About EIT Food Accelerator Network

The EIT Food Accelerator Network (EIT FAN) is a four-month programme that aims to fast-track science and technology-based innovations that are helping to solve global food system challenges. The programme is managed by our leading EIT Food partner organisations, operating from different regional hub locations Europe. Each hub connects impactful agrifood startups with industry-leading corporate and research partners, to pilot innovative technology and drive the ultimate goal of every business: a successful market adoption

This is your opportunity to move your startup beyond acceleration – to become part of a rich ecosystem of business and research institutions, setup to help you transition from an early-stage company to a global scale up, disrupting and our food system to make it more sustainable, healthy, and trusted.

So, what are you waiting for? Apply to EIT FAN to further develop your entrepreneurial skills and benefit from expert coaching and mentorship. You will also have access to specialist facilities such as labs, pilot sites, maker spaces, and agricultural land, as well as financial support to help you raise your seed or series A investment round.

Register

EIT FAN eligibility criteria

  • Your business innovation must be underpinned by a science or technology with a proof of concept, or pilot project execution.
  • It must fall under one of EIT Food’s key focus areas: Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Aquaculture, Alternative Proteins, Digital Traceability, Circular Food Systems, Targeted Nutrition. 
  • Your company must be at a pre-seed stage (you must not have closed a Series A investment round yet), and ideally, it has successfully completed customer validation and is able to demonstrate traction, for example, through letters of support, sales, or signed letters of intent.

To apply for EIT FAN you must be a registered company established in an EU member state, or Horizon Europe associated countries. 

Funding

The EIT FAN offers funding of up to €10,000 along with the opportunity to access follow-on EIT Food funding and support through EIT Food’s Impact Fund. More information on this fund can be found here

F.A.Q

Programme Applications are open from the beginning of January to the end of February each year, and all applications are evaluated from March-May. Up to 60 startup teams considered to have the highest impact potential are then selected to join the new cohort. EIT Food regional hubs run the programme from June to October and all selected, participating teams are required to attend regular training sessions during its course.

All selected, participating teams are required to commit at least 10 hours a week during the course of the programme. To take advantage of all what the EIT Food Accelerator Network has to offer, and to minimise travel (due to Covid-19 restrictions), our hubs facilitate the programme mostly online. Simply choose the elements that work best for you: the online events to attend, the mentors to meet with, the partners to network with, and the information sessions to participate in. Whilst we offer this flexible approach, please note we DO expect at least one team member to remain active, and to be engaged with the programme during its full course, from when it starts in June, until it ends in October. Please note, each hub varies in how they design and structure the FAN programme so please contact a specific EIT Food regional hub for more information.

Applications are assessed based on the understanding of the food system problem, its commercial solution, and your company’s fit with our ecosystem. Equally important is the potential impact of the innovation, its technology readiness, the business model, its USP, and the dynamics of the founding team

Please refer to our programme Terms & Conditions for more detailed information. 

We provide direct access to experts who fundamentally understand the commercial potential of science and technology in the agrifood sector. You will be joining Europe’s largest agrifood startup community to receive continuous support from other like-minded entrepreneurs, with endless opportunities to share knowledge and work closely with our world leading industry partners.

projects and follow-on funding, to support their commercial roadmap, which may include pivoting or spinning out with suitable identified partners. There is also the possibility to become an EIT Food RisingFoodStar, which supports the scaling of impactful agrifood startups ready to enter international markets.

*For more detailed information about EIT FAN, please refer to the programme Terms and Conditions