Despite a reduction in start-up funding in recent years due to challenging economic markets, accelerators continue to provide access to vital networks and resources. The MassChallenge Switzerland 2024 accelerator program connects new companies with industry experts, corporates, and investors to develop and scale their businesses. On the 3rd July, 80 start-ups presented their solutions to corporate partners and experts at Bühler’s CUBIC innovation campus.

“We are thrilled to welcome such an inspiring group of entrepreneurs at Bühler. Collaborating with start-ups exposes us to entrepreneurial young minds, fresh ideas, and emerging technologies, pushing us out of our comfort zones and breaking traditional silos,” said Stefan Scheiber, CEO of Bühler Group. “Engaging with start-ups is essential for driving sustainability and innovation.”

Supporting initiatives like MassChallenge Switzerland enables Bühler to accelerate impact and drive forward the innovative solutions required to meet the needs of a growing global population sustainably.

The early-stage start-ups selected for the 2024 MassChallenge Switzerland come from 37 countries, spanning five continents, and have all committed to sustainability, pitching innovations in food and agriculture, industry and climate, health, nature solutions, and packaging. The solutions proposed by these entrepreneurs are diverse, ranging from combining AI with chemistry to reduce environmental impact in animal farming, risk analytics for biodiversity, robots that harvest and de-leaf plants in high-tech greenhouses, technologies that reduce fermentation time, and biobased materials to substitute plastic in packaging, to ingredients made from microalgae to replace additives (E-numbers).

“MassChallenge Switzerland attracts some the best early-stage start-ups who dare to address global challenges in food tech and other key business areas with breakthrough ideas. The cohort today is another highlight of this program. It is incredibly powerful to witness the fusion of inspiring ideas and entrepreneurship – combined with the valuable support and resources provided by corporate partners – aimed at addressing key challenges for creating a sustainable world for the next generation,” said Ian Roberts, CTO Bühler, Chairman of MassChallenge Switzerland.

For the start-ups, it is an incredible opportunity to access resources, get insights and advice from experts, test their ideas, and be more prepared to address the challenges related to scaling up the business. “It is one of the best events I have participated in so far. The openness, networking opportunities, and access to key leaders from the industry are tremendous,” said Marcin Koziorowski, Co-Founder and CEO of EcoBean, one of the start-ups most voted in the pitching round of the day. EcoBean specializes in turning coffee waste into sustainable chemicals.

About the MassChallenge accelerator programme

During the four months of the MassChallenge acceleration phase, the selected start-ups engage with industry experts, corporates, and investors to refine their businesses while receiving world-class mentoring, free co-working space, numerous key networking opportunities, and the opportunity to explore partnership opportunities.

The accelerator program culminates on October 31, 2024, at the MassChallenge Switzerland Awards Ceremony, when the best start-ups will be awarded up to CHF 1 million in zero-equity prize money, as well as several other in-kind prizes. Since its launch in 2016, MassChallenge Switzerland has accelerated over 720 start-ups, which have collectively raised around CHF 1.2 billion in funding and generated more than 50,000 jobs.

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Every year before the Hack Summit, the Valley team invites global startups to meet Swiss food ecosystem actors at our annual Walking the Valley event. This year we were thrilled to introduce 23 startups to 11 Valley partners. 

Watch the event recap video to find out more about what the Swiss food innovation ecosystem has to offer.

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On 11th June 2024, Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, together with Valley partners Nestlé and Tetra Pak, brought together 60 Swiss and European at a nationwide event in Bern. The joint project was designed to shine a light on some of the most promising approaches in sustainable packaging materials and drive further innovation through new collaborations. A post-event report summarising the key insights and learnings is now available for download.

Driving circularity

Today, the global economy consumes 70% more materials than the planet can replenish - and as little as 8.6% of materials used are repurposed. Although packaging is essential to keep food safe, extend shelf-life and facilitate storage and distribution, solutions also need to be implemented in a way that minimises their climate impact and drives circularity.

Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley has identified sustainable packaging as one of their five Impact Platform topics - areas where Switzerland has the expertise and technology to develop scalable solutions. Earlier this year, Valley partners Nestlé and Tetra Pak, agreed to co-host an event that would bring together experts and innovators across the Swiss ecosystem to explore the most promising approaches and identify possible collaborations to accelerate progress in this space.

Exploring the most promising innovations

The resulting event, "Imagining the Packaging of the Future: Sustainable Solutions Unwrapped 1.0", was held at BernExpo on the 11th June. 60 Swiss and European colleagues from multinational companies, SMEs, academia and Switzerland's thriving startup scene, took part in the full-day programme.

Participants heard insights from leading experts in the field, including ETH Zurich, EPFL and Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and contributions took a closer look at alternatives to wood fibres and high-performing bio-based polymers as particularly promising solutions. Six Swiss and European startups also pitched their innovations, including Valley partners B’ZEOS and Agrosustain.

Commenting on the event, Christina Senn-Jakobsen, CEO of Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, said, "When we talk about packaging, we often focus on what’s not working. But well designed and well implemented packaging solutions have a crucial role to play in shaping more sustainable food systems – from reducing food loss and waste to ensuring that 10 billion people have access to safe and nutritious food. I left today’s event feeling energised and confident that our ecosystem is ready to team up to drive forward the most promising approaches.”

