Agrofood BIC (Business Innovation Center), a multi-company innovation hub that includes Granarolo, Camst, Conserve Italia, Eurovo, Ima, Gellify and that has been working since January 2019 on a national and international scale to capture and enhance innovative ideas in the food&beverage and agro-industrial sectors, promotes its first Agrofood BIC Call for Ideas, an international call to support 5 teams, spin-offs or start-ups in the nutrition and health sectors and new sustainable packaging.
After the support last May to Cynomys s.r.l., a Genoese startup that has created an IoT system for monitoring and analyzing consumption in livestock, now Agrofood is ready to welcome new ideas by putting on the plate 500 thousand euros to grow another five startups.
There are two areas and sectors of interest:
- Nutrition and Health to meet the needs of consumers increasingly looking for nutritious and tasty food that meets specific health-related needs, with particular attention to organic and functional foods, supplements, nutraceuticals, alternatives to sugar.
- Innovative packaging solutions with a focus on smart packaging that provides valuable information and guarantees longer shelf life and food quality, especially on long journeys and sustainable packaging solutions including important parameters such as recyclability, reuse and biodegradability.
Applications for the call will be collected online on the Agrofood BIC website and must be submitted by September 27, 2020. A first selection made by a commission composed of all the Agrofood BIC founding companies will be followed by a direct in-depth examination. The list of selected projects that will be subject to investments and industrial programs will be made public by December 2020.
Agrofood BIC S.r.l. will support young and promising start-ups in the conversion of their ideas into concrete entrepreneurial initiatives, helping them to solve all organizational, operational and strategic difficulties; it will promote the meeting between young companies, the world of work and investors, combining incubation/acceleration services with specific skills aimed at launching the business idea on the market; will support the initial development of spin-offs and start-ups by providing them with pilot plants, assistance in R&D, business development, marketing and accounting, support with professionals and consultants, access to a network of relationships in the business and credit world and of course dedicated offices, shared spaces and IT structures.
In addition to the founding companies, the project is supported by the University of Bologna, Enea (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and ART-ER, the Emilia-Romagna Consortium Company that works to promote the sustainable growth of the region through the development of innovation and knowledge, attractiveness and internationalization of the territorial system.
“Despite the difficult times we are experiencing as companies, we have chosen not to give up launching the Agrofood BIC Call. It is a strong signal, aimed at communicating to young people that we believe it is important to promote real progress based on the values of cooperation, merit and sustainability, which is also inspired by the recent European Green Deal“, commented Gianpiero Calzolari, President of Granarolo and Agrofood Bic.
Souces:
Agrofood BIC
IlSole24ore
Askanews
