The members of the winning team participated in the EIT Food EU Acceleration Program and 100 thousand euros. The competition held at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion in collaboration with Strauss
The Israeli startup company The Mediterranean Food Lab She is one of the three winners of the EIT Food Accelerator Network - a program of the European Union that accelerates startup companies that will shape the world of food in the coming decades. The company was founded by Yair Yousfi, Amr Ben Gal and Bizzy (Ben) Goldberg who in recent years have been engaged, each independently, in the research and development of flavorings from plants, and recently joined together to establish the start-up company.
The EIT Food Accelerator Network program was founded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and is taking place for the third year in the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion and in five European institutions at the same time. The program at the Technion is held in collaboration with Strauss Group and is one of the first programs that focuses on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the food world.
This year, 60 companies participated in the European program in six locations: Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Great Britain, Spain and Finland. In Israel, the program was held at the Technion campus under the leadership of Prof. Uri Lazmes (Academic Director), Dr. Avital Regev Siman Tov (CEO) and Prof. Eyal Shimoni (Strauss Group) and with the participation of ten startup companies from Israel, Italy and Great Britain, all from the fields of food or agriculture. The two outstanding companies advanced to the final stage of the European competition.
In the final competition stage of the European acceleration program, as mentioned, three startups won in different categories: The Mediterranean Food Lab the Israeli one, which develops natural solutions that improve the deliciousness of plant-derived food in general and of meat substitutes in particular; Odd.Bot The Dutch, who developed the Weed Whacker - a robotic system for weeding that is expected to reduce the use of pesticides; and-Arborea the British, who developed artificial biosolar leaves that produce oxygen and reduce the emission of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Each of the companies will receive 100 thousand euros.
The Mediterranean Food Lab company develops natural and healthy "flavor bases" produced with sustainable methods, precise fermentation and at an affordable price. This year the company also won a grant from the Good Food Institute to investigate the potential inherent in traditional food products from Southeast Asia in the development of flavorings for the meat substitute market.
Bizzy Goldberg, R&D Director and CEO of Mediterranean Food Lab, Explains that the rapid development in the meat substitute sector is limited to the main protein portion - a hamburger, for example - which occupies only 20% of the market; In contrast, using meat to influence other foods occupies 30% of the market. Therefore, explains Goldberg, "Even if we stop slaughtering animals to produce hamburgers and steaks, the food world will need billions of animals a year to satisfy our appetite for the taste characteristics that currently come from animal protein. Unless there is a suitable substitute for it. And that's the replacement we're working on."
Intensive studies and access to mentors from the industry
Goldberg explains that the accelerator program at the Technion, which included intensive studies, access to mentors from the industry and close consultation by faculty members from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering at the Technion, gