Research project Food Pioneers Accelerator

General introduction

Promising and innovative food solutions need help with scaling up. This projects aims for a more efficient unlocking of innovative technologies in Flanders and the Netherlands, which house an important ecosystem of food companies. They often come forward with creative and promising ideas, but the scale-up phase often fails due to a lack of funding and facilities. A previous project, FOOD FROM FOOD, highlighted the (pernicious) lack of clarity about the (accessible and inaccessible) demo and production facilities in the Belgian-Dutch border region. This interreg project called "Food Pioneers Accelerator" (FPA) picks up the gauntlet.

Research approach

We create a better map of the network of innovative companies and facilities. An expanded list of sites and descriptive info sheets about the innovative technologies is made accessible to the startups and SMEs that need external help during their scale-up phase. The project actively supports these SMEs in the Dutch-Belgian border region and stimulates the collaboration between the SMEs and external facilities in concrete scale-up projects.

Relevance/Valorization

With proper support, promising innovations from startups as well as established food companies in the Belgian-Dutch border region are less likely to end up in the so-called "valley-of-death" when scaling up their new products. The accessibility to demo and production facilities improves, so that sustainable food innovations reach the market faster. The food system itself is thus expected to become more sustainable and healthy, the ecosystem strengthened, so the region is supported in maintaining its competitive position.