EIT Food announces winners of Venture Summit 2023 for agrifood innovation

The annual EIT Food Venture Summit, brings together Europe’s most innovative agrifood start-ups, industry-leading corporates and major investors, with the aim of creating a more sustainable and trusted food system.

The event offered the opportunity for attendees to discover more than 100 impact-driven agri-food tech start-ups that have been launched, accelerated and scaled by EIT Food over the past year. More than 300 attendees also enjoyed keynote speeches on the future of food, including Jamie Crummie, co-founder at Too Good to Go, explaining how food waste is fuelling the climate emergency.

At the event, 12 start-ups pitched for the prestigious EIT Food Mission Start-up Award, each shortlisted for their positive impact on people and planet, and working towards one of these three missions: Healthier Lives Through Food, A Net-Zero Food System, and A Fully Transparent, Resilient and Fair Food System.

From this shortlist, three winners were chosen following an audience vote of the 300 agri-food professionals and investors at the event. Each winner will be awarded a EUR 5 000 prize, alongside an invitation to join EIT Food on stage at the EVPA Impact Week on Nov 22-24 in Turin, Italy, to meet with impact investors.

The three winners for each category are:

• Oligofeed (France), which has developed a scientifically proven supplement that boosts bees' natural immunity.
• Bosque Foods (Germany), which aims to create the next generation of meat alternatives, starting with whole-cut products grown naturally from fungus-derived mycelium.
• Pacifico Biolabs (Germany), which develops seafood alternatives that are significantly healthier and lower cost than any other, whilst providing realistic taste and texture through a unique biomass fermentation process.

Our missions represent three crucial areas that we urgently need to accelerate if we are to achieve a healthier, more sustainable food system for all. By connecting investors with forward-thinking, innovative startups that are driving forward change in these areas, we can help to deliver real-life products, solutions and approaches to market.

Benoit Buntinx, Director of Business Creation at EIT Food

The EIT Food programmes have been instrumental in our growth as a biotech company. Today's prize is a testament to the dedication of our team in creating an innovative fermentation platform that produces healthier and more sustainable meat and fish alternatives, meeting the diverse needs of our customers in terms of texture and taste.

Isabella Iglesias-Musachio, CEO and founder of Bosque Foods