Accelerator aims to promote sustainable food systems

Start-ups are sources of market innovations but they could use input from established companies. To bring their innovations to life, VTT, the visionary research, development and innovation partner based in Finland, is setting up an accelerator that will connect food production startups and veterans together.

VTT will partner with the University of Helsinki and Valio to help food industry start-ups grow fast and reach the international market. The cooperation will ensure the new accelerator will cover areas of sustainable food systems. The startup teams will have access to VTT’s expertise in things like plant-protein or fibre, as well as in the management of the entire food system or related services. The University of Helsinki supplements the repertoire with, among other things, agricultural and nutrition research and Valio with knowledge of food product commercialisation and dairy product knowhow.

“In the new accelerator led by VTT, start-up teams will be mentored and coached by experienced professionals from food research, production and marketing. At the same time, these experts can familiarise themselves with the world of start-ups. We expect the accelerator to consolidate the network of food industry companies and contribute to the success of Finnish companies on the international market. At best, the accelerator will also attract foreign start-ups and investments to Finland,” says VTT’s Co-Creation Manager Mirva Lampinen.

Success stories from the network of accelerators 

The new accelerator is the latest newcomer in the EIT Food Accelerator Network (FAN), which is coordinated and largely also funded by the European EIT Food research network. In addition to Helsinki, the network has accelerators in Munich, Haifa, Lausanne, Cambridge and Bilbao, and European start-up teams can apply for all of them. This year’s application process will end on 10 March, and participants selected by a panel of impartial experts will begin a four-month acceleration project next summer. At the end of the year, teams will compete for the best innovations and also for monetary prizes.

The first accelerators of the EIT FAN network were launched three years ago, and some start-ups are already on the verge of success with the help of significant funding. For example, Redefine Meat, which started from the accelerator in Haifa, raised more than EUR 5 million in funding following the accelerator programme and plans to use it to produce meat substitutes by 3D printing.