wasn’t enough,” Ossieur recalls. “Clients needed a more dynamic solution that would enable them to quickly determine shelf-life” This insight led to the development of I-Challenge’s software platform, which offers faster and more efficient shelf-life assessments for food and ingredients.

“We saw an opportunity to move beyond testing kits and create something that could really impact the industry—software that could help companies optimize shelf-life in a much more efficient way,” says Begyn.

I-Challenge primarily focuses on helping food producers tackle shelf-life challenges. “Companies come to us when they have questions about how to determine and improve the shelf life of their products,” explains the team. “While we don’t work with frozen food, fresh vegetables, or fresh meat, we basically cover everything else.”

Software tools for shelf-life management already exist, but they often aren’t accessible to all players in the wider food industry. “The existing tools were designed by and for academic professionals,” says Begyn. “You need extensive background knowledge to even use them, let alone act on the results.”

I-Challenge’s mission is to change that by making their software accessible to anyone in the food industry—from quality control and process optimization teams to product developers. “We want to make sure that people without a PhD in spoilage mechanisms can still benefit from these tools and improve their processes.”

But the platform also stands out for its speed and versatility. “Our software allows clients to go and improve their recipes in terms of shelf-life—whether it’s adjusting pH levels or testing other parameters to see the effects,” says Ossieur. “It’s a faster and more effective solution than what’s currently available.”

Reaching out

Though initially focused on the Belgian market, the company’s reach is expanding rapidly. “We’ve been getting inquiries from all over Europe, so we definitely have international and even global ambitions,” says Ossieur.

But like many startups, I-Challenge faced growing pains. “We were looking for a partner to help us navigate these challenges,” explains Ossieur. After exploring several incubators, biotope stood out. “Our first phone call with Annick [Verween, head of biotope] radiated so much energy and understanding of what we were doing—we immediately knew we had to apply! Even if we wouldn’t make it beyond the basecamp, we knew we would learn a lot.”

The workshops provided at the basecamp were all insightful. “From the first minute to the last, we were fully engaged,” says Ossieur. “What stood out to me was the combination of learning from the workshops and then applying these insights immediately. Often, we would need a sounding board, and the biotope team was there to ask the right questions, helping us sharpen our ideas much faster than we ever could on our own.”

For Begyn, the input from various venture capitalists was invaluable. “Hearing how VCs approach investments gave us a much broader perspective and helped us think bigger about our growth plans.”

Next steps

I-Challenge has ambitious plans for the future, and is counting on biotope’s support to get there. “Through biotope, we’re preparing for a new investment round and looking to expand our customer base,” says Ossieur. For a software company like I-Challenge, staying in close contact with customers is crucial for refining the product and ensuring market fit.

In the next two years, I-Challenge aims to become a well-established name across Europe. “We hope to be one of the major players in shelf-life optimization worldwide within the next five years.” Finding the right investment partners is key to reaching that goal, says Ossieur. “As a team, this is where we have the least experience, so we’re relying heavily on biotope for support in this area.”

“What’s crucial for us is not just getting funding, but getting it from the right people. The right partners add much more value than just money.”

Wendy Ossieur, CEO I-Challenge

But biotope’s assistance extends beyond funding. “They’ve already helped us with new clients and will undoubtedly continue to support us with legal matters, which is another area where we need guidance,” she adds. “Our team is also growing, and biotope’s connections have been instrumental in finding the right expertise.”

I-Challenge will also be able to tap into another innovative network, namely that of Ghent-based tech hub Wintercircus. “The timing for that application was perfect,” Ossieur explains. “Everything we learned at biotope, we’ve been able to apply for our pitch with Wintercircus.”

This new base offers untapped opportunities in biotech and software, providing fertile ground for innovation and collaboration. “There’s a lot of potential, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of it.”