A host of European agri-food start-ups have graduated from StartLife’s accelerator program, propelling food technologies including novel applications for AI, gene editing and increased digitization to improve the sustainability of supply chains. 

The Netherlands-based program prepares promising start-ups in the agri-food sector for partnerships with major corporate players and investments.

“Ten years ago, open innovation was a novel concept, but now it is the new normal,” says program director Loet Rammelsberg.

“The latest companies to graduate from our program are well-positioned to tackle some of the biggest issues facing our industry, like sustainable food production, reducing food waste, and enhancing food safety.”

Participants of the cohort are supported by a network of mentors and specialist training in various areas of business development.

Eye on food safety and preservation
This latest cohort includes several with technologies to track food safety and quality, which are areas that have been particularly emphasized as a result of COVID-19. 

Other graduates have applications for improving crops and animal welfare, better nutrient delivery, food preservation, quality control and packaging.

Among this year’s seleced start-ups are:

• Blakbear (UK) has introduced a sensor for food packaging to detect freshness and help reduce waste at both wholesale and retail levels.
• Healthycrop (Denmark) has developed a genetically engineered variety of barley for fungicide-free agriculture, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Iamus (Ireland) uses robotics and AI to improve poultry farm management, margins and animal welfare.
• KomraVision (Estonia) has developed a handheld scanner that works like a lab-scale near-infrared spectrometer for fast, portable food and ingredient analysis.
• Plantik Biosciences (France) is developing plant breeding technologies for rapid crop improvement – starting with cannabis. 
• Sphera Encapsulation (Italy) specializes in natural and sustainable micro- and nano-encapsulation technologies, including for functional food and nutraceutical ingredients.
• TuttiFoodi (Netherlands) has introduced a 100 percent natural food preservation technology that also boosts dietary fiber.
• Vertigo Technologies (Netherlands) uses microwave measurements for fresh fruit quality control, helping to reduce wastage.

Start-up culture bolstered amid pandemic
In a previous interview with FoodIngredientsFirst, Caroline Bijkerk, global partnerships manager at StartLife, detailed the crucial role start-ups play in helping big corporations bring key trends, such as sustainability and personalized nutrition, to consumers. 

Lengthy R&D-to-market processes are one of the disadvantages that FMCG giants face when compared to start-ups. Exacerbating the issue, COVID-19 has deepened funding challenges in some areas of the F&B sector, particularly in Europe.

“We are operating in a domain wher impact is a given,” says Rammelsberg. “We have connected each of these companies with partners to make sure they are serving the needs of this industry.”

“In the end it is the industry that makes the impact, enabling us to move toward a more sustainable world.”

Ten-year anniversary of StartLife
Founded in partnership with Wageningen University & Research and Oost NL, the East Netherlands Development Agency, StartLife marked its ten-year anniversary last month. 

Over the past decade, it reports that technologies surrounding the production of healthy and sustainable F&B solutions have become more accessible, affordable and user-friendly.

Investors have followed suit. European venture capital funding in agri-food technologies grew 94 percent in 2019, according to AgFunder research. 

Meanwhile, sustainability remains an important motivating factor for both industry partners and investors. Underscoring the prominence of this ambition, “Transparency Triumphs” was crowned the Top Trend for 2021 by Innova Market Insights this year, as a natural progression of last year’s “Sustain Domain.”

To date, StartLife has supported and funded more than 300 agri-food tech start-ups. The StartLife program offers seed funding of up to €75,000 (US$91,100), and its maximum investment is set to increase to €250,000 (US$303,800) from January 2021.