StartLife

🎉 𝗔 𝗙𝗲𝘄 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗔𝗴𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝗻, 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲! We hosted our StartLife Family Day and it was everything we needed. A day filled with laughter, great food from different cuisines around the world, and the kind of energy that reminds you why the people behind the scenes make all the difference. 🏸 This year we stepped up our game with some fierce rounds of badminton that brought out everyone's competitive side. Three unexpected guests joining us for the first time. Two cats and a dog who decided the Family Day was worth showing up for and honestly stole the show. 🐱🐱 🐶 🙏 A huge thank you to Jorien Hattink for organising such a wonderful day and making sure everything came together beautifully. A heartfelt thank you to Nicola Harrison for providing such an amazing space that made this special day possible. To everyone who joined us and made it so memorable, thank you! 🌱 This community is something special. And days like this remind us exactly why. #StartLife #FamilyDay #TeamStartLife #Wageningen

🔍 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡? 🌱 At StartLife we believe that startups are the driving force behind innovation and that innovative AgriFoodTech startups can make a lasting impact on the world. 🚀 Join our 𝗔 𝗟𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺, a tailored support journey designed for AgriFoodTech startups with a strong product-market fit, ready to be part of StartLife’s ecosystem and accelerate their growth. With A La Carte, you’ll get: 🤝 Access to our global ecosystem of investors, corporates, researchers, and mentors 📈 Personalized coaching to meet your needs 🌍 A free ticket to F&A Next, Europe’s premier agrifoodtech summit 💼 Opportunities to hire top talent and secure office space on Wageningen Campus The stage can be yours! We accept applications worldwide on a rolling basis, so apply today and let’s accelerate your growth together ▶️ https://lnkd.in/eYrZxRBj #StartLife #AgriFoodTech #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

🚀 €𝟮.𝟭 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵! The Interreg project SCALE – Start-Up Collaboration & Acceleration in a Linked Ecosystem is officially funded! From 2026–2029, we’re building a connected startup ecosystem across the eastern Netherlands, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Why it matters: Great ecosystems already exist on both sides but fragmentation limits their full potential. SCALE connects the dots to unlock the best cross-border impact: ✔️ Faster scaling for startups and scaleups ✔️ Better access to capital & markets ✔️ Cross-border and internationalization by default                   ✔️Curated, tailored programs powered by the complementary expertise of the partners (mentoring, targeted matchmaking, investor access, flagship formats…) Partner: Novel-T & R-Factory, REACH with University of Münster FH Münster, TAFH Münster GmbH, Oost NL, Universität Osnabrück, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, ZWINC., Briskr, StartLife Thanks to the EFRE, the State of Lower Saxony, the Ministry of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Provincie Gelderland & Provincie Overijssel for trusting and supporting! Startup-Internationalization from day one. Let’s build it! 👉 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/epR3Pc4G #StartLife #startup #scaleup #innovation

🌱 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗼𝗻 Wageningen Campus! On 26 August, Starthub Wageningen opens its doors for Impact Expo 2026, a celebration of entrepreneurial energy, creativity, and ambition right at the heart of the Wageningen innovation ecosystem. This is the event where students, researchers, startups, investors, and partners come together to discover, connect, and be inspired by the next generation of entrepreneurial changemakers. 💡 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: 🔬 Discover innovative solutions from early-stage entrepreneurs at various stages of pre-incubation, from circular food systems to smart health technologies 🎤 Hear a keynote from Lucas Noldus, Founder of Noldus Information Technology, on the real challenges and opportunities of starting and growing a business 🤝 Engage with Wageningen University & Research and EIT Food ventures at various stages of pre-incubation from idea to impact 🌍 Expand your network within one of Europe's most vibrant agrifood innovation ecosystems 📅 26 August 2026 ⏰ 13:00 to 18:00 📍 Starthub Wageningen, Bronland 10, Wageningen 👉 Save the date and join us: https://lnkd.in/ewsaApK2 University Fund Wageningen | Miriam Haukes - Broekmans | Sebastiaan Berendse #StartLife #AgriFoodTech #Entrepreneurship #Innovation

