Now open! EIT Food Fast Track to Market 2025
A unique opportunity to get your food innovation product or service to market quicker and enhance your commercial success.
EIT Food’s Fast Track to Market has been key in helping JULIENNE BRUNO grow, providing both funding and strategic guidance to support our expansion. Their backing enabled our launch into Ireland with Tesco and helped spark crucial conversations that are paving the way for a broader commercial rollout.
More than just funding, their expertise and mentorship have made a real difference, helping us navigate market entry with confidence. EIT Food continues to be an invaluable partner in bridging the gap between innovation and real-world adoption.
– Axel Katalan, Founder, JULIENNE BRUNO
EIT Food Fast Track to Market helped Inspectle Food launch its innovation to the market, providing the financial means to market and commercialise Inspectle’s digital Food Safety platform within the industry. The support and guidance from the EIT Food team have gone beyond just funding - they have also provided strategic mentorship and a fast-track approach that enabled us to market our innovation more efficiently. EIT Food’s initiatives have been instrumental in bridging the gap between innovation and commercial success, making it an invaluable resource for startups in the food tech sector.
– Oliver Pappel, CEO & Co-Founder, Inspectle Food
The Fast Track to Market funding played a crucial role in bridging our production cost financing gap, allowing us to scale rapidly. Thanks to this support, we achieved more than 10X growth from the 2024 to the 2025 agricultural season, enabling us to meet market demand and expand our impact in digital pest monitoring.
– Donat Posta, Co-founder and CEO of scoutlabs
Startups frequently cite limited access to funding as a major challenge. Through the Fast Track to Market programme, fast-growing startups can secure non-dilutive funding to extend their runway and reach key milestones. Typically reserved for companies that are on the market with first sales, this model provides a unique opportunity for early-stage companies to de-risk their commercial efforts through a non dilutive revenue-based financing scheme.
– Benoit Buntinx, Director of New Business Creation / Seed & Early Stage Investment at EIT Food
Who can apply to Fast Track to Market?
Your company is eligible to apply if you:
- Be a legally incorporated entity in one of the EU or Horizon Europe eligible countries for a minimum of 12 months of business activity.
- Have a technology, product, service, or solution aligned to one or more of EIT Food’s Missions.
- Be classified as a SMALL sized company as defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361 (less than 49 employees and less than 10 million in turnover or balance sheet).
- Have a minimum of 3 full-time employees (3 FTEs) or 3 full-time employee equivalents.
We ask that applicants have a clear case for a project lasting no longer than 12 months that can significantly accelerate their startup/SME’s commercial success, and that the proposed project must be able to have an immediate impact by bringing their products or services to the market.
Applicants already affiliated with EIT Food (e.g., Food Accelerator Network and Rising Food Stars) are also welcome to apply, provided they fulfil the eligibility criteria.
Timeline
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04 March 2025
Application Open Date
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06 May 2025 – 12.00 noon CET
Application Close Date
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07–16 May 2025
Expert Evaluation
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19–23 May 2025
Panels
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30 May 2025
Communication to selected participants
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Six to eight weeks, provided all documents have been submitted by the applicant
Validation and Contracting
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30 June 2025
Indicative start of project implementation
How do I apply to Fast Track to Market?
If you fit the above eligibility criteria, we encourage you to fill out an application form!
Applications must be completed and submitted by the application deadline of 06 May 2025 – 12.00 noon CET. It must be submitted via the Salesforce application portal, which requires previous registration before submission. Please allow sufficient time prior to submitting your application to register for an EIT Food Salesforce account. Please find the application form linked here.
Within the application form, you will be asked to submit the following:
- A fully-written company business plan and presentation (i.e., “pitch deck”)
- Reports attesting to your company’s financial statements and health
- A project plan outlining the activities to achieve next sales milestones
- A budget plan outlining the expected costs for the proposed project scope, in line with Horizon Europe regulations
Application Webinar
We will be hosting an application webinar for prospective applicants of the programme. The webinar will cover everything you need to know to apply, including eligibility and evaluation criteria, important documents you'll need, how to fill out a proposal on Salesforce, and projecting your financing via the Revenue-based Financing (RBF) mechanism.
