Greats news about alumni and community members of StartLife, 1) Zero FoodWaste First to Raise Revenue-based Capital alumnus of StartLife’s Fall 2018 cohort Photo: Non-Dilutive Capital Zero FoodWaste, developers of the world’s first fully automated food waste monitor, is the first startup in the Netherlands to raise funding from an investor on revenue-based terms, rather … Continue reading StartLife Alumni Updates – December 2019 →

Last Wednesday seven new agri-food startups successfully completed the StartLife Accelerate program. For three months they received intensive training and support to further shape, refine an accelerate their business. They ended the program with a presentation to a large group of investors and corporates, known as graduation day. Pressure Cooker From more than 50 startups … Continue reading StartLife Presents Seven New AgriFood Challengers →

On 6 December Unilever, corporate partner of StartLife since 2018, opened their new Global Foods Innovation Center next door to StartLife. The center was officially opened by His Majesty the King of the Netherlands. Our managing director Jan Meiling, together with senior management of Unilever, was given the opportunity to discuss the value of open … Continue reading Unilever Opens Global Foods Innovation Center Next Door To StartLife →

Innovative ideas do not always lead to completely developed projects, due to lack of time and / or creative energy. Students of Wageningen University & Research may offer a solution to this problem. In different courses, BSc and MSc students work in groups on a project supplied by external commissioners. Education Project Services (Onderwijsloket) is … Continue reading Free Research Capacity: Wageningen Student Projects →

After two years of preparation and development nutrition startup Verdi Food has launched their platform for evidence-based personalized nutrition planning: Verdify. The platform empowers patients with a chronic medical condition to easily implement medically prescribed diets in their daily routine. Verdify will also soon be integrated with a large Dutch supermarket. This will allow users … Continue reading Personalized Nutrition Planning Platform Verdify Has Launched →

Biological approaches to treat aquatic pests and diseases or an aerial scout in the greenhouse: just two examples of the seven promising food & agtech startups selected to participate in the fall edition of StartLife Accelerate. From the fifty early-stage food and agtech startups who showed interest in the program, the review committee had the … Continue reading Seven new StartLife startups contributing to Food and Agtech innovation →

Crickets, can you eat them? Unique, savory and nutty, and above all one of the most sustainable and nutritious alternatives in the protein transition. The Wageningen ‘Eetcafé H41’ puts the juicy cricket burger (‘Krekelburger’) of De Krekerij on the map, and invites you to a delicious meal and a good story behind the notorious burger. … Continue reading Taste Cricket burgers at Eetcafé H41! →

StartLife has started a group page on Linkedin where we will post all national and international events relevant for our startups. We invite all our (alumni) startups and network partners to become a member of this group. You can find the group via: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13745115/

Solving the Protein Puzzle on a Global Level A global “return” to balance in protein consumption; less animal and more vegetable. During the third international edition of the Foodvalley Summit: The Protein Plan(et), on 17 October in Wageningen, food producers, growers, breeders, investors, research institutes and the government are coming together, in Wageningen, to share … Continue reading Foodvalley Summit: The Protein Plan(et) →

The most exciting innovations are coming from small startups who are largely unknown to the wider industry. Now in its fourth year, the Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge 2019 will give startups the opportunity to pitch their idea to the whole host of F&B industry players that make up Fi Europe’s 1,700+ exhibitors and 30,000+ … Continue reading Join StartLife at the Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge 2019 →

Are you an innovative food or agri start-up or scale-up? A future maker with a promising idea? Then you are the ideal candidate for the Topsector T&U Innovation Prize! Topsector T&U invites new technical innovations that demonstrably increase the efficiency of food production in a greenhouse environment in order to meet global food demand in … Continue reading Join the Topsector T&U Innovation Prize and win € 25,000 research budget and a wildcard for the StartLife Accelerate Programme →

Jij zorgt er voor dat de missie van StartLife vertaald wordt naar alles wat wij doen Onze missie is om ondernemerschap te bevorderen in de voedsel- en landbouwsector en om ondernemers en hun teams te ondersteunen bij het transformeren van innovatieve ideeën in ondernemingen met een wereldwijde impact. Jij kunt daarbij een belangrijke rol spelen! … Continue reading Vacature: Digital Marketing & Communications Manager →

