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innovation
The rapid adoption of GLP-1 medications is doing more than managing weight; it is beginning to rewire consumer behavior and investment priorities across the entire food system. PeakBridge, a leading agrifood venture capital firm and F&A Next organizing partner, is at the forefront of analyzing these shifts to identify where the strongest commercial moats are […]
The convergence of artificial intelligence and gene editing is fundamentally reshaping how crop innovation happens. As an F&A Next Catalyst Partner, Corteva Agriscience is actively advancing this shift by combining computational prediction with precision biology to accelerate breeding outcomes. In this piece, Mat Muller explores how these capabilities are coming together to move innovation from […]
Approximately 90% of startups fail, with most falling into the so-called “valley of death.” This critical scaling-up phase – the transition from founder-led experimentation to process-driven operations – remains the most significant hurdle for agrifood innovation. On 20–21 May, F&A Next returns to Wageningen to address this scaling crisis. For over a decade, the summit […]
Plant Science director at Wageningen University & Research, Dr Richard Harrison, reflects on a future where we can combine a diversity of farming systems and explores where the role of biotechnology will fit. Harrison explains how the current combination of increasing knowledge, AI and more accessible techniques is democratising science and speeding up biotechnology. Harrison […]
At F&A Next 2026, ten high-potential startups will take the stage as this year’s Next Heroes, representing the next generation of innovators in the agrifood sector. Selected by Rabobank and Anterra Capital, co-organising partners of F&A Next, this group reflects the most relevant innovation trends shaping the industry today. All selected companies will also be […]
Navigating the European regulatory landscape remains a significant hurdle for AgriFoodTech startups. To support founders and investors, the Novel Food Framework, a joint initiative by Invest-NL, GFI Europe, and Forward Food Law, has been expanded. Following high market demand, this practical guide to accelerating market entry and managing regulatory pathways is now available in newly […]
Despite a more selective global investment climate, the Spanish AgriFoodTech ecosystem continues to mature, now encompassing 416 active startups with a notable 48% adoption rate of artificial intelligence. As capital shifts toward scalable, impact-driven solutions, the upcoming F&A Next event provides a timely platform to examine Spain’s success during a period of market consolidation. Here, […]
A disrupting idea, a talented and motivated team of people, and hundreds of hours of work. That’s the story that many startups that passed through F&A Next have in common. Two such examples are our former Next Heroes in Food & Agtech Orbisk and Jord BioScience, thriving scaleups that recently raised millions of funding to […]
F&A Next is the place for food and agriculture technology innovators to meet and connect, but it is also a moment to award some of the rising companies in this space. We offer 10 startups the unique opportunity to take the stage and present themselves to the audience as one of the world’s Next Heroes […]
Together with Boston Consulting Group, the German AgriFood Alliance (GAFA) has conducted a study on the growth hurdles and limiting factors for startups. The resulting report offers a dive deep in to the findings of the german agrifood ecosystem and offers guidelines for improvement. The GAFA is an Innovation Partner at F&A Next 2023, and […]
Harm Edens of BNR radio interviews experts on why a bank is aiming to build a better world. This week, he speaks to Adam Anders, Managing Partner at Anterra Capital, about the role venture capitalism is playing to shape the future of food security. Adam Anders of Anterra Capital talks impact investing Listen to the […]
Impact investing – funding companies or organizations that can make a real difference to society – is creating a buzz in equity circles, but is it all that different from traditional venture capital? Three food and agtech investors explain. Impact investors on funding the future of food More than a quarter of all money under […]