Advancing Research and Innovation in Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment with Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe will foster Research and Innovation in one of the most critical challenges of our time: feeding and keeping healthy the growing global population while preserving the natural resources of our planet and empowering local populations with new tools to improve their work and lives.

To do so, the way we produce, transform, distribute and consume food has to change with the integration of technologies and knowledge from non-traditional fields.

If you work in Big Data, Computational Biology, Artificial Intelligence, Photonics, Robotics, Biotechnologies, Materials Science, Economics join this session and discover how your skills can help solving this global challenge – and how to get funded for it!

• Date: 31st March 2021 – 11:00 – 12:30 CET
• Tickets: Free – This event is for Swiss-based researchers and innovators only

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Join EIT-Food’s next live webinar and learn more about the Global Food Venture programme for PhDs across Europe.

Book your ticket if you are a PhD student aspiring to become a successful entrepreneur in the Food & Agriculture space, and eager to turn your innovative research into a start-up.

• Date: 15th April 2021 – 16:00 – 17:00 CEST

Global Food Venture Programme

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The Global Food Venture Programme fosters the entrepreneurial growth of doctoral students working on challenges in the Agrifood sector.

The Global Food Venture Programme offers a six-month curriculum to address the needs of aspiring entrepreneurs and early phase start-ups. Young innovators gain essential business skills and knowledge through Bootcamps, Mentoring, Corporate Site Visits, Global Networking Events and Pitch Competitions. Top coaches and technology experts from EIT Food partners support the students to explore key innovation ecosystems in Europe.

Global Food Venture Programme

Stage I – Idea Development

40 PhD students from across Europe will gather for an immersive entrepreneurial experience to learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. They will also have the chance to develop business propositions in the food space.

Programme:

• 10-day Summer School (online, by UAM/IMDEA partners)
• Prizes
• Mentoring by an EIT Food partner
• Private Online Course on Food systems

The application phase for Stage 1 ends on 2 May 2021.

Stage II – Business Incubation

Stage II is designed to support 25 PhD students with solid business ideas in food and agriculture. Early-stage entrepreneurs will join the EIT Food pre-Incubation boot camp in June, to learn about viable business creation. They will also undergo a six-month mentoring programme to bring their ventures to the next level. Meanwhile, a second training boot camp and a final pitch competition event are planned for October in Europe. Here, innovation prizes from EIT Food and up to 10,000 cash prizes await the participants.

Programme:

• 1 week Business pre-Incubation Bootcamp (online, EPFL partner)
• 1 week Bootcamp (in physical or virtual format, by TU Munich)
• Mentoring by an EIT Food partner
• Final Event (in physical or virtual format) with pitch competition and innovation prizes
• Mobility grants
• Private online course on Food Systems

The application phase for Stage II ends on 20 May 2021.

For more information on selection criteria, admissions process, entry fees and key deadlines visit their webpage.
For concerns on participation, contact the EIT Food team at Dimaki@zv.tum.de.

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The startup founder of Naanu, Julia Devecchi Mas, shares her experience of running the business through the pandemic.

Swiss foodtech startup Naanu creates vegan and gluten-free cookies with Vitamins B12 and D, Omega 3, Calcium, Iron and Zinc. And just like many businesses, it too faced a challenging 2020. The team took risks that resulted in both wins and losses.

Here’s what the year was like for Naanu as told by founder Julia Devecchi Mas.

We started our year with the challenge of rebranding from HappyBites to Naanu (natural and nutritious). We incorporated our new company name into a public limited company before our startup turned 1 year old in April.

Due to Covid-19, we almost called off our crowdfunding campaign. But with the help from our advisors, we launched anyway, hoping the Swiss economy wouldn’t take a hit and that people would still support small businesses. And our gamble paid off. We received some PR attention from vegconomist and Mic The Vegan that got 34k views on YouTube. We even over-crowdfunded at 129%.

To fulfil our new crowdfunding rewards and ongoing Naanu subscriptions, we partnered with eatbyAlex, a certified vegan kitchen in Zurich. There were a few mishaps in the new kitchen, but we quickly established a solution to our quality control issues.

After pitching a research plan in August for our innovative approach in vitamin development, we were granted 5,000CHF from Innosuisse. 

In October, we moved into an affordable 17.5m2 office because our former Logistics Center reached its capacity. Soon after, our new biodegradable labels arrived from Germany, but the import tax bill was rather painful.

We experienced some other highs:

• Our early adopters/customers reached their 12th month of subscription
• Launched our small Cookie Tin for on-the-go
• Made our first B2B sales and rethought our entire Business Model
• Featured on FoodHack’s Discovery Board and voted as the startup of the week among global companies with 114 votes 
• On the first page of a regional newspaper in Aargau

And some lows:

• Did not get accepted into Food-X’s accelerator program after two interviews
• I, Julia, developed an anxiety disorder

We also found some fun numbers:

417% – revenue growth in the last 6 months
25,955 – CHF raised through crowdfunding 
28,220 – Approximate amount of cookies baked
9 – Packages lost in the post
80 – current versions of our recipe
97 Million – Sesame Seeds processed

2020 is surely a year to remember for the Naanu team.

Find out more:

Naanu Food AG
Stadtbachstrasse 4
5400 Baden
Switzerland

For inquiries, you can contact them here.

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