Agri-Tech Startups wanted for Agricultural event! The Dutch Embassy is looking for Agri-Tech startups who want to discover the Irish Agri-market. The National Ploughing Championships (NPC) is Ireland’s biggest agriculture event and the largest agricultural open-air event in Europe. This year the NPC will take place in Carlow, Ireland from September 17-19. One of the … Continue reading Agri-Tech Startups wanted for Agricultural event in Ireland →

Patent agency EP&C is launching an innovation competition for students and start-ups. In honour of its 80th anniversary, EP&C is giving the new generation of innovators a platform on which to present their innovative idea. The innovation can be in concept form or already be on the market. As long as the innovation is not … Continue reading Register for participation in EP&C’s ‘Master of the Future’ →

StartLife Accelerate Program makes promising Food & Agtech startups ready for investors Beginning this week about a hundred people attended the StartLife Graduation Day, where eight Food & Agtech startups showed their achievements. The Accelerate Program prepares startups to successfully enter the agri-food market. All startups that took part in the program are currently closing … Continue reading “The program encouraged me to be more ambitious” →

The six most important Dutch university incubators, including StartLife, will collaborate with Fundsup, a platform that brings startups into contact with investors. The other incubators are YES!Delft, Bright Move in Eindhoven, Novel-T from Twente, the Amsterdam ACE Incubator and UtrechtInc. Fundsup is a platform that brings startups into contact with investors. With the partnership, StartLife’s … Continue reading StartLife and five other prominent Dutch university-linked Incubators commit to Fundsup →

Supermarket chain presents futuristic sustainable products from June 27, during the ‘FutureGoods’ week Amsterdam, June 18 2019 – Insects, granola with mealworm powder, seaweed wraps, socks made from recycled fishing nets and ‘rescue food’. Supermarket chain Lidl organizes the ‘FutureGoods’ week from June 27, in collaboration with incubator StartLife. During this week special, sustainable and … Continue reading Insects, seaweed wraps and socks made from old fishing nets on the shelves at Lidl →

With pleasure we look back at a successful and fruitful 4th edition of F&A Next 2019. With the most inspiring speakers from the industry and ample opportunity to make contacts, these two days proved to be very fruitful. Take a look at the F&A Next website to see the photos and the video impression. F&A … Continue reading Looking back on a fruitful F&A Next 2019 →

Educational Project Services, part of Wageningen University and Research, connects external stakeholders to courses of Wageningen University & Research. In these courses, groups of students can work on real-life assignments, and thereby apply their academic knowledge. In the course Data Management, MSc-students pick their own practical assignment to design and build a database for a … Continue reading Contact with students via Education Project Services →

Press Release Givaudan, the world’s leading flavour and fragrance company, announced today a new partnership with StartLife, the leading food and agritech incubator in Europe. This is the latest example of Givaudan’s strategy to enable the development of real-world applications for disruptive ideas and breakthrough technologies to deliver superior and sustainable solutions for the food … Continue reading Givaudan fosters entrepreneurship and innovation in the food sector through partnership with StartLife →

StartLife organized the Corporate Partner Day on April 17, to provide StartLife Accelerate startups a unique opportunity for market validation. During this day the startups brought into practice effective market- and customer validation approaches that underly the StartLife Accelerate program. See our website for more information on the StartLife Accelerate program

Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is selling its share in coatings company Surfix to market parties Qurin Diagnostics and LioniX International. WUR will remain involved in the further growth of its spin-off. The sale is consistent with WUR’s policy to develop knowledge generated within the university and make it available to the business community to … Continue reading WUR sells share in Surfix spin-off →

Last week, Fabian Lindner of Zzinga, one of our startups, was invited to have lunch with His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima. Once a year, they have an ‘uitblinkerslunch’ (luminaries lunch) with people who have been given a prize for their achievements to show their appreciation for these special people. Fabian was … Continue reading Founder Zzinga invited for lunch with the royal couple for excellent performance →

Unilever has chosen to become an active participant of the Wageningen Foods Innovation ecosystem. Being close to Wageningen University, worldwide Food Science & Technology university number 1, to tap into strong international knowledge and talent, Unilever opens its doors for others and approach others where they don’t have all the answers. This way, Unilever would … Continue reading Make use of Unilever’s Pilot Plant →

Are you an innovative (starting) entrepreneur and do you want to launch your product better and faster at the market? You should consider testing your innovation at a festival. Innofest sees these festivals as temporary societies, with their own energy grid, logistics, water infrastructure, waste and thousands of test subjects. A dynamic and measurable environment … Continue reading Test prototypes or innovations during one of our Innofest festivals →

PRESS RELEASE, Wageningen, March 18, 2019 Eight new food & agtech startups for StartLife’s Accelerate Program A microbiologist producing sustainable proteins from micro-organisms and a technician who developed a robot for automated harvesting in greenhouses: just two of the eight promising high-tech startups selected to participate in the second StartLife Accelerate Program. It is the … Continue reading Boosting the Dutch innovation climate →

The past weeks at StartHub were dedicated to the Realisation Program where students were challenged to realize their validated propositions. During the Startup Week, nine entrepreneur(ial) teams dedicated their time to learn more about sustainable business models, pitching, negotiating and implementing this knowledge to tweak their business plan. During the prototyping weekend a week later, … Continue reading Startup Week 2019 →

Education Project Services connects projects and assignments from society with the study programs of Wageningen University & Research. A company, startup, foundation or other societal partner that wants to start a project or assignment with students from the university, can enlist the help of Education Project Services. Education Project Services asserts whether the question is … Continue reading Education Project Services →

At the CROP Innovation & Business conference on April 14-16, 2019 at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam you’re able to meet up with the international Agri-Food sector and explore business opportunities. Encounter new ideas. Expand your network. Engineer opportunities. During this bi-annual conference the most influential trends that will affect crop innovation and value chain strategies … Continue reading Meet up with the Agri-Food sector at the CROP Innovation & Business conference →

Thanks to the Rabobank Sustainable Innovation Award, the possibility of making a difference in society as well as in the sector comes a step closer. The Rabobank Sustainable Innovation Award 2019 is awarded in three categories: 1. Food & Agri Innovations for sustainable agriculture and food supply Innovations aimed at: Improving food production by using … Continue reading Rabobank Sustainable Innovation Award →

Meet StartLife and 10 Dutch Food & Agtech champion startups in San Francisco! StartLife is organising a startup mission to San Francisco, inviting 10 prominent Dutch Food & Agtech startups to one of the most relevant podia in the world.   We are presenting the selected startup companies supported by Startlife, as part of the … Continue reading World-Agri Tech Innovation Summit & Future Food-Tech →

Substrate producer Klasmann-Deilmann and Agtech-startup Sigrow benefit customers’ outcome Corporate StartLife partner Klasmann-Deilmann and StartLife startup Sigrow successfully collaborate in commercial horticulture. Their co-operation resulting in innovative insights and benefits for greenhouse growers – and new clients. Agtech startup Sigrow is working together with greenhouse growers to provide more insights in their growing environment. At … Continue reading Collaboration Klasmann-Deilmann and Agtech-startup Sigrow →

Money Meets Ideas – StartLife On the 30th of January 2019 Rabobank, KplusV and StartLife are organizing a special AgriFoodTech edition of Money Meets Ideas at StartLife in Wageningen. During this event we invite five AgriFoodTech entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas for informal investors. About Money Meets Ideas Money Meets Ideas is an informal investing … Continue reading Money Meets Ideas →

StartLife Accelerate supports promising food & agri startups as they develop their product, business model and team. For the first time, nine startups join together in one cohort. For three months they can learn and work together to validate their business with potential customers and pitch to investors. As of September 17th, the ten startups will … Continue reading Nine promising food & agri startups join the new StartLife Accelerate program →

Lidl is organizing a so-called theme week with innovative consumer products. They are looking for suppliers and startups that can deliver those new, healthy, and/or very sustainable food and non-food products. StartLife is working together with Lidl to select startups for this week and we agreed that a minimum of 15 products will be products from … Continue reading Collaboration with Lidl: sell your product at Lidl supermarkets →

PRESS RELEASE StartLife: PHW Group invests in young talent and innovative food as well as agricultural solutions Rechterfeld / Wageningen, June 2018. At the beginning of this year, the PHW Group entered into a strategic partnership with the Israeli start-up SuperMeat, which specialises in the production of meat from cell cultures. This was followed by … Continue reading New partner StartLife: PHW Group! PHW Group invests in young F&A talent →

We did it! With all of you visiting Wageningen Campus last May, we made F&A Next 2018 the place to be. F&A Next makes it possible to be in the same room with some of today’s food & agtech rock stars. More than 550 visitors packed the seats across two days to follow and participate … Continue reading F&A Next 2018 Rocked! →

Edwin Bark recently became mentor of Hacklent, a startup from StartLife’s community. Currently Managing Director Tivall Europe, the Vegetarian Meal Solutions division of the Nestlé Group, Edwin is a senior executive who gained experience in the personal care, consumer healthcare and Food&Agri industry. He has worked extensively in the fields of Marketing, Sales and General … Continue reading Edwin Bark: “Startup should test, learn and go fast” | Mentor Story →

Due to the increasing media attention for data leaks and internet fraud, people realize more than ever where their data is stored. The safety of IT systems is also in the spotlights. In the Netherlands, the privacy rules are laid down in the “Algemene Verordening Gegevensbescherming” (AVG). This European law (originally the General Data Protection … Continue reading BDO Insight: Is the Agri and Food sector ready for the new privacy law; ‘AVG’? →

Supporting young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas Startups are not hindered by any status quo and have a radical focus to serve a customer need. Yet often startups need a corporate partner to scale their solutions quicker or to be successful at all. And especially early stage startups need guidance in developing their ideas into proof … Continue reading Unilever R&D signs Partnership Agreement with StartLife Wageningen →

Press release Wageningen-based CRISPR start-up accelerates growth Hudson River Biotechnology (HRB) has raised a strategic investment round, fully funding its current business plan and bringing in a team of experienced investors and entrepreneurs. Wageningen, 21 March 2018 – HRB is a young and highly innovative agricultural biotech company located in Wageningen (Netherlands). HRB applies novel … Continue reading Hudson River Biotechnology raises seed investment round →

On the 28th of February, 4 startups were given the opportunity to pitch in front of a group of private investors at ‘How2Finance’. At the event mentors and business angels from the network of StartLife and OostNL, shared information and learned about startup investment. StartLife and OostNL offered the startups a training from pitch coach … Continue reading How to impress an investor & invest in a startup →

StartLife has an enormous network of startups with inspiring founders. These startups are eager to share their experience with other entrepreneurs. This story is about Thieu Berkers, founder of Farmertronics. Farmertronics develops an unmanned, clean tech tractor to work the land, not running on diesel but electrically driven. It is a cross-over between the sectors … Continue reading Founder Story Farmertronics | A machine for farmers of the future →

How can your start-up be innovative in proposition, processes or business? And how to use the inaction tax incentives? 25 February 2018 Oscar Sijtsma and Niels Krouwel Many start-up companies set off with an innovative concept. But how do you move from a good idea to a proof of concept and even more demanding; from … Continue reading BDO Insights: How strong is the innovation power in your company? →

Do you want subsidy for a feasibility project? PNO Consultants helps! The MIT-feasibility subsidy finances a feasibility project for 40% of the eligible costs (maximum 25.000 euro). A feasibility project consists of a feasibility study, or a combination of a feasibility study and experimental development or industrial research. The purpose of the subsidy ‘Stimulating Innovation … Continue reading Subsidy for a feasibility project via PNO →

StartLife has an enormous network of startups with inspiring founders. These startups are eager to share their experiences with other entrepreneurs. This story is about Ronald de Bruijn, founder of AgriSim. AgriSim uses big-data, technology and algorithms to optimize farms (agri and livestock), by creating options for better decision-making in farming and land-use. With the … Continue reading Software to optimize yields | Founder Story AgriSim →

BDO REVENUE MONITOR: STRATEGY You have successfully navigated the first phase of starting your own business, but have now reached a stage where you want to go to the next level and perform better. You need a qualified adviser and coach, who can help you with the growth of your business. Someone who asks positive … Continue reading BDO Insights: Why an effective strategy is necessary to grow further! →