Gustavo Barros, Director of R&D Partnerships at Tetra Pak, added, "Collaboration with our customers, suppliers and industry stakeholders has been central to our sustainability journey. Our dedication to sustainability constantly drives us to explore new materials and technologies. Today, we’ve connected with several colleagues whose research and innovations can help us take another step forward. We look forward to continuing these conversations."

Rob Hoitink, who is leading Nestlé's development of paper-based packaging at a global level, added, "Innovation is key to delivering our ambition of getting to 100% recyclable or reusable packaging. Today’s event highlights the vital importance of R&D collaboration across the ecosystem to accelerate the development and implementation of new solutions."

Sharing the learnings

The Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley team has compiled a report summarising the key insights and learnings from the event.

About Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley

Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley (SFNV) is a not-for-profit association founded in 2020 that strengthens and promotes food system innovation, both within Switzerland and across the globe. Our diverse network of Valley partners – from global companies, universities, innovation accelerators to government bodies, SMEs and startups – collaborate to address the most pressing challenges in food, agriculture and nutrition, and co-create innovative solutions that drive better planetary and human health.

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About Nestlé

At Nestlé, we believe in the power of food to enhance the quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come. Our company, headquartered in Vevey (VD), has around 270,000 employees, more than 2,000 brands, and a presence in 188 countries, investing CHF 1.7 billion every year in R&D as an engine for growth

As a founding partner of the Swiss Food and Nutrition Valley, Nestlé's Research & Development organisation is the largest in the food and beverage industry, with 4,100 employees working at 23 locations worldwide, including 3 R&D campuses in Switzerland: Lausanne, Orbe, and Konolfingen.

Find more at: www.nestle.com

About Tetra Pak

Tetra Pak is a world leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working with our customers and suppliers, we provide access to safe, nutritious food for hundreds of millions of people in more than 160 countries every day.

With over 24,000 employees worldwide, we commit to making food safe and available, everywhere, and we promise to protect what’s good: food, people and the planet.

Find out more at: www.tetrapak.com.

Join our online Impact Forum on Sustainable Packaging on 21 October

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On 17th May, Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley held its 4th General Assembly in Bern. The team were thrilled to welcome Marie-France Tschudin as the new president of the SFNV Steering Committee. Watch the recap video below to get a sense of the day.

Find out more about Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley's work in our Joint Impact Report 2023.  

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Matthias Zwingli, Connect AI

Matthias Zwingli outlined key insights into the current landscape of AI and its impact on various industries, emphasising that AI doesn’t replace companies, but enhances the efficiency of those that use it.

He outlined the three use cases that he believes have the greatest potential to enhance food security through AI: 

• improving crop yield and resistance by understanding and enhancing crop output
• precision farming to boost food production and conserve resources and
• industry-agnostic productivity improvements to improve efficiency and reduce time and resources needed.

Mateja Kramar, ETH AI Center

Mateja discussed the role of AI in securing food production from field to fork. She emphasised the importance of focusing on soil health and small-scale farmers, as they contribute significantly to global food production — 80% of the food we eat comes from small-scale farmers.

Mateja stressed the need to bring soil back to life through regenerative agriculture practices with the help of AI. She highlighted how AI can optimise farming practices, improve sustainability, and reduce food waste throughout the supply chain. 

She outlined various AI applications, such as satellite imagery for monitoring farms and predicting harvests, and tracking food delivery to retailers to minimise waste. Mateja also stressed the need for consumer education and awareness to encourage healthier and more sustainable food choices. 

Matthias Graeber, Bühler Group

Matthias discussed how AI can enhance sustainable food value chains by addressing various global crises, including climate change, mounting inequalities, and extreme biodiversity loss. 

He highlighted Bühler's role in providing machinery for food production and emphasised the importance of optimising to reduce its carbon footprint. Matthias presented examples of AI applications, such as machine control for scaling and optimisation of energy usage in drying processes. 

Matthias demonstrated how reinforcement learning can optimise fan speed and thermal energy consumption, which leads to significant reductions in electricity and CO2 emissions. He also acknowledged that AI is not a standalone solution and emphasised the importance of a broader ecosystem approach and collaboration with partners like the Swiss Data Science Center.

Christopher Keim, Food Brewer & Patrick Albrecht, Fruitful AI

Christopher and Patrick discussed how their companies utilise AI to enhance food production and address global challenges in agriculture and manufacturing to ensure future food security. 

Food Brewer specialises in plant cell culture technology to create edible products such as cocoa and coffee locally and sustainably. The company uses AI in media screening to optimise cell culture growth and select the best formulations for production. 

Fruitful AI focuses on visual inspection systems powered by AI to assess the quality of agricultural products and manufacturing processes. Its technology aids in plant genotyping, quality control in bottling stations, and product inspection, ultimately improving efficiency and reducing operational expenses. 

Integrating AI and agriculture for a sustainable future

The expert presentations were followed up by a Q&A session highlighting several key points about the integration of AI and technology in food production. Topics included: 

• the role of farmers in the adoption and integration of AI in agriculture
• the need for collaboration and continued innovation among technology providers, researchers, and farmers. 
• AI’s ability to provide verification and assurance for farmers in monitoring soil health and crop growth.

The integration of AI and technology in agriculture holds great promise for improving food security, sustainability, and efficiency in farming practices - but collaboration, education, and innovation are key to realising its full potential.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the event! We’re already looking forward to our next Impact Forum event on 21st June on sustainable agriculture. Keep an eye out for more information coming soon!

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