Calling researchers & innovators to
Turn Your Research Into a Funded Venture
We invest up to €1.2 Million in capital and resources to build a company around at least one selected technology per year.
Submit your proposal, and if selected, you choose how involved you want to be — stay in academia, take an advisory role, or dive in as a co-founder.
Launched & funded by
Innovation
Challenge
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We select at least one technology per year to build into a venture.
SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSALQuestions before submitting? Email us at info@foodfounders.studio
The Opportunity
What the industry needs
The food industry is the world's largest, yet one of the least innovative. Big Food is cutting R&D and looking to acquire rather than build. Consumers want food that's sustainable, nutritious, and affordable, but today's solutions fall short on taste, price, and convenience. The technologies that could solve this exist in university labs, they just need a path to market.
What we do about it
We find the most promising food technologies in academic research and build funded ventures around them. We handle the business case, the fundraising, and the team so the technology gets to market with maximum impact. Our first venture, SentiaNova, was built exactly this way: patented university IP, experienced CEO hired from 200+ applicants, now heading toward commercial production.
Who Can Apply
Who can participate?
We are looking for individuals or groups that have developed a new technology with the potential to disrupt the food industry! We welcome submissions from researchers and innovators, including professors, senior scientists, postdocs and PhD students, whole research labs or groups - anyone is welcome.
What research disciplines are relevant?
We are looking not just at the food sciences, but also across other disciplines such as mechanical engineering, material sciences, biology, information sciences, etc. with the potential to apply their technologies to problems in the food industry. In particular, we are interested in solutions which can make food more sustainable, nutritious, with better texture and taste, and at more accessible price points.
Share your proposal, no confidential information needed. We assess the impact your solution can have, not how it works.*
* Assessment will focus on: Problem Criticality, Solution effectiveness in solving Problem, Market Desirability, Financial Viability, Technical Feasibility, Degree of innovation, TRL.
What You Get
Earn Financial Rewards*
For any selected solutions, the submitting party will receive the below financial rewards:
Salary compensation for agreed part-time engagement
Equity shares if the venture is launched, with potential significant pay-outs**
*To be agreed with your university employer according to their policies & guidelines
** If your technology is selected for a venture launch
Option to be an Entrepreneur
FOOD FOUNDERS Studio assumes the responsibility and risk for launching the start-up, allowing you to optionally join the startup based on your interest, gaining valuable experience and benefits:
De-risked Entrepreneurship:
Unique opportunity to learn how to launch a start-up without risk of failure, or to join it at different points.
Technology Advisory & Consulting:
Explore long-term collaborations before and after launch
Industry Connections:
Increase visibility and connection with experts, investors, and collaborators at the intersection of research and industry
Ready to Submit?
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. At least one technology is selected per year to receive up to €1.2M in funding and resources.
Submit Your ProposalHow It Works
Submit Your Proposal
Fill out the Innovation Challenge form with a description of your technology and the problem it solves.
Early Stage Assessment
We, together with a Board of Industry Experts, evaluate your proposal on:
- Criticality of the problem
- Effectiveness & readiness of the technical solution
In case of not being selected, we will provide you with feedback.
Business Case Evaluation
We perform a robust evaluation of the venture opportunity across DVF: Market Desirability, Financial Viability, Technical Feasibility.
We work with you to find provisional alignment on licensing terms with University Tech Transfer Team or equivalent.
You remain actively involved in the process according to availability and university policies.
Venture Building & Launch
Only 1x case per year will reach this point, and be granted up to € 1.2M of capital & in-kind resources
We hire an experienced leadership team, to whom we act as the first co-founders. If you so desire, you could be joining here as CTO!
Upon achieving our investment criteria, we fundraise with our selected investment partners to launch the venture with the first investment. If you so desire, you could be joining here with a Senior technical role!
Stay in the Loop
Occasional updates on new ventures, open challenges, and food tech insights.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
ABOUT US
FOOD FOUNDERS Studio is a Switzerland-based venture studio* building B2B food tech ventures from untapped academic research. We are focusing on solutions across the value chain (not only limited to plant-based protein).
Our team collectively raised €50M in food tech ventures we built. Now, we leverage our track record, network and method to do it again.
*Venture studios are teams that bring together under one roof the roles of entrepreneur, start-up operator, and investor, and are fully engaged in creating and launching startups. Incubators and accelerators support instead large cohorts of existing startups with a lighter engagement