Every Euro invested in EIT Food’s flagship entrepreneurship programmes generates a €13 return over 15 years

Measuring the number of innovations launched in the market, or the number of new companies registered, is important for tracking the impact of EIT Food’s funding, advocacy and community activities. To drive and monitor lasting change in the European agrifood system, additional impact and metrics are required, including the development of sustainable support infrastructures; dynamic networks; increased empowerment; reduced inequalities and ensuring the capacity for startups to grow the reach and scale of their revenue streams.

EIT Food activities sit within the framework of three missions: “Healthier lives through food”, “A net zero food system” and “Reducing risks for a fair and resilient food system”. The missions contribute directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through specific outcomes such as: reducing non-communicable disease (NCD) rates; tackling childhood obesity; reducing the sector’s climate change footprint; and ensuring food safety and security.

EIT Food, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, has supported and continues to support high-impact and high-growth potential startups and scaleups since 2018. This create a more resilient and sustainable food future, while helping these emerging companies to realise their economic and societal impact objectives.

Through its Entrepreneurship programmes, EIT Food promotes ambitious, long-term collaborations that lead to food systems change, truly benefitting us all. To accelerate innovation for a healthier, fairer and more sustainable food system.

The independent impact report was conducted by Brookdale Consulting in collaboration with 66 participants, providing input, evidence and key information. The return on investment attributable to EIT Food was calculated over 10-, 12- and 15-year periods. The report communicates a holistic picture of the impact both intended and achieved, relevant to the EIT Food mission areas. It also highlights what has been learned, and what steps need to be taken next.

Between 2018 and 2023, €28 million was invested in the three EIT Food Entrepreneurship programmes. These programmes connect developing technology and innovations with those who need it, and those who might finance and scale it. They support innovative researchers, entrepreneurs and impactful AgriFoodTech startups, every step of the way, from business propositions, market validation, business acceleration, and tech validation to commercial upscaling.

• €28 million invested in the three programmes 2018–2023
• The proportion of the market collaborating with EIT Food has been steadily growing
• From 2018 to 2023, EIT Food funding, community and advocacy activities have supported more than 600 startups;
• 549 of these startups have participated in the flagship entrepreneurial schemes
• Representing approximately 17.3% of the Venture Capital (startup) investment obtained in the European agrifood sector (reference Pitchbook assessment).
• For the 549 startups participating in Seedbed, Fan and RFS: 1130+ new jobs were created, 227 of which can be fully attributed to EIT Food
• Regional inequalities are being addressed, with women supported directly and indirectly in entrepreneurial activities
• Return on investment (ROI) was calculated at 6:1 (10 years return) to 13:1 (15 years return)

Over 10 years EIT Food Entrepreneurship had an impact of €145 million at the European level, rising to €340 million over 15 years. The bulk of the impact, highlighted in the report, came from the EIT Food Accelerator Network, which also had the greatest proportion of participant responses.

It is clear from the results that EIT Food’s interventions and support are highly valued and that they provide a return to the European economy in terms of employment, improved product diversity and increased revenue well above the resources put in. European taxes are therefore being sensibly spent in ways that benefit founders, stakeholders, programme partners, key industry players and communities.

In addition to economic impact, 94% of respondents say are also creating societal, environmental and health benefits (carbon emissions reductions = 70% of respondents; reduction of water use or other natural resources = 62%; social e.g. benefits to citizens such as food security, affordability = 46%; and Health e.g. improved human diet, or reduction in diseases = 42%).

The impact EIT Food Entrepreneurship has on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, thriving startups, and groundbreaking innovations, by launching, accelerating and scaling them, is evident in the numerous success stories, that have emerged from our community. It is their support, knowledge, passion and expertise that drives this success. Examples include:

Holloid - The early detection of pathogens keeps products safe, and people healthy and reduces the economic burden caused by outbreaks.  Their systems can reliably identify single objects (e.g. bacteria) in large volumes. Machine learning and AI-enabled analytics and classification can perform analysis 1,000x faster at a 1,000,000x higher throughput than current methods used to monitor bulk food production.

Beta Bugs – Food waste from households, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers is collected and fed to insect larvae as a cost-efficient way of reducing organic waste in landfill sites. When the black flies are mature, they are then used as a sustainable source of protein feed for pet food or pig, poultry and salmon farms, with a reduced environmental impact.

Redefine Meat - has developed a technology to 3D print alternative meats, not just mince, but every cut of beef while providing the taste and texture associated with animal-derived steak. Redefine Meat estimates the reduced environmental impact of moving to its meat as 43.5 tonnes of carbn dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) and water savings of 14,600 litres for someone eating burgers twice a week over their lifetime.

Orbisk - equips hospitality organisations with the tools necessary to gain comprehensive insights into their food waste patterns by registering food waste in kitchens to the ingredient level. This allows mitigation strategies to be put in place to deliver potential waste reductions of up to 70%, which reduces costs and delivers environmental benefits. To date, Orbisk has delivered savings of 780,000 kg of food waste, worth €5.46m translating into 3,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions based on 4.5 kg of CO2 saved per kg of food waste avoided. This achievement underlines the substantial economic implications of food waste, with every kilogram wasted representing a loss of €7.”

FarmaIR – their technology allows early detection of plant stress, allowing rapid mitigation which reduces the financial burden of crop damage in and product supply disruption risk.

EIT Food’s focus remains on delivering real-world benefits and impacts through innovation, education and entrepreneurship, as well as on engaging the wider customer/public to deliver economic, environmental, societal, political or health value where it’s most needed.

If you are an impactful AgriFoodTech startup wanting to launch, accelerate or scale, register your interest for the EIT Seedbed Incubator, EIT Food Accelerator Network and EIT RisingFoodStars programmes or email entrepreneurship@eitfood.eu.