KM ZERO Venturing increases its international reach in its second edition, which has started with the presentation of the 20 foodtech startups chosen for this pioneering program in open innovation in the food industry, including the Nucaps, company located in the CEIN Nurseries in Noáin. The biotechnological company will be part of a selection in which almost half of the foodtech chosen have been founded abroad, coming from countries such as Israel, USA, Portugal, France and Ireland.
Nucaps has gained access to KM ZERO Venturing thanks to its proposal focused on the design and manufacture of functional ingredients, through a patented protein microencapsulation technology. The biotech firm led by Mariano Oto continues to gain momentum after reaching the milestone of producing ingredients for up to 15 companies in Europe and Latin America and integrating into several research projects.
The 20 startups selected will have access to a complete work plan and accompaniment with the nine large corporations of the food industry that have promoted this edition: Mahou San Miguel, Makro, Incarlopsa, Estiu ice cream, Sausages Martínez, Traditional dishes, CAPSA VIDA, Vicky Foods, Arancia Group. To this important corporate presence will be added the relationship with 20 funds with a potential investor of more than 2.5 billion euros, introduced as the main novelty of this edition to boost the financing of startups.
Among the startups presented by the participants also highlights the increase of solutions linked to sustainability and decabornization, such as the transformation of biomass of food origin into bioplastics or the development of compostable biomaterials for food packaging. Along with these projects, the rest of the startups focus their work in areas such as the development of new proteins, health and digitization, through solutions to improve the nutritional profile of food, replacing sugar or implementing technologies that boost the efficiency of the food industry.
More than 220 applications from 22 countries
The growth of KM ZERO Venturing has also been reflected in the interest aroused by the initiative in international startups, which have accounted for almost half of the applications submitted. Thus, the second edition of the program has received 224 applications from 22 countries, 40% more than in its previous call, which received proposals from about 160 startups. At the head of the countries with the most participation, Spain is again ranked with up to 120 of the startups candidates, followed by Israel, which stands out with 23 registered startups, Mexico, the US and Colombia.
“This second edition of KM ZERO Venturing has brought together companies from all over the food chain around the same table to look for solutions around the world to the shared challenges of the sector. Thanks to our 5 years of work we have positioned ourselves as a benchmark in corporate venturing in solid foodtech ecosystems such as Israeli, Latin American and Spanish for corporates, startups and investors who come to us to collaborate,” says Beatriz Jacoste, director of KM ZERO Food Innovation Hub, who highlighted the great evolution of the program: “we have doubled the number of startups selected and increased the participating corporations, in addition to surpassing the 220 applications received during the call. It is a success that we consider collective, since it reflects the real change of the industry towards collaborative models, more responsible and based on open innovation”, they have explained from KM ZERO Venturing in a note.
