SCALE - RisingFoodStars
Is your Agrifood or FoodTech business embarking on the transformational scaling-up journey and looking to unlock your full potential to achieve rapid and sustainable growth?
About the RisingFoodStars programme
RisingFoodStars identifies the most promising aspiring Agrifood and FoodTech scale-ups and boosts their chances of business success. We accompany you in your scaling journey, all the way from mission crystallisation and communication, definition and implementation of strategic priorities, investment and Go-To-Market readiness, leadership skills upgrade, access to the right partners, and much more!
Why join the programme?
We offer you an all-encompassing program granting you access to everything you need to successfully shape and implement your bespoke growth journey:
ScaleUp Scan: Diagnose your company´s strengths and shortcomings and identify your strategic priorities.
Funding: Find the right funding opportunities through our own EIT Food Impact Fund and our network of investors.
Partnership building: identify and connect with the right corporate partners to widen your market access and commercial reach.
Spotlight: get privileged access to leading corporates and investors via the biggest pan-European conferences and by highlighting your success story in our media channels.
Are you eligible?
RisingFoodStars are impact-driven ventures that demonstrate the desire, potential and readiness to begin the transformational journey to unlock their commercial potential and achieve rapid and sustainable growth. In other words, RisingFoodStars:
Are impact-driven ventures with a potential to rapidly become real game changers, driving positive impact in one of our three missions.
Are leaders with a compelling vision and the right capabilities and mindset to transform from product/service to commercial orientation.
Have an innovative, unique and scalable technology validated in market conditions, combined with a healthy business model.
Are ready to grow. They are at a tipping point in their journey where a delicate transformation is needed to overcome critical barriers to growth at critical times.
Our Startups
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"Being A RisingFoodStar meant a tremendous push in terms of commercialisation strategy. The internalisation workshop for example made us realise that we haven't thought through our country expansion approach from the right angle."
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"I was blown away by the number of corporate partners that EIT Food has in its network that we can connect to. The events organised and sponsored by EIT Food are also great platforms to connect with the investor community, especially when you are fundraising."
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“Joining the RisingFoodStars network is the easiest way to be validated by the Agrifood market. We were introduced to some of the largest companies in Europe”
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“We have gained so many benefits from joining RisingFoodStars. From getting exposure across the European food industry to scaling our vision, and the opportunity to apply for funded projects to continue innovating”
How to apply
APPLICATIONS OPEN DECEMBER 2023
If you are an aspiring agrifood entrepreneur, a startup, or a scaleup interested in one of our programmes, register your interest and we will notify you when our 2024 applications open.
FAQs
What are the benefits of the RisingFoodStars (RFS) programme?
The higher goal of the RFS network is to facilitate and stimulate collaboration and cross-fertilisation between RisingFoodStars, the members of EIT Food, and external parties.
The value proposition includes:
Easy access and personalised introductions to world-leading corporates, academia, investors and research organisations
Increased visibility through accessing high-impact international agrifood and startup events and our own social media
Backing from a ‘trusted network’, including names as Pepsico, Danone, Nestlé, Cambridge University, and TUM.
Individual support to scale up, raise investment, and tackle typical startup growing pain points
Membership comes in terms of three consecutive financial years against a fee of €3.000 per financial year. We waive the fee for the accession year
What is the eligibility criteria to become a member of the RFS association?
We welcome all companies that at the submission stage, identify with the following:
You have your legal entity based in a member state of the European Union (EU) or Horizon Europe associated countries. Switzerland and UK-based companies are eligible to apply. However, eligibility to receive funding will be determined based on Switzerland’s and UK’s eligibility status for EU funding at that time.
You are a SMALL sized company as defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361 (between 5 and 49 employees and less than 10 million turnover or balance sheet)
You expect to conclude a Series A within the next 6-12 months or you have recently raised a Series A
You are past the ideation phase, with preferably paying customers and at least a product-market fit in your home market
You have a technological solution within one of the six key focus areas of EIT Food
You have the ambition of strong growth, and your next milestone is to scale your business across borders
You complement the current pool of RisingFoodStars and EIT Food partners, and you can add value to the network.
You are not involved in another EIT Food Entrepreneurs programme, i.e. Seedbed Incubator or the EIT Food Accelerator Network
You have no conflict of interests. Ventures owned by EIT Food employees or members of EIT Food governing bodies and engagements in which EIT Food employees or members of EIT Food governing bodies have an interest are also excluded. EIT Food includes all CLCs of EIT Food and all governing bodies.
How can you apply to become a member of RFS?
Interested candidates should apply & check if they pass the programme’s eligibility criteria. Once this is passed, you will be invited to complete your application, and after your answers are submitted, we will evaluate your application and submit it to the Advisory committee. Some applicants might be invited to an online pitching and Q&A session. The Board of the Association RisingFoodStars will issue a final decision on the acceptance of applicants to the RisingFoodStars network
For more details, refer to the Terms & Conditions
When are programme applications open?
Programme applications are open from 15th November to 19th February.
What is expected of members to remain active in the association?
Our RFS manager undertakes an annual evaluation of the RFS members to assess their eligibility to remain a member of the association based on the following criteria:
You must be supporting the aim of the EIT Food RisingFoodStars programme
You must still be directly or indirectly active in the food sector, in one of EIT Food’s key focus areas
You must be involved in a minimum of 3 x EIT Food activities in one financial year, such as KAVAs and/or other activities, including podcasts, FoodUnfolded, and various external representations of EIT Food RisingFoodStars trainings etc. external
You must attend EIT Food (supported) events
You must be showing signs of growth and progress
For more detailed information about RisingFoodStars, see programme Terms and Conditions
