Last summer they were one of seven startups featured in the Office of Technology Licensing’s Celebration of Innovation. This year, Comm-n-Sense, founded by UF Engineering Innovation Institute student Adam Kinsey (BSEE ’12), is doing business with a new name, and has secured a new round of funding.
“Verigo,” which the company website defines as “truth in transit,” has a business model that aims to improve supply chain transparency and accountability, so that when perishable food reaches the consumer, it’s as fresh as possible. They do this with a low cost system of wireless sensor tags and communication software that can be utilized by any smartphone.
The Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research just came on board with Verigo’s wireless tracking and monitoring technology and has offered to match private funding for the startup company, up to $300,000. Verigo has already secured as much from angel investors.
Verigo’s management team includes electrical, computer, agricultural and biological engineers from UF College of Engineering. Several of them were students in the UF Engineering Innovation Institute, which helps engineering students develop the entrepreneurial skills they need to take innovative ideas to market. The startup’s recent success is a perfect example of what the EII strives to accomplish.
Verigo is located in the UF Innovation Hub and their business relies on research from UF Center for Food Distribution and Retailing.
Food Security, Safety & Distribution Systems was recently defined as a strategic research area in UF’s preeminence plan.
Read more about Verigo in the Gainesville Sun and in the North Central Florida Business Report.