ApisProtect and Microsoft Working to Protect Honey Bees

On World Bee Day, Cork-based startup, ApisProtect, is celebrating joining the Microsoft for Start Ups Program.

Cork, Ireland (May 20, 2020) – ApisProtect has joined the Microsoft for Startup program. This strategic partnership will allow ApisProtect to use Microsoft technologies to scale its business for the next 2 years.

Dr Edwards Murphy, CEO of ApisProtect, said, “Our bee monitoring technology will enable beekeepers to manage their apiaries more effectively and focus on cultivating larger and stronger colonies. We are delighted to be working with Microsoft as we scale our company globally over the next two years”.

Dr Edwards Murphy adds, “In many countries, up to 50% of our honey bees are dying every year. A host of problems, diseases, and pests are devastating hive populations around the globe. It’s becoming harder and harder every year for beekeepers to manage the variety of problems their bees are experiencing. By providing beekeepers with insights into what is happening in the hive, we can help beekeepers reduce losses and improve the health of honey bees worldwide.”

Initiatives like World Bee Day help raise the awareness of our pollinators and the vital role they play in food production. In many countries, up to 41% of hives (UN FAO) are dying annually. In the USA, beekeepers lost 40% of their colonies in 2018/2019, the highest in 13 years.

In Ireland alone, we have 98 different species of bee: the honeybee, 20 different bumblebees and 77 different solitary bees. We know that one-third of Irish bee species are threatened with extinction. Contributing €153 billion worth of pollination to the agri-food industry annually, honey bees play an essential role in global food productionOne third of all food that we eat depends on pollinators, and there are 91 million managed beehives worldwide.

Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy, CEO of ApisProtect, said “Our mission at ApisProtect, is to save the honey bees, because if we don’t take action now, we’ll lose our most important insect ally. We want to secure the supply of one-third of our diet, and make sure we can nourish and feed the 9.7 billion people on planet earth by 2050.”

ApisProtect is currently monitoring the strength of twenty million honey bees in Europe, North America, and South Africa. With this new technology beekeepers will no longer need to rely solely on periodic, manual hive checks that can allow disease, pests and other issues to deteriorate hive health beyond rescue.

About ApisProtect

Founded by preeminent researchers in the use of sensors in beehives, ApisProtect provides real-time hive monitoring powered by intelligent sensor technology. ApisProtect gives beekeepers actionable insights and alerts to help prevent losses and increase colony productivity.

ApisProtect uses beehive sensor technology and machine learning in its bee monitoring technology. This beekeeping technology combines the sensor data on hive conditions, strength and activity levels with its proprietary big data and machine learning techniques, to deliver a 24/7 early warning system about at-risk hives and give beekeepers actionable insights and to help prevent losses and increase colony productivity.

Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy, CEO and Co-Founder of ApisProtect is among the most widely published authors on Internet of Things and honey bees. Dr. Edwards Murphy’s work on the topic of hive monitoring has received many national and international awards from the Irish Research Council, The IEEE, IBM, The Irish Laboratory Awards, Google, and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy was listed by Siliconrepublic.com as one of 100 rising science and technology stars to watch in 2020 and by ThinkBusiness.ie in its list of “24 disruptors and trailblazers changing Irish business”. ApisProtect was also listed in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Europe list and won the Startup Award at the Think Global Awards 2020.

Watch this video to learn more about ApisProtect and Edwards Murphy’s vision for future full of healthy honey bee hives.

To find out more, log on to www.apisprotect.com or follow us on social media Twitter – @ApisProtect, Facebook – @ApisProtect, Instagram – @ApisProtect

About Microsoft for Startups Program

The Microsoft for Startups program already supports 70 Irish companies and 4,200 startups worldwide. The program allows Microsoft to help early-stage, B2B startups with a cloud-based solution, to scale through technical and commercial support with the ultimate goal of connecting these startups to Microsoft’s global network of enterprise customers.

Microsoft for Startups is a global program that allows Microsoft to help early-stage software development startups succeed by giving them access to a valuable portfolio of Microsoft products, software, cloud services, developer tools, services, support, visibility, and other ongoing offers, at zero cost, for the Term. Program Benefits help startups design, develop, test and demonstrate software solutions for deployment as web-based software as a service (SaaS) solutions. Microsoft for Startups helps entrepreneurs not only start, but grow their businesses.

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