Call for contributors to Test Farms Programme

EIT Food manages a programme to link agricultural startups with farmers and testing-land, called Test Farms (the “Programme”). Through enabling these links EIT Food wants to help innovative agritech startups to validate and test their products and services, showcase their business to potential clients and investors, and finally support the technological transformation in European agriculture.

EIT Food created the Progamme following research and conversations with many agricultural startups who cited the difficulties of finding farmlands where they could validate their innovation and access new markets. The programme also arose to help bring about the much-needed smart revolution we need in agriculture. The integration of technology and new methods of farming bring with them the opportunity to farm more sustainably, increase yields, improve nutrition and steward precious agricultural resources.

In 2025 we are looking for contributors who will enable EIT Food to cover the network in at least one country from the South region:

Southern Europe (Spain, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Portugal) (hereinafter “RIS countries”).

The role of the contributor(s) in the Programme will be to facilitate the network of farmers willing to test different innovations selected in one or more of the RIS countries listed above. EIT Food will provide the network of startups / individuals (hereinafter both called as “Startups”). Together, EIT Food and the contributor will organise the matchmaking between farmers and approximately 15 startups. 10 of startups shall come from RIS counties. The other 5 shall came from Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, UK (hereinafter “Non-RIS countries”). However, the exact number of startups and their origin country may vary depending on the quality of applications.

The Programme will run from October 2024 until November 2025 and will entail the following steps:

• Startups and farmers recruitment.
• 2–3 online matchmaking events.
• Piloting phase up to 1 year.
• Potential demo days at the farm to showcase the results to local farmers, potential clients and investors.

Contributors involvement:

• Support EIT Food in promoting and recruiting startups to the Programme.
• Support EIT Food in selection of startups for the Programme (expert’s knowledge to assess the technical viability and benefit of the solution).
• Contact farmers to evaluate their interest in technologies/startups and find a relevant match for each startup accepted onto the Programme based on the startups requirements and preferences.
• Provide support to the startups who need assistance with the design of the testing.
• Collect supporting administrative documents on the participation and experience of startups participating.
• Together with EIT Food, organise online match-making events where startups and farmers can meet each other and decide on the best partnership for the testing.
• Support communication with startups and farmers:
  • Consultation on the soundness of the test plans proposed by startups.
  • Oversight of the testing phase by agricultural experts.
  • Providing translation support if needed for the startup/farmer.

• Support EIT Food in the communication and reach-out of the Programme: communicating the Programme to their network of farmers, promoting the demo days, spreading the word about the potential of the solutions.
• Eligibility requirements for the contributor:
  • Registered company located in a South region, i.e., Spain, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Portugal.
  • Direct access to field owners (through cooperatives, advisory services etc.) and a good understanding of their farm characteristics and challenges.
  • Large, quantifiable network of farmers open to participate in the testing of new innovative solutions in the following countries: Spain, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Portugal.
  • Agricultural experts to oversee and assist entrepreneurs during the pilot phase.
  • Ability to speak local language (of the farmers) and English.
• Selection process
  • Interested and eligible contributors are invited to submit their applications by November 25th 2024 (23:59 PM CET), using the “EIT Food Test Farms contributor – Application Form”.
    Please send the electronic version of the application, based on the form provided, to: oksana.hrynevych@eitfood.eu. Please write in the subject line of your e-mail: ‘’Application to contributor to Test Farms’’. Incomplete applications or applications submitted by ineligible contributors will be automatically rejected.