🚀 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻𝘂𝘀 Happy Plant Protein We are excited to share that Happy Plant Protein, a StartLife alumnus, has announced a commercial-scale partnership with Crespel & Deiters, a German ingredient manufacturer, marking a major milestone in the industrial deployment of their patented dry extrusion technology. 🌱 Happy Plant Protein's patented one-step dry extrusion technology produces textured vegetable protein directly from locally grown legumes, without protein isolates, chemicals, or water-intensive processing. The process preserves valuable raw material components while reducing complexity, enabling ingredient manufacturers to create functional plant protein ingredients more efficiently. 🇳🇱 Production is now underway at Crespel & Deiters' facility in Helmond, the Netherlands, operated by ECP B.V., currently working with faba bean. The resulting ingredients offer better taste and aroma, reduced bitterness, and flexible functionality across a wide range of applications including meat analogues, hybrid products, ready meals, snacks, and plant-based dairy alternatives. 👏 Huge congratulations to Jari Karlsson, pekka lehtinen, Elli Laukkala, and the entire Happy Plant Protein team on this incredible milestone. 👉 Read the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/eth9s9nY #StartLife #AgriFoodTech #Innovation #Startups

🚀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻𝘂𝘀 Aardaia 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 €𝟱𝗠 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 We are excited to share that Aardaia, a StartLife alumnus based right here on the Wageningen Campus, has raised €5 million seed round to accelerate the domestication of wild plants into modern crops. 🌱 Their first crop is the aardaker, a native European legume that fixes its own nitrogen and grows a protein-rich tuber with a nutty, chestnut-like flavour. Close to a million unique aardaker plants are already growing in their fields, with results from the first seasons validating the species' incredible potential. Aardaia is not stopping at one crop. Their ambition is a full pipeline of wild plants transformed into the crops that tomorrow's food system actually needs. 🤝 The round was led by Point Nine, with continued support from FoodLabs, and participation from our investor partner Astanor and Grey Silo Ventures, alongside angels Alexander Sainty, Dominic R., Maex Ament, and Nanne Veldhuyzen van Zanten. 👏 Huge congratulations to Padraic Flood, Mike Henske, and the entire Aardaia team. Six years of bold, patient science is now turning into something the world can eat. Proud to have been part of this journey. 👉 Discover the science behind Aardaia and the aardaker: https://aardaia.com/#top Wageningen University & Research #StartLife #AgriFoodTech #Innovation #Startups

🎥 𝗧𝗵𝗲 F&A Next 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲. Ten bold founders. One main stage. Two winners of the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award. This year's Next Heroes in Food & Agtech brought some of the most exciting innovations in agrifood to the Wageningen stage. From AI-powered precision agriculture and sustainable aquaculture to biological crop protection and circular ingredients, the breadth and quality of this year's lineup was extraordinary. 🏆 Congratulations to the two winners, each receiving €12,500 and exclusive advisory support from Feike Sijbesma himself: 🌱Our alumnus NoPalm Ingredients, winning the later-stage category for their fermentation-based alternative to palm oil 🔬 B-COS, winning the early-stage category for their precision fermentation platform producing bioactive molecules for agricultural applications 👏 And a huge congratulations to the rest 8 Next Heroes who took the stage: 🌍 atmo | Jen Godderidge 📊 AuditQ | Yelco Gonzalez 🔬 Optagon | Khalil Kaddoura 🚀 Proofminder | Levente Simon 🥛 Imagindairy | Eyal Afergan, Ph.D 🌱 evja | Davide Parisi 🌿 BiocSol | Denis Payen ♻️ URAPHEX | Adrián Valdeolmillos López A special thank you to our incredible jury for their time, expertise, and dedication in selecting this year's winners: Cindy Gerhardt, Victor de Leeuw, Carolina Villa, Maximilien Souvereyns, Sophia Heyde, PhD, and to Sjoukje Heimovaara for presenting the award to the winners on stage. Read more about the winners ➡️https://lnkd.in/eED6eeAk StartLife | Wageningen University & Research | Rabobank | Anterra Capital | PeakBridge | University Fund Wageningen #FANext2026 #NextHeroes2026 #AgriFoodTech #Wageningen

