F&A is all about the future of our food system. Startups represent this forward-looking vision, and each year we select ten promising young companies to participate in the Next Heroes in Food & Agtech program. Five of them competed in the early-stage category (pre-seed to seed), and five in the later-stage category (Series A/B).
Additionally, the jury selects two Next Heroes to receive the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award (FSSIA), which includes a €12,500 prize to invest in their company. Agrobiomics triumphed in the early stage category with its nature-based solutions to strengthen crop resilience. Vivici received the accolade in the later-stage category with its technology to produce proteins more sustainably. We spoke with them to get their take on their F&A Next and Next Heroes experience.
Being a Next Hero
For Ananda Scherner, CEO of Agrobiomics, it was the first time joining F&A Next. “I was positively surprised by the organization and the quality of the attendees,” she says. Founded in 2022, the Danish startup has a mission to make agriculture more resilient to climate change. Their biological solution, Fortify, is a biostimulant that helps crops cope with drought and salinity, thereby increasing their robustness. Their solution can save €90 billion per year in yield losses.
The company is on a growing trajectory, having raised €4 million last year and secured a €1.5 million grant from the Green Development and Demonstration Programme (GUDP).“What I believe made the difference between the other contestants is the global impact of our technology. I think the judges saw that it can be integrated into different food production systems, and they could picture its way into the market.”
Stephan van Sint Fiet, CEO of Vivici, had attended the summit before, in fact, since the company was founded in 2023. Coming back remains highly valuable. “We met with a lot of companies that are aiming to do something similar to what we do, which is to feed a growing planet. And maybe they are upstream in the value chain, downstream in retail, but seeing how innovation happens across the chain is extremely inspiring,” he said.
The Leiden-based scaleup has been focused from day one on leveraging precision fermentation to create alternative protein. Particularly, they have developed Vivitein™, a beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) protein with high nutritional value and relevant properties that improve the texture and mouthfeel of food products.
Vivici’s road ahead
Vivici’s Vivitein™ BLG protein is now self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognised as Safe) in the United States. With two products already on the market that use the ingredient, Stephan is looking forward to expanding the range of products that utilize it.
The scaleup will invest the prize money in innovation, funding a research project about a new technology to improve their downstream processing. “The other thing is that we are thrilled about receiving this prize because it is a sustainable innovation award. It is the ecosystem and peer group giving us the message that they believe what we are doing is a sustainable innovation,” adds Van Sint Fiet.
Agrobiomics’ focus
Agrobiomics will also use the money to finance its journey, guided by a clear vision. “We have defined two product concepts that we aim to bring to market in 2027. And we are working towards them. Our focus for this year is to secure the successful scale-up of production and set collaboration agreements to bring the solution to the market in key geographies,” says Scherner.
Learn more about this year’s Next Heroes in Food & Agtech program participants
