The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food has announced the ten finalists of its 2018 Food Accelerator Network program who are invited to compete for three awards, consisting of an equity-free cash price of €60,000 each (US$68,000), at the EIT Food Venture Summit next month in Paris.

The seleced finalists are four start-ups from Germany (LOEWI, Senorics, Wisefood GmbH, Acrai), two from Israel (Jet-Eat Printed Food, Kiinns), one from Estonia (Natufia Labs), one from Italy (FruitsApp), one from Portugal (Agri Marketplace) and one from Switzerland (FlavorWiki). The latter was featured in a detailed interview on FoodIngredientsFirst in July 2018.

The seleced start-ups have developed a diverse portfolio of food-related innovations.

These include a digital platform developed by Agri Marketplace that directly connects farmers and agro-industrial customers to make buying and selling agricultural commodities easier, faster and more transparent.

Or a low-cost and smartphone-ready near-infrared (NIR) sensor technology developed by Senorics, that enables consumers to detect and quantify ingredients like water, sugar, fat, protein, alcohol or contaminants present in their food. The technology provides a simple but powerful and accurate pocket lab for everyone.

The ten finalists were selected from a group of forty-one agrifood technology start-ups involved in the 2018 EIT Food Accelerator Network (EIT FAN) Program. Over a four-month acceleration period, these start-ups have had access to tools, connections, mentors and expertise to help them succeed.

MassChallenge Switzerland, part of MassChallenge’s global network of zero-equity start-up accelerators, partnered earlier this year with EIT FAN and introduced a food tech track in its 2018 cohort. Held in Switzerland, Germany, and Israel, the EIT FAN with MassChallenge aims to make Europe the go-to innovation hub for the world’s most promising agrifood start-ups.

“With the help of these start-ups, we are building an innovation ecosystem that delivers new solutions to address some of today’s most pressing agrifood challenges and consumer demands,” says Filip Fontaine, CEO of EIT Food. “With our help, these start-ups will take these innovations to the market and will create new business opportunities.”

“Running EIT FAN on the MassChallenge framework was really a success for all parties. Our acceleration scheme allowed the start-ups to be in close touch with the partners, leveraging their expertise, connections and infrastructure to further develop their projects,” adds Thierry Duvanel, Managing Director of MassChallenge Switzerland.