Meet Three EPIC Startup Teams: Smart Green, Vactube, and Agourmet!

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Innovation in Smart Greenhouses, Next-Generation Fruit Drying, and Augmented Reality Restaurant Ordering

Earlier this Spring, the Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) of the American University of Armenia (AUA) welcomed the 4th batch of venture startup teams to the EPIC business incubator. During the course of the program, the teams will participate in a 12-week intensive idea-stage incubation training to shape their ventures, validate their business concepts, and build their business models. Having full access to AUA’s resources, the teams will participate in workshops, receive advising, and be mentored by seasoned entrepreneurs, AUA faculty and alumni.

EPIC proudly introduces three of the nine startups that were accepted into the program this spring: Smart Green, Vactube and Agourmet. These ventures are designed to offer innovative solutions in agriculture, food processing, and food service.

Reaching out to AUA’s Network of Supporters and Friends

EPIC is reaching out to the AUA network of contacts seeking support for these ventures. If you have experience in any of these industries or have contacts in similar platforms that connect customers and vendors, you may be the right person to help us out. If you know of any potential partners or collaborators, EPIC would welcome hearing from you. EPIC strives to support, connect, and advance its startup ventures. Please contact EPIC at [email protected].

Please read the brief profiles of each startup presented below:

Smart Green is a greenhouse automation system for small- and medium-sized greenhouses. Smart Green is designed to help farmers maximize revenue, economize resources, and protect yields through the Internet of Things (IoT) smart technology. It will perform automated greenhouse systems management based on data from wireless sensors placed throughout the greenhouse. The system will allow users to monitor the environment of the greenhouse and receive notifications in case of emergencies.

Vactube is a glass tube solar vacuum fruit dryer that reduces the length of the fruit drying period by 3-5 times compared to existing greenhouse-type solar dryers. Using Vactube results in high-quality, attractive dried fruits that are free of added sugar, sulphur, or other additives.

Agourmet is an augmented-reality application which acts as a primary or secondary menu for food-related businesses. It helps restaurants provide customers with a three-dimensional visualization of their dishes. Agourmet streamlines the process of ordering restaurant food, making it more accurate, entertaining, and reliable.

For more information about these teams or EPIC, please visit epic.aua.am or write to [email protected].

The Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) is a platform for promoting entrepreneurial education, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and startup venture incubation. EPIC provides an ecosystem for the American University of Armenia’s (AUA) emerging entrepreneurs consisting of first-class facilities and collaborative workspace, programs and events, and a network of mentors, advisors and investors. EPIC fosters the understanding and application of entrepreneurship with students and faculty at AUA to craft high-impact multidisciplinary ventures.