FoodSeed Accelerator launch will bring €15 million funding for sustainable agriculture
To empower innovation in the FoodTech and AgriTech sectors – and to support the fields of sustainable agriculture, food and beverage, and the circular economy – in 2023 we launched the FoodSeed Accelerator. A joint partnership between UniCredit, CDP Venture Capital, Fondazione Cariverona and Eatable Adventures, the initiative will dedicate more than €15 million in investments to start-ups developing innovative food technologies.
Up to 10 Italian or international start-ups that intend to set up in the local market, at the seed and pre-seed stage, will be selected each year – with a focus on those working on new approaches and services for the automation of production processes, new ingredients, new ways of realising sustainable agriculture, innovative digital sales models and packaging.
Each will have access to a pre-seed ticket of €170,000 with the possibility of follow-on up to €500,000, and will take part in a six-month acceleration programme aimed at validating products and business models to support go-to-market.
The Accelerator, based in Verona, will also have the support of corporate partners Axxelera, Amadori, Cattolica Assicurazioni (Generali Group) and Veronafiere, as well as the University of Verona as Scientific Partner.
The FoodSeed accelerator is emblematic of Fondazione Cariverona's approach aimed at developing the potential of the territory and is intended to be the basis for the growth of new technological partnerships. Fondazione Cariverona has supported and facilitated the birth of this project that looks to the future, triggering a virtuous path aimed at enhancing the complex agrifood ecosystem, called upon to compete with international competitors for product innovation and process sustainability.”
General Director of Fondazione Cariverona
Italian agrifood represents world excellence, both in terms of quality and volume, as well as a fundamental sector of our country's economy. New technologies are opening up interesting new scenarios even in this sector, which is often perceived as structurally disinclined to innovation: the latest available data show that in 2021 Agriculture 4.0 would be worth around EUR 1.6 billion in Italy and that the agricultural areas managed with this in mind, currently 6% of the national total, are constantly growing. The FoodSeed project, which is the result of the valuable collaboration between UniCredit, CDP and Fondazione Cariverona, aims to concretely support, with a significant investment, that innovation from the bottom up, promoted by start-ups, which we believe is decisive in enabling operators in the sector to take full advantage of the many opportunities linked to this innovative trend. We are thus confirming our role as a bank with a strong focus on the territory, its dynamics and its excellence, moreover in an area, that of Verona, characterised by an ecosystem devoted to open innovation.”
Deputy Head of Italy