The webinar will take place on Wednesday, April 16th at 11:00AM CET.
Register for the webinar here.
How does the Fast Track to Market funding work?
Your company can apply for up to €300k in funding.
Your start up or SME will be the sole funding beneficiary of the funded project and must allocate the funding to eligible costs between the contract signature date for a maximum duration of 12 months following the project start date.
Revenue-based financing mechanism
Selected Fast Track to Market startups/SMEs will need to comply with EIT Food’s Revenue Based Financing Agreement, which consists of a repayment based on the company’s revenue. Repayment is not dependent on the sales of the foreseen marketed innovation.
The Revenue-Based Financing Agreement (i.e., RBF) allows us to reinvest in our community. Selected participants will begin their revenue-share payments directly after the anticipated completion date, with each payment amount equalling a negotiated percentage of the company’s top-line revenues of the 6 preceding months. These reward payments will be executed every month, based on the calculation of revenues taking place every 6 months. The RBF will be in effect for a period of between 1 to 5 years. Participants will continue with their reward payments until a Maximum Threshold is reached, which increases for each year that the RBF is in place. The Maximum Threshold is equal to the total project award plus a premium of 7,50 per cent per year in which the RBF is still in place. There are no penalties should participants choose to pay an amount higher than the negotiated percentage of their company’s top-line revenues. Therefore, companies have the ability to reduce their obligation by increasing the size of their reward payments earlier.
FAQ
How many Fast Track to Market projects will be awarded?
EIT Food is looking to award up to 10 projects, depending on the grant amount of each project.
Am I eligible to apply if my company hasn’t generated revenues yet?
Unfortunately, the Fast Track to Market programme is dedicated to mature start-ups and SMEs only, who have an existing business case that is already generating revenues from paying customers. If your company has not reached this milestone yet, you may be better suited for other EIT Food funding opportunities. You may also alternatively wait for the next window of the Fast Track to Market program once you fulfil the requirement of revenue-generation.
Does EIT Food have a preference for how the Fast Track to Market funding should be spent? What costs are eligible?
No, EIT Food does not have a preference as long as the proposed activities are able to have an immediate impact within 12 months by accelerating the commercialisation of agrifood products or services that align with at least one of EIT Food’s missions. The catalogue of eligible costs are outlined by the Horizon Europe Annotated Grant Agreement.
What is revenue-based financing? Why is there a financial return mechanism?
Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) is a founder-friendly type of financing where EIT Food provides your company an immediate cash injection in exchange for a percentage of your company’s future revenues. In return for de-risking your commercial investment through our funding, we ask that you re-invest your success within our community in order to drive more systems change that will benefit us all.
What is the difference between Fast Track to Market’s revenue-based financing versus a bank loan or an equity investment?
Revenue-based financing may be more favourable for your company compared to other financing options for a variety of reasons: there is no equity dilution, the repayment schedule can be negotiated, there is no collateral or personal guarantees needed, there is no interest on the outstanding balance, the application to financing process is typically faster, there are no fees or restrictions, and there are no extensive negotiations, covenants, or valuations required.
When does repayment begin? What would be my repayment amount?
The repayment period begins once the Fast Track project is complete and the final financing payment is disbursed. The repayment amount you owe to EIT Food is equal to the total financing your company received times a premium of 7.50% per year in which the revenue-based financing is still in effect. Additional details can be found within the guidelines document as well as the attached visual aid.
Are UK and Swiss entities eligible to apply?
Entities registered in the United Kingdom are eligible to apply given their third country association with Horizon Europe, as outlined by the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe. Swiss entities are eligible to apply as monobeneficiaries, but are limited to funding of EUR 60.000 over 3 years.
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