Iratxe Perales: “FAN came when we needed to move from a technology-driven mindset to a market-driven strategy”
Discover how Microfy is turning AI-powered microscopy into market-ready agrifood solutions
Microfy is working to bring advanced microscopy out of specialist settings and closer to the people who need its insights.
By combining affordable hardware, automated scanning and AI, the company is making microscopy more automated, decentralised and accessible.
In this interview, founder Iratxe Perales shares how the EIT Food helped her deepen her understanding of market needs, adapt her approach for different audiences and apply those lessons as the company explores new applications.
Iratxe, what were the main challenges or barriers you were facing before joining EIT Food?
When we joined the EIT Food Accelerator Network (FAN), our main challenge was transforming the technology into a clearly defined product that solved a sufficiently important market problem.
Another major barrier was credibility. Introducing a new AI-based analytical system into the food sector requires evidence, validation, references and confidence that the company will be able to provide long-term support.
As a small startup, we had to build all of those elements while simultaneously developing the technology, finding customers, financing development, and creating a new product category.
I also improved my ability to communicate the company's vision to very different audiences. Explaining our work to an engineer, a beekeeper, a food laboratory, a corporate partner or an investor requires very different language.
What are the most significant insights you gained during the programme, and how have they influenced you?
One of the most important insights was learning to distinguish between technological and customer value. As engineers, we naturally tend to focus on what technology can do. However, customers buy a solution to a specific problem, and they evaluate that solution in terms of time, cost, risk, usability and business impact.
The programme pushed us to ask more precise questions: Who is experiencing the problem most intensely? What are they doing today to solve it? Who makes the purchasing decision?
This helped us refine HoneyAI as an integrated system rather than presenting it simply as a microscope or an AI model.
I also improved my ability to communicate the company's vision to very different audiences. Explaining our work to an engineer, a beekeeper, a food laboratory, a corporate partner or an investor requires very different language.
Through the alumni ecosystem, awards, events and communication activities, Microfy continued to receive opportunities to present its development and demonstrate its progress.
And how did the support and guidance from EIT Food influence your business journey?
The programme gave us a framework for examining the company more systematically: value proposition, target customers, market barriers, validation requirements, business model, scalability and investment readiness.
Also, for an early-stage deep-tech company, being selected and supported by EIT Food sends an important signal. It demonstrates that external experts have evaluated the company, the technology and its potential contribution to the food system. That credibility helped us when approaching partners, public institutions, laboratories and potential customers.
EIT Food also gave us visibility beyond our immediate network. The relationship did not end when the accelerator programme finished. Through the alumni ecosystem, awards, events and communication activities, Microfy continued to receive opportunities to present its development and demonstrate its progress.
How are you applying what you learned through FAN?
Our intention is to apply the commercialisation methodology we developed around HoneyAI to the other verticals that we are now building.
HoneyAI has been our first major commercial case, but we are already applying the platform to areas including fungal spore monitoring, fermentation and bee health.
The most important lesson from FAN is that we should not scale these applications simply because technology can perform them. Each vertical must follow a disciplined validation process.
I would recommend FAN particularly to science-based and technology-based agrifood startups that have moved beyond the initial idea stage but still need to convert a promising technology into a clearly validated commercial proposition.
Since the programme, what have been your key achievements?
Since participating in the programme, our most important achievement has been the transformation of HoneyAI from an R&D concept into a commercial product.
We launched the first HoneyAI system commercially by the end of 2023. Since then, we have introduced the technology into multiple international markets, reached customers in eleven countries and achieved adoption and validation of the technology by public laboratories.
The commercial journey has also generated recognition by EIT Food. Microfy received the CERES Best Marketed Innovation Award, and HoneyAI received the Global Reach Innovator Award in the EIT Food Marketed Innovation Prize, recognising the international deployment of the system. We also won the FAO Innovation Award 2025 in the Digital Food Processing category.
In 2026, three of our industrial clients decided to invest directly in our company. This is a strong sign of trust: they are happy users of our technology, excited about what we’re building, and want to be part of our next chapter of growth.
Finally, Iratxe, who would you recommend FAN to, and what advice would you give a startup before joining?
I would recommend FAN particularly to science-based and technology-based agrifood startups that have moved beyond the initial idea stage but still need to convert a promising technology into a clearly validated commercial proposition.
My main advice before joining would be to arrive with clear objectives. Founders should identify what they need from the programme: introductions to specific partners, validation of a business assumption, a pilot environment, feedback on pricing, investment preparation or access to a new market.
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