As one of our Next Heroes in Food & AgTech, you’ll have the chance to win the prestigious Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award. In 2025, for the first time, we will honor not one but two winners, each receiving €12,500. The jury will select one winner in the Pre-Seed/Seed stage category and another in the Series A/B stage category.
Named after former DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma, the DSM Brighter Living Foundation made the award possible. Its purpose is to support innovators and entrepreneurs worldwide in scaling their science-based solutions, focusing strongly on sustainable, climate-resilient food systems.
During the closing ceremony of the F&A Next Summit, Mr. Sijbesma will personally present the awards to the winners. The selection will be made by an independent jury composed of investors and industry ex
Qualification requirements Next Heroes in Food & Agtech:
Apply if your startup…
- Works on a genuinely innovative and sustainable product or technology with an application in food and/or agriculture.
- Aims to impact at scale with a focus on sustainability (people, profit, and planet) and climate-resilient agrifood systems.
- Builds something that consumers or the industry needs or wants.
- Is anywhere between the Pre-seed and Series-B stage (your company is not older than 10 years).
- Actively looks for funding or partnerships.
F&A Next only considers applications that meet the above qualification criteria. Another requirement is that a (co)founder will be the person pitching live on stage at F&A Next.
