Givaudan, global leader in flavors and natural food ingredients and one of StartLife’s corporate partners, is committed to fast-track market access and innovation for foodtech startups. Together with StartLife, Givaudan is calling for startups that offer solutions for sustainably feeding 10 billion people by 2050 while improving food experience for consumers. Givaudan will provide all the support a startup needs to scale up and commercialize disruptive new solutions.
Givaudan will invite up to 10 startups to follow a 10-15 weeks program to accelerate their development and grow their network with experts and stakeholders. It will form the base for a future collaboration with Givaudan. The winning startup(s) will benefit from close, intensive support by Givaudan, including the opportunity to advance development from prototype to full developed pilot and media exposure via the Givaudan social media channels
Future Of Food Texture Challenge Program
The experience for the startups will be as follows:
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Stage One – Pitch
5-10 pre-selected startups will participate in an online pitch and networking event where they will expose and connect their innovation for 20 minutes to key representatives of Givaudan. Then, the top 1-3 startups will be selected to work closely with selected Givaudan representatives to plan a pilot program that will take place at ZIC or other innovation centers around the world.
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Stage Two – Pilot Program
The top startups will work in a well-defined pilot of 12 weeks (+/- full length, with in-person/remote) with Givaudan experts to create a prototype (demonstrator, minimum viable product) showing commercial potential. Each startup will:
- Be part of a team composed of the startup and Givaudan’s technical and business experts and mentors.
- Have access to the Givaudan ZIC or other innovation centers, industrial equipment, lab and pilot work.
- Lead the co-development of a prototype and optimize it for a live demo.
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Stage Three – Demo Day
Each team will present their prototype and a roadmap proposal towards potential commercialization. The audience will be composed of members of the category executives of Givaudan, key stakeholders, some key thought and corporate leaders from its business network, and investors from their innovation network.
Each startup will:
- Have the option of having a booth at the ZIC to talk more about their innovation with the selective audience.
- Be exposed and connected to a jury of experts.
- Co-promote a joint solution to Givaudan’s customer network.
The program will take place at Givaudan’s innovation centers in Switzerland, Netherlands, France, the US and in other locations, with a mixture of online and face-to-face meetings. Travel and accommodation can be discussed to facilitate attendance to live sessions.
Eligibility Criteria
Givaudan is looking for foodtech startups with the following profile:
- Activity: Focus on technologies and solutions for unique food texture for food consumers around the globe:
- Methylcellulose replacement in meat analogues
- Gum replacement (particularly gellan gum) in beverages
- Modified starch replacement in soups and sauces
The company is also looking for wider ideas to collaborate with which provide natural, clean label and competitive solutions that deliver amazing texture and emulsification.
- Stage: Typically post-seed and pre-series A. It is important that the startup already has some traction.
- Other attributes:
- Impactful: to massively benefit consumers and the environment.
- Viable: easily adopted by consumers, governments and/or businesses; scalable to mainstream consumers, and; replicable around the world.
- Innovative: disruptive, preferably solid IP and ‘new to the world’ idea
For more information and support, contact StartLife’s foodtech specialist and liaison to Givaudan, Carla van Heck.