This project aims to improve the performance of Camanchaca salmon farm, keeping in consideration variables such as salmon production capacities, demand and price.
In an international open innovation process, the salmon company, Camanchaca selected Chilean startup Altum Lab to be in charge of optimizing its harvest program. This program will involve advanced data analytics that take into consideration a series of variables such as salmon production capacities, demand and price.
The startup, founded by Madelaine Valderrama and Ismael Valenzuela, has been progressing rapidly. They developed Bruna AI - a web platform that uses mathematical models to optimize mixtures of non-homogeneous raw materials (such as fishmeal) and combine them with other variables, like production plant conditions.
Valderrama, a civil engineer from Universidad de Chile and the CEO of AltumLab, says that in order to implement Bruna AI at Camanchaca, it will have to develop complementary algorithms to measure specific variables that are unique to the salmon industry. This will allow it to better predict outcomes and recommend steps that the company should take.
"Bruna predicts how raw material will behave. In Camanchaca’s case, first, it will predict the weight [of the salmon] harvested from the water. Then, the planning module, which is based on variables such as demand, will give a recommendation on how to optimize the production plant like which lines to occupy, when to harvest, to which contracts to assign the harvest, among others,” Valderrama commented.
Currently, Altum Lab has operations in both Chile and Peru. In Chile, it works with CMP Acero, Camanchaca, and is “in talks with Multiexport Foods,” while in Peru, some of its clients include Caña Brava and Palmawasi.
Last December, it closed an investment totaling US$ 400,000 with Dev Labs and three Mexican investment funds. These resources will be used to finance Altum Lab’s arrival to Mexico next August as well as to open of an office in Mérida, which is considered to be Mexico’s new technological hub.
Valderrama said that in 2020 it grew three times compared to 2019. This year, he plans to multiply the turnover by six. “So far this year, we’ve already grown 300%,” he said.
The CEO commented that at the end of the year it will open its third investment round to hopefully arrive in Canada and the United States in 2022. It is also looking to join markets in Asia in the future such as Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
To learn more about startups and investment opportunities in Chile, check out the following article.
Source: Diario Financiero