Revolutionizing poultry farming one egg at a time: eggXYt

Chicken is perhaps the most widely consumed type of meat there is. Each year sees billions of chickens killed for their meat all across the globe. The poultry industry not only provides an excellent source of revenue for millions but also generates employment. However, it is not without its flaws, and big ones at that.

Of the two main types of chickens i.e. broiler and layer, the broilers are killed off for their meat whereas the layers are kept alive for the eggs they lay. Furthermore, all the billions of eggs laid each year by the layers are incubated to hatch chicks, out of which the females are kept alive and grown for their eggs, whereas the males are killed off, since they neither grow big enough for meat, nor lay eggs. This system of poultry farming has been around for approximately a century and it is extremely wasteful, inefficient and costs the poultry industry billions in revenue, not to mention the unethical practice of disposing off of countless day-old male layer chicks.

All of that is about changed thanks to a revolutionary idea by a bold startup that can transform the global egg industry.

eggXYt is a biotech startup whose mission is to enable a sustainable future in the livestock industry. eggXYt’s CRISPR based technology allows non-invasive pre-incubation sex detection in chicken eggs - saving 8 billion male chicks from being unnecessarily hatched and disposed off each year, saving the industry billions of dollars and adding 8 billion eggs to the global supply. eggXYt is allowing ethically sourced male-chick-culling-free eggs to reach the market, answering the demand of conscious egg consumers.

In conversation with Yehuda Elram, Co-founder and CEO of eggXYt

Q. Can you tell us about your company?

eggXYt is on a mission to restore consumer trust in the food system. Consumer trust has been repeatedly challenged by discoveries of some of the unethical practices that prevail in the food production industry. eggXYt’s mission is to use cutting-edge science to promote a more sustainable livestock industry. eggXYt is working to earn consumer trust by developing innovative solutions that address issues of transparency and animal welfare in the food industry.

The company is creating a big social impact. Using innovative proprietary technology, eggXYt is able to save billions of chicks from being hatched, avoid their incubation and use the eggs in the food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic and other industries. eggXYt is a triple bottom line impact startup saving billions of chicks, saving billions of dollars and not only saving tons of waste but creating a valuable product out of it. The company is directly contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals pursuing Zero Hunger and promoting Responsible Consumption and Production. eggXYt is introducing ethically responsible egg production and enables the consumption of ethically sourced, chick-culling-free eggs. Its technology lowers the costs of egg production and by that, secures one of the most important protein sources for global consumption, and for lower-income populations in particular, helping to fight hunger. Through these processes, eggXYt is contributing to a more sustainable future.

Q. Is your company a ‘leader’ or a ‘follower’? Do you formulate your own core values?

At eggXYt, we are leaders and innovators in our field. We are driven by a desire to have a positive and scalable impact on the world by making the livestock industry more sustainable. We are motivated by the opportunity to use innovative science to make food production more efficient and safeguarding it for a rapidly growing global population, while improving animal welfare and meeting the growing consumer demand for sustainable and ethically sourced food.

Q. Our potential impact has been widely recognized by the industry:

• Financially supported by grants from the EU and the Israel Innovation Authority.
• Awarded the Excellence in Environmental Technology Research Award by Prince Albert II of Monaco.
• Accelerated in MassChallenge Israel and was awarded the first prize of the MassChallenge competition.
• Chosen as one of the top 100 start-ups for 2017 from a pool of 5 million that are disrupting a wide range of industries and changing the world in Disrupt100.
• Selected out of less than 3% of applicants to participate in the 2017 TechCrunch Battlefield San Francisco.
• Accelerated at Alltech’s Dogpatch Accelerator in Ireland and presented at the 2018 Alltech Ideas Conference. Alltech is a major global corporation in the food and agriculture industries.

Q. As a question on sustainability, where do you see your company in a couple of years?

eggXYt is part of a larger sustainability and environmentally conscious movement. The millennial generation is demanding fair and sustainable sourcing of its food and is losing tolerance for practices like the killing of billions of chicks. eggXYt is committed to bringing transparency and sustainability into the food & livestock industry.

Q. Do you have any new products getting ready to be launched?

We are creating a pipeline of future products optimizing outputs for the livestock industry while ensuring transparency and promoting animal welfare, using CRISPR, big data, AI and Blockchain. We are developing products across different verticals in the livestock industry.

Meet the founders behind the revolutionary idea of eggXYt

Yehuda Elram is the Co-founder and CEO of eggXYt, a biotech startup solving the male-chick culling problem. eggXYt is supported by the European Commission and the Israel Innovation Authority, and was awarded the Excellence in Environmental Technology Research Award by Prince Albert II of Monaco. Prior to eggXYt, Yehuda, a lawyer by training and partner at a law firm, worked with entrepreneurs and social enterprises. He has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, focused on leadership and entrepreneurship.

Professor Dani Offen is the Co-founder and CSO of eggXYt. He earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science and did his post-doctoral studies at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in N.Y. Dr. Offen heads the Neurology Laboratory at Tel Aviv University and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry. Professor Offen is the scientific co-founder of BrainStormCell Therapeutics (NASDAQ). He is the co-author of over 20 patents and 200 academic publications.

“We are adding over 8,000,000,000 eggs a year to the global food supply by sending the non-incubated male eggs to the food market.”