• This new centre at Zamudio (Bizkaia) is one of five created by the organisation across Europe. A total of 50 innovative companies have been selected from among 321 applications submitted. This week, the managers of the ten start-ups selected for Bilbao were installed in the accelerator.
  • The entrepreneurs arriving in the Basque Country are from Spain, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Romania. Of the programme’s four month duration, the first month will be spent at Zamudio and they will compete for the three funding prizes.
  • EIT Food is an EU-backed project within the agrifood sector, last year choosing the Basque Country as the headquarters for Southern Europe, along with Madrid.


Bilbao, 3 July 2019. The European consortium EIT Food headquarters at Bizkaia Science and Technology Park will this week be hosting companies of European origin. Specifically, ten agrifood start-ups have been selected for the Basque Country from a number of applications in order to take part in a four-month programme. The aim will be to accompany these young businesses, providing them with the advice and tools needed to grow in the market, and they will be able to choose funding at the end of the programme

Arantxa Tapia, Minister for Economic Development and Infrastructures, visited the EIT Food headquarters at Zamudio, where representatives of ten ‘start-ups’ have arrived at the incubator to begin the programme, and will be in the Basque Country for the whole of July. The Basque Government, Azti, the University of Torino, Danone and PeakBridge will take part in the EIT FAN (Food Accelerator Network) programme.

EIT Food is one of the six Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) that form part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an organisation independent of the EU. It has its headquarters in Leuven (Belgium), in addition to five sub-sites, one of which is shared between Madrid and Bilbao for Southern Europe.
It aims to provide links between consumers with businesses, ‘start-ups’, researchers and students from across Europe to support sustainable, innovative initiatives that will improve our health, the environment, and allow access to quality food. The participants in this programme will opt to become part of the EIT Food ecosystem and will collaborate in the consortium’s innovation strategy.

321 candidates received

In addition to the Basque Country, another four accelerators have been started up in Munich (Germany), Cambridge (United Kingdom), Lausanne (Switzerland) and Haifa (Israel). Of the 321 candidates received, 88 chose Bilbao (27%), making the Biscayan city one of the most sought after start-up destinations for young businesses in the European agrifood sector.

Ten ‘start-ups’ will compete at each one of the headquarters, 50 in total, for three funding prizes. Those coming to Zamudio will have various origins and functions. HOLA, formed in Portugalete, designs food-related objects for daily use in order to improve the quality of food and nutrition. NOVAMEAT, of Barcelona, is one of the leading European companies for producing meat alternatives, using 3D printing, vegetable proteins and tissue engineering.

Aquaponics Iberia, of Portugal, designs and supplies high technology urban systems for sustainable cultivation of fish and plants. BioBee Technologies, of Extremadura, provides miniaturised devices for remote biological mediums characterisation. Nucaps Nanotechnology, of Navarre, uses nanotechnology to create protein nanocapsules for oral use for healthy ingredients and probiotics that are safe and efficient.

Ecobloom, of Sweden, uses the technology to revolutionise the sustainable cultivation of fish and plants industry. Brite Drinks of the United Kingdom, is a new brand of drinks which improves mental health and activity. SmartFarming provides the Netherlands with agricultural advice tailored to small farmers with mobile applications who don’t need connection. Trigger Systems, of Portugal, uses technology and sensors to transform the agricultural industry. Finally, RAWCKERS is a Romanian start-up that manufactures alternatives to dairy products while maintaining the taste of products such as cheese.

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