Startup Talk: Checking Out The Urban Food Loop

Editor’s note: Each Thursday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Startup Talk,” a round-up of startup, technology and entrepreneurial news in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here. 

DENSO INVESTS $16 MILLION IN STARTUP FIRM THAT HELPS IMPROVE TRUCKER SAFETY, FUEL COSTS: Denso International America is investing in a new technology that it says will advance safety and fuel savings for large truck transportation fleets. Denso and Intel Capital recently co-led a $16 million investment in a Mountain View, Calif-based company called Peloton Technology to help the startup with the development and deployment of so-called “platooning technology.” The deal was finalized late last month, company officials said.

Platooning technology uses vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communication and radar to pair trucks to travel closely together and thus create an aerodynamic system that is similar to drafting in race cars, company officials said. The direct communication system provides a way for trucks to ‘talk’ with each other and safely follow another truck with the same features to improve braking and acceleration time, increase safety and reduce fuel costs.

“Denso believes that Peloton’s system has the potential to help increase safety and fuel savings in the transportation industry,” said Tony Cannestra, director of corporate ventures for the Japanese auto parts giant that produces HVAC assemblies and radiators at its 500-employee manufacturing plant in Osceola.

APP TO HELP DRIVERS SHARE CONCERNS, IDEAS WITH CARRIERS: Max Farrell is spending this week sitting on the passenger side of an 18-wheeler traveling from Des Moines to Los Angeles, hoping to gain insights for a phone app he believes will help trucking companies better communicate with and retain their drivers.

Farrell, a 20-something owner of the corporate consulting firm Create Reason, said his new company, Workhound, will help drivers share their concerns and ideas. Read more on this innovative effort here.

URBAN COMPOSTING STARTUP TO LAUNCH SATURDAY: Read Admire, a former University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service student, is launching a new Little Rock based startup focused on reducing residential and commercial food waste through a weekly urban composting service, education initiatives, and policy advocacy. The Urban Food Loop will kick off at Heifer International on May 30.

According to Admire, the Urban Food Loop’s service will recover local food waste by offering Little Rock residents a home composting bin in exchange for a monthly fee. Residents toss food scraps and leftovers into their “i-Compost” bin weekly, and the startup will exchange full bins with clean ones and compost the food waste.

Individuals and businesses can sign up to compost food waste at TheUrbanFoodLoop.com.

NEW APP HELPS NEW YORK CITY MOTORISTS FIGHT PARKING TICKETS: A new app that hit the market last week has a chance to be a hit in New York City, given that the Big Apple issued over a half-billion dollars in parking ticket violations in 2014.

Now, there is a new iPhone app by a startup called WinIt that allows customers to dispute parking tickets. Phone users simply download the free mobile app from the App Store and use it to take a photo of their parking ticket.

WinIt then uses a team of seasoned parking ticket experts who have been fighting parking ticket violations for years. The team will then contest the ticket on a driver’s behalf in court. If their experts need additional information or evidence, they will get in contact with the user.

The only problem with the new app is that it only is available in NYC. If you happen to be traveling to the big city soon, check it out here.