Deadline Date: June 01, 2026
The EIT Food is now accepting applications to support science and engineering professionals in creating agrifood startups by matching them with business co-founders and providing funding and mentorship.
The programme focuses on agrifood innovation, startup creation, co-founder matchmaking, technology commercialisation, scientific and engineering solutions, market validation, customer development, business training, mentorship, funding support, entrepreneurship, and development of scalable agrifood ventures aligned with EIT Food missions and themes.
Seedbed TeamUp is a six-month online programme that connects technology innovators with entrepreneurial business professionals to co-create impactful agrifood startups. The initiative is designed to help participants form strong founding teams and transform innovative ideas into viable companies in the food and agriculture sector.
Participants receive support through co-founder matchmaking, expert guidance, training, mentorship, networking opportunities, and pre-seed funding assistance. The programme is fully online, enabling participation from anywhere in Europe.
Selected teams progress to a 12-week Exploration phase, during which each team receives a stipend of 6,000 EUR to support customer development interviews, technical exploration, and market validation activities. Participants also receive business training and one-to-one coaching from experts in agrifood technology and entrepreneurship.
At the end of the Exploration phase, teams pitch their business proposals to an independent expert panel. Four selected projects receive prizes of 40,000 EUR, 25,000 EUR, 15,000 EUR, and 10,000 EUR to support business launch. Additionally, participants receive a stipend of 3,000 EUR each to work on their projects.
The programme is open to individuals with strong technical or science-based backgrounds in food, agriculture, engineering, or related disciplines. Applicants should demonstrate innovative agrifood solutions aligned with EIT Food missions, strong motivation, collaboration skills, and good English proficiency. The programme is conducted entirely in English.
For more information, visit EIT Food.
