At this year’s Food ingredients Europe & Ni, trade show organiser Fi Global will highlight the most exciting new F&B startups in the Startup Innovation Challenge. Entrants to the competition are invited to apply now, with the winners receiving business advice and coaching from top industry experts.
Innovation is the secret of success in the F&B industry, and nowhere is that more evident than at Fi Europe & Ni. Yet not all startups, no matter how good their offering, have the resources to make a significant impact on the market.
That’s why the Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge aims to provide budding entrepreneurs with a springboard to success by showcasing their innovations, bringing them to the attention of ingredient professionals and potential investors.
Fi Europe & Ni 2019 will welcome more than 30,000 visitors and over 1,700 exhibitors, making it a must-attend trade event for sourcing food ingredients.
All shortlisted young enterprises will have access to a Startup Lounge, situated in the heart of the exhibition. This will give them the chance to network and demonstrate their offering. They will also be invited to pitch their innovation live on 2 December to the expert jury and on 3 December to Fi Europe visitors at Fi Europe’s Industry Insights Theatre.
Top prizes include a fully equipped stand at Fi Europe 2020, a marketing campaign within “Ingredients Network” or access to the “Conciergerie” innovation platform from Startup Challenge Partner Presans.
Startups wishing to enter the competition should be less than 5 years old, have a solid business plan and innovations targeting the food and drink sector, with a focus on ingredients or additives that improve taste, texture, appearance and/or nutritional value, or technologies and/or services that support the sector.
This year’s categories (competitors can enter more than one) are:
- Most Innovative Food or Beverage Ingredient
- Most Innovative Plant- or Cereal-based Food or Beverage Ingredient
- Most Innovative Alternative Food or Beverage Ingredient
- Most Innovative Process, Technology or Service Supporting F&B
The judging panel will be comprised of industry experts, investors and company representatives from the food ingredients industry.
Entries must be received by 20 September. Find out more about entering the Startup Innovation Challenge here:
www.figlobal.com/fieurope/startup-innovation-challenge.
Judges selected the most promising start-ups – Winners will be announced on 27 November at Hi Europe & Ni
For the third time, trade show organiser UBM is providing a platform for forward-looking industry startups. During Hi Europe & Ni, the Startup Innovation Challenge enables newcomers to present their solutions to a professional audience. If they win, they will receive comprehensive expert coaching and marketing support. This year’s 13 shortlisted companies have now been announced.
The companies will pitch live between 15.45 and 17.30 on Tuesday 27 November 2018, the first day of the show, at the Industry Insights Theatre. The winners of the three categories will receive their awards following the live pitches.
Shortlisted for the category “Most Innovative Healthy Food or Beverage Ingredient”:
- FunGeneX/The Netherlands has developed a technology to produce egg white proteins based on sugar from sugar beet. These products fulfill the need for binding proteins that are neutral in colour, taste and smell for vegan applications, while contributing to reduced global warming and animal suffering.
- GNUBiotics/Switzerland is a biotech startup active in R&D to reproduce the diversity and complexity of unique structures found in mothers’ milk. It is developing a novel platform for selective microbiota modulation via next generation Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) using up to 130 Microbiota Accessible Carbohydrates (MACs) structures.
- Magellan Life Sciences/UK is a synthetic biology company creating novel platforms to produce plant-inspired molecules, such as a natural non-caloric protein sweetener called Brazzein that is inspired by the West African fruit Oubli.
- Renewal Mill/USA is upcycling by-products from food manufacturing into high-quality ingredients and finished products. The pilot project is using okara, the soybean pulp generated during soymilk production to create an organic, non-GMO, low-carb flour.
- Planetarians/USA makes high protein ingredients from upcycled by-products using patent-pending technology. They add value to overlooked ingredients such as defatted seeds by converting them into a high-protein, high-fibre ingredient, allowing manufacturers to fortify foods. The company’s first product is sunflower chips with more protein and fibre, and less fat than typical potato chips.
Shortlisted for “Most Innovative Plant-Based Finished Product”:
- Green Banana Food/The Netherlands produces foodstuffs and ingredients from the native cooking green banana, such as a flour that can be used to create high nutrient, low carb, gluten free & high dietary fibre food solutions such as Gabanna pasta.
- Jet-Eat Printed Food/Israel is currently developing an animal-free meat with the same appearance, texture, flavour and cooking properties of animal meat, from natural, sustainable and healthy ingredients. Based on 3D printing technology, the company creates meat products with 95 % less environmental impact compared to beef, with zero cholesterol and a lower cost.
