Innovation
We drive open innovation to transform the food system by nurturing groundbreaking ideas through the world's largest food innovation network, ensuring everyone can participate and benefit.
Our Mission
Are you looking to make a real impact on the food ecosystem? EIT Food Innovation is here to support you. Whether you are part of a research or technology organisation, an SME, a start-up, or an industry player, we can help you drive innovation that addresses pressing challenges in the food sector.
Our mission is to launch, develop and grow research and innovation in products and services, scaling up new applications and business models to rapidly expand their market impact. We focus on solutions that drive meaningful change in food systems and benefit all stakeholders. We do this by harnessing the power of shared knowledge across the EIT Food's innovation ecosystem and matching it with a range of targeted programmes, consortium-based funding opportunities and more.
Open Innovation Opportunities
Discover our programmes and funding opportunities to harness open innovation.
Consumer Insights Programme
We are looking for ambitious agrifood companies eager to deepen their understanding of consumer behaviours and preferences to drive impactful innovation.
By participating in the Consumer Insights Programme, you'll gain access to comprehensive consumer research, including the TrustTracker® study and insights from the Citizen Participation Forum, enabling you to align your products and services with current market demands. Collaborate with experts and researchers to co-create solutions that resonate with consumers and foster trust in the food system. Apply now to leverage these insights and enhance your innovation strategies.
Fast Track to Market
Up to €250k funding via a revenue-based financing mechanism to get your food innovation product or service to market quicker and enhance your commercial success.
We are looking for fast-moving, mature companies with an existing business case that has high potential to generate B2B/B2C sales for new or improved food innovation products or services. Through the Fast Track To Market funding programme, you can boost your market readiness to bring your service to new or expanded markets.
Whether expanding to new markets or growing new products in existing markets, we can help your company speed up your marketability and potential commercial success.
Impact Funding Framework
The Impact Funding Framework promotes ambitious, long-term collaboration that will lead to food systems change to benefit us all.
We want our co-investment to have a real impact. We're looking for proposals from consortia based around lead organisations who can work effectively, move quickly, and are supported by high-quality research, communications and impact assessment expertise.
Intellectual Property (IP) Garden
IP Garden is a dedicated Intellectual Property and Knowledge sharing programme that supports implementation of cutting-edge innovations in the food industry.
On a curated marketplace, we offer direct access to a portfolio of close-to-market technologies that can make a positive contribution towards a healthier and sustainable food system. The technologies have been developed with support of EIT Food funding and are accessible to organizations that share our mission objectives.
If you are an open innovation leader, entrepreneur, venture builder or EIT Food Innovation funding beneficiary, the IP Garden offers you the following:
- Expand your product portfolio or accelerate your R&D pipeline by building on prior innovation project results that demonstrated technical success and market potential.
- Connect to domain experts at research organizations, research leaders at universities and R&D managers at multinationals and innovative SMEs.
- Benefit from innovation funding to de-risk knowledge transfer and implementation actions and/or participate in one of our start-up support programmes.
- A technological base for starting a new business and participation in on of our start-up support programmes.
Prize-based Challenges - Marketed Innovation Prize
Win €10,000 for your innovation! We are seeking products or services developed through EIT Food engagement. Top innovations will earn financial prizes, visibility and recognition in the European food community.
The Marketed Innovation Prize is part of Prize-based Challenges, a series of prizes developed with EIT Food Partners to develop technology solutions for a critical challenge. Discover the past ones and contact us if you are ready to launch the next one!
Featured Innovation Projects
AROW - AI Based Robotic Weeding
Water AI Based Support Tool (WAIST)
