EIT Food, the world’s largest Agrifood Innovation Ecosystem supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), and the agrifood-tech venture capital fund PeakBridge, have launched a new seed fund for European agrifood-tech start-ups.

The FoodSparks fund will invest in pan-European seed and early-stage start-ups to offer access to strategic capital and support with scaling up, thereby working toward innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems in food production, supply and sustainability. 

The fund will offer up to €30 million (US$35.7 million) of investment over up to four years to invest in approximately ten start-ups per year. 

Companies with promise 
The companies to receive investment will all be domiciled in Europe/EFTA and Israel, have protectable and scalable technology, and align with EIT Food’s objective of making the food system more sustainable, healthy and trusted.

 In addition to capital, the start-ups and entrepreneurs included in the fund will be given access to advice and mentor from the wider EIT Food community, allowing them to benefit from decades of food experience and knowledge.  

 FoodSparks, managed by PeakBridge, will be headed up by managing partner Yoni Glickman, working closely with its investors, among them Ordway selecions, CPT Capital, Givaudan, Puratos, and Gullspång Re: food, allowing the portfolio companies to benefit from a wide range of potential co-investment and follow-on investment opportunities.  

Added value 
“In addition to privileged access to deal-flow, due diligence and business development, the collaboration between EIT Food and FoodSparks by PeakBridge will offer our portfolio companies direct access to the EIT Food network thus creating significant additional value in addition to our investment,” says Erich Sieber, managing partner of PeakBridge.

Andy Zynga, CEO of EIT Food, adds how funding the next generation of agri-food innovations is one of the most important steps to ensure a sustainable future for the global food system. 

“By working with PeakBridge and its venture capital resources, we can offer entrepreneurs and start-ups across Europe the chance to realize their ambitions and scale up their ideas – whether that’s finding the next big meat alternative or reducing food waste.”

EIT Food is Europe’s leading food innovation initiative, intending to create a sustainable and future-proof food sector. It comprises a consortium of key industry players, start-ups, research centers and universities from across Europe. It is one of eight innovation communities established by the European Institute for Innovation & Technology (EIT), an independent EU body set up in 2008 to drive innovation and entrepreneurship across the region.