- Shileo/Germany is an online food start-up that sells konjac rice and pasta meals. These low-cal and low-carb alternatives to normal pasta and rice are suitable for vegans, high in soluble fibre and can help with weight loss.
Shortlisted for “Most Innovative Technology or Service Supporting F&B”:
- Ambrosus/Switzerland is a blockchain-powered Internet of Things network for food and pharmaceutical enterprises, enabling secure and frictionless dialogue between sensors, ledgers and databases to optimise supply-chain visibility and quality assurance.
- Aryballe/France develops and manufactures bio-inspired odour sensors which detect and identify odours in less than 15 seconds, allowing the food industry to quickly assess the olfactive qualities of materials.
- Better Juice/Israel has created a solution for reducing natural sugars in fruit juices. The patent-pending technology harnesses the activity of non-GMO microorganisms to bio-convert sugars to dietary fibres and non-digestible natural molecules.
- Embion/Switzerland produces new prebiotic solutions for human, animal and soil microbiome nutrition from agricultural and food processing side-streams. A novel processing technology targets and extracts natural prebiotic ingredients from biomass with lower production costs, higher yield and processing speed than usual.
- Nucaps/Spain developed a new nanoencapsulation technology for nutraceutical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses. This encapsulation process, designed for oral delivery and controlled release of bioactives and microorganisms, is based on the use of food proteins such as casein, zein or soya.
Rahul Shinde, Director of Global Open Innovation at Naturex Ingenium, sponsor of the competition, is on the advisory board at the Startup Innovation Challenge. He says: “Through our partnerships we are hoping to provide additional support, guidance, access and resources that can enable these start-ups to succeed. But, ultimately, it’s their product and their vision that will prevail. We really value their time, commitment and desire to bring innovative solutions to the marketplace, and especially innovations focused on plant-based solutions.“
The three winners will get individual advice from one of the judges. In addition, the successful nominees can choose from various special prizes – from a fully equipped stand at Hi Europe or Fi Europe; a marketing campaign within the Ingredients Network; access to the “Conciergerie” innovation platform from Presans; or intensive consultation with Wageningen University & Research. In addition, one startup will be selected by Naturex Ingenium as their special prize winner. This startup will win €10,000 plus a three month business mentorship with the Naturex Ingenium Open Innovation team.
Now accepting submissions for the startup competition at Hi Europe & Ni 2018
As part of Hi Europe & Ni 2018, trade show organizer UBM will showcase some of the most promising startups involved in the F&B industry. Applications for the Startup Innovation Challenge are now being accepted and the most promising concepts will be presented live to a professional audience on the first day of the event. The three winners will receive extensive coaching from recognized industry experts.
Startups often exemplify creative pioneers and outstanding innovations, but young companies sometimes lack the budget and support to make an impact on the market. This is why UBM launched the Startup Innovation Challenge in 2016. It gives founders or small new enterprises the opportunity to reach a broad specialist audience and receive valuable advice. The nominees will present their idea or innovation to a jury of experts on 26 November and at Hi Europe & Ni’s Industry Insights Theatre in Frankfurt (Germany).
With more than 10,000 visitors and more than 500 exhibitors, the show is the central trade event for healthy functional ingredients for the food and beverage industry. All shortlisted startups will have access to a Startup Lounge, situated in the heart of the exhibition, for the duration of Hi Europe & Ni 2018. This provides a perfect opportunity to meet, network and demonstrate their products to this highly relevant and influential group.
Interested startups must enter one of the following categories before Friday 21st Septembers:
- Most Innovative Healthy Food or Beverage Ingredient
- Most Innovative Plant-Based Finished Product
- Most Innovative Technology or Service Supporting F&B.
The three winners will get individual advice from one of the jury members. In addition, the successful nominees can choose from various special prizes — from a fully equipped stand at Hi Europe 2018 or Fi Europe 2019 to a marketing campaign within the Ingredients Network or access to the “Conciergerie” innovation platform from Presans to intensive consultation at Wageningen University & Research.
To apply, companies should be less than 5 years old and have a solid business plan. The submission must focus on an exceptional new product or service that promotes health and, ideally, already exists as a prototype or service model.
Interested young companies can apply directly at https://startups.figlobal.com or contact sophie.clark@ubm.com for more information.