🤝 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗻𝘂𝘀 Resurrect Bio 𝗮𝗻𝗱 Bejo 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 The collaboration focuses on developing disease resistance in spinach, specifically targeting downy mildew, one of the most destructive diseases affecting spinach production worldwide. 🥬 Resurrect Bio identifies where plant immune systems have been defeated by pathogens and designs precise genetic changes to restore or improve immune function, creating actionable disease-resistance traits that seed companies can take forward through their own breeding pipelines. Faster, more targeted, and more durable than conventional breeding approaches. 💬 "This collaboration with Bejo is an opportunity to apply our disease-resistance trait discovery approach to a crop that matters to growers, breeders and consumers around the world." ~ Dr Cian Duggan, CEO & Co-Founder of Resurrect Bio 👏 Huge congratulations to Cian Duggan, Tolga Osman Bozkurt and the entire Resurrect Bio team on this milestone. 👉 Read the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/ee5nVMFC #StartLife #AgriFoodTech #CropProtection #Innovation

🚀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝟭𝟭 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗔𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗪𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝘂𝗯. As the Wageningen Hub for digital and autonomous farming solutions, we are excited to welcome 11 innovative startups to the EIT FAN 2026 programme. EIT Food has selected 65 startups across six specialised technology hubs in Europe this year. Here in Wageningen, we are focusing on digital and autonomous farming solutions, bringing together some of the most exciting innovations in precision agriculture, robotics, and smart farming. 🤝 Welcome to our 2026 Wageningen Hub cohort: 🤖 AgriPass Robotics 🌾 AgCoopilot 🚜 MOVE ON ♻️ Soyle 🐄 mylivestalk 💡 LUXEED Robotics ⚙️ Workaholic Robotics 🌱 ScareCrow Intelligence 🌾 Coverdolly LTD 🪴 FOTONIQ 🧠 Neurohive Through EIT FAN, these startups will work with corporates, investors, research organisations, and experts to validate their technologies, develop tailored roadmaps, and explore real collaboration opportunities with industry partners. 🌍 This is what the StartLife and Wageningen University & Research ecosystem is built for. Connecting the boldest early-stage agrifood founders with the right partners, knowledge, and infrastructure to scale. 👉 Read the full announcement and meet the full 2026 cohort: https://dub.sh/Ff5rxMh Avril | Cargill | Corteva Agriscience | Danone | Anadolu Efes | Bayer | Mars Petcare | Mondelēz International | Valio | The Coca-Cola Company | Wageningen Campus #StartLife #AgriFoodTech #Innovation #Startups

𝗔 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 Bram van Beek: 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 After nearly seven years at StartLife, Bram van Beek will be transitioning from his role as Head of MarCom to pursue new professional chapters. Since joining us, Bram has significantly shaped our brand narrative and supported the growth and visibility of our global agrifoodtech ecosystem. During his tenure, he played a key role in elevating our communications and guiding the continued development of both StartLife and F&A Next as global brands with strong reputations. Bram’s time with us is marked by several milestones that have significantly enhanced our reach and impact. He led our comprehensive brand transformation, including a modern visual identity and a fully revitalized website. His community-driven communication approach resulted in our LinkedIn community to grow organically from 950 to over 13,500 followers today. His work also extended to our flagship events and portfolio support, helping scale F&A Next to over 800 global participants and supporting an ecosystem that saw startup portfolio funding increase from €96M to over €850M. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗺’𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲: "It has been a privilege and a delight to contribute to the immense development and growth of StartLife and the global agrifoodtech ecosystem over the past years. I want to wholeheartedly thank all my colleagues and partners of StartLife and F&A Next for the synergies that brought us to new heights. I am proud of our joint achievements in the transition toward a sustainable, healthy, and fair food system. I leave StartLife knowing that we have made a significant mark on the industry." We thank Bram for his valuable contributions and commitment during his time with StartLife. We appreciate the energy he has brought to his role and the work he has done with colleagues and partners across the ecosystem. He has been a significant contributor to the StartLife journey, and we greatly appreciate the passion he brought to our mission. We wish Bram every success as he steps into his new role as Marketing & Communications Manager at SCOPEinsight and its flagship program AgriGRADE, a wonderful and fitting new challenge. All the best Bram! #StartLife #AgriFoodTech #Innovation #Startups