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FoodTrack by Maersk, an intensive month-long programme for early-stage start-ups battling the annual US$ 1 trillion food waste problem, will partner with "Rockstart - one of Europe's first multi-vertical start-up accelerators. " Maersk can boast of being the biggest supply vessel (and container vessel) operator in the world since the year of 1996. On the other hand, a Rockstart Accelerator is a well-known intensive start-up program that provides sufficient aid to an entrepreneur to accentuate his/her respective company’s performance to the global market in an unbelievable time period of 6 months. Maersk and Rockstart have signed a deal to boost the FoodTrack initiative by Maersk. The FoodTrack is essentially a month-long intensive program that allows a start-up company (still in its early stage) to plan and handle the annual food waste problem, which has become a global issue of serious concern. Being a global end-to-end operator concerning the food value cycle, Maersk will shoulder the responsibility of collaborating with some very modern, innovative entrepreneurs! Since 2014, Rockstart has been dealing with significant societal themes and knows how to incorporate that experience into the new start-ups, along with the necessary expertise from Maersk. Back in 2011, Rockstart was founded in Amsterdam and is proud to be one of the successful multi-vertical start-up accelerators in Europe. Rockstart specialises in constructing ecosystems regarding domains like Smart Energy, Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence. What is FoodTrack? The FoodTrack program is a positive initiative funded by two global giants, Maersk and Rockstart , with one common goal – to eliminate excessive loss of food in our planet. Unfortunately, it has been estimated that almost one-third of the food production (meant for consumption by human beings) around the world, is tragically lost or wasted before it even reaches the destination or the food stores. Indeed, this global issue needs our utmost attention without any more delay, else soon we will be facing a widespread food crisis! The FoodTrack aims to bring together early-stage start-ups from different corners of the world to join in the constant battle against food wastage. According to the latest updates regarding this project, the applications for the first part of the program was open between April 17 th and May 20 th of this year. Only ten start-ups will be chosen for this project that will take place in Copenhagen during June 6 th -July 6th. The last day of the program will be a Demo Day, as declared by the parent companies. The ten start-ups will receive a great amount of support and cooperation from the numerous serial entrepreneurs, domain experts and well-qualified mentors from the Maersk- Rockstart joint venture. There will be three rounds of the program spread over the years 2018 and 2019, which will feature 10 start-ups in each round. Moreover, one chosen start-up will be deemed suitable for the Rockstart Fast Track award that will catapult it directly to the final stage of one accelerator program organised by Rockstart . The Intensive Course – From Harvest to Distribution: The Maersk-Rockstart business initiative will choose 10 start-up companies for each of the 3 rounds, which will take the help of advanced technology and various business models to decrease the food wastage in the initial stages of the food value chain. With the backup of an unmatched proficiency of Maersk in this field, Rockstart will explore the probable solutions of interest such as logistics, sensing IoT and data monitoring, storage/packaging solutions, farm systems, supply chain technologies, stock management systems etc. The Director of AgriFood Program at Rockstart , Mark Durno, is of the opinion that the team of experts associated with the organisation will try their level best to tackle the raging problem of food loss, which includes providing the start-ups with proper access to community, capital, market and expertise available in the industry. After receiving a series of continuous tutoring sessions from the mentors at the Maersk office in Copenhagen, the selected start-ups will benefit greatly from participating in the FoodTrack program. The program team will conduct workshops to encourage team development, problem validation, pitching and competitive strategy among the members of the start-up companies. Peter Votkjaer Jorgensen, the Venture Partner – Growth at Maersk, ensures that Maersk will offer its top-notch infrastructure and operational knowledge to the start-ups to promote new business. The best part is that after the FoodTrack program ends, the start-ups might get an unbelievable opportunity to receive follow-on funding from Maersk, or even be lucky enough to be chosen for a partnership!