The Argentine startup UBI Meat, which uses artificial intelligence to measure meat quality with over 95% accuracy, is starting an investment round and negotiating with the USDA for its validation in the United States.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a thing of the future in the field. An Argentine startup, UBI Meat, has demonstrated that with a simple mobile phone, it is possible to determine the fat content of a meat cut with over 95% accuracy. Now, the company is preparing for its international leap with an investment round and the validation of its technology in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Founded by Sebastián Victorica, a global meat trader, UBI Meat was born to solve a specific problem: the lack of independent and rapid quality control in the meat industry. For years, Victorica worked as a broker for Brazilian and Dutch companies and noticed that international certifications were slow and expensive. The pandemic ultimately convinced him that the solution lay in technology.
From the slaughterhouse to the feedlot: the platform that unites all data
The company not only measures the quality of already processed meat. Its new development, UBI Feedlot, integrates information from the entire production cycle: breed, sex, age, weight, feeding, and data from the slaughterhouse. The goal is to build predictive models that anticipate the final quality of the product. "We are the only ones that combine data from the live animal with the quality information obtained after processing," Victorica explained.
This approach allows producers to adjust feeding, reduce fattening days, and lower costs. Additionally, it generates objective parameters for the entire chain, from the feedlot to the exporter. According to the startup, the accuracy of its algorithms exceeds 95% in classifying intramuscular fat, a key indicator for premium cuts like ribeye or sirloin.
The platform is already being tested in Argentine and Uruguayan slaughterhouses, and the company hopes to launch it commercially in the coming months. "We are very active in Argentina. We bet on the country because of the volume and quality of its meat," Victorica stated.
International expansion: US, Australia, and an investment round
UBI Meat has been selected among the 100 best startups in the world in the Entrepreneurship World Cup held in Saudi Arabia and won the Industry 5.0 award at the South Summit Brazil. These recognitions have opened doors in key markets. The startup has a meeting scheduled with the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), which is interested in approving its technology for use in that country.
"We are going to open a small investment round with strategic partners to expand into the United States, Australia, Europe, and Africa," Victorica revealed. The company also participated in the Techstars Farm to Fork program, sponsored by Cargill and Ecolab, where it decided to abandon the model of external inspectors and focus on software development.
The US market is particularly attractive due to its high beef consumption and demand for quality-certified cuts. In Australia, the meat industry is looking for technologies that improve traceability and product consistency. Europe, for its part, demands increasingly strict standards regarding food safety and animal welfare.
What it means for the Spanish livestock sector
Although UBI Meat is Argentine, its technology could have direct applications in Spain. The country is one of the main beef producers in the European Union, with revenues exceeding 3.5 billion euros annually. The ability to predict meat quality before processing would allow farmers to optimize feeding and reduce waste.
Moreover, the integration of data throughout the entire production chain would facilitate compliance with European traceability regulations, which require recording each step from the animal's birth to the point of sale. For Spanish slaughterhouses, having an automated and objective classification system could reduce costs and improve competitiveness in the international market.
The startup plans to initiate conversations with potential partners in Europe in the coming months. "Our technology is ready to be implemented in any country. We just need to adapt the models to local breeds and conditions," Victorica explained. The next step will be to validate the system in Spanish and Portuguese slaughterhouses.
For now, UBI Meat is focused on closing its investment round and obtaining USDA approval. If all goes as planned, artificial intelligence could become a common tool in slaughterhouses around the world. And it all started with a trader who missed reliable quality control.
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