StartLife welcomes Dutch impact investor Invest-NL to its pool of strategic partners. The partnership will facilitate the development and high growth of startup and scale-ups that aid the transition towards a sustainable, climate-neutral food system. Together we will co-develop new initiatives that will support and enhance a flourishing entrepreneurial climate for impact-driven entrepreneurs.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the agrifood chain currently consumes 30% of the world’s available energy. Alternative proteins, precision farming and circular food technologies offer huge opportunities to improve energy efficiency in the food chain. But getting these technologies ready for large scale commercial application is not an easy feat, making them unattractive for most investors. As a result, emerging technologies loose traction early on and few solutions reach their full potential. The partnership between StartLife and Invest-NL aims to change this.
Fast lane to transformation
Invest-NL was established in 2020 to back startups and scale-ups in the fields of sustainability and energy transition, especially those that are deemed too risky by other investors. ”We increase financial backers’ willingness to invest by first removing critical obstacles to scaling up and growth”, explains Liz Duijves, Investment Associate at Invest-NL.
“Our partnership with StartLife allows us to build on its 12 years of experience in the startup scene and its large, global community of startups, corporates and investors in the food and agriculture sector,” said Duijves.
“They are in close contact with many early-stage agrifoodtech startups, know what obstacles hinder the implementation of new technologies and have good insights on what’s needed to overcome these hurdles. We believe that this partnership will provide a fast lane to the transformation of our food system.”
Opening up new opportunities
Jan Meiling, Managing Director of StartLife: “Together we will facilitate growth and open up opportunities by creating meaningful projects and supporting a flourishing agrifood ecosystem. We have already committed to enhance existing initiatives, like the international F&A Next summit and the Fast Lane program for food & ag pioneers, and will jointly represent the Dutch agrifood ecosystem abroad.”
‘An unique venture building program is set to launch in 2023.”
“We are also working towards a new and unique venture building program that is set to launch in 2023, designed to build ventures from scratch.”, Jan proudly announced.
Startups and scale-ups with specific needs for scaling their sustainable (agrifood) technologies are invited to contact StartLife.
About Invest-NL
Invest-NL is a Dutch impact investor committed to financing sustainable solutions for the Netherlands of tomorrow, including the transition towards a carbon neutral and circular food system. They back entrepreneurs focused on bringing about systemic changes to the way we produce, consume and process food. They follow the principle: ‘impact is our goal, returns are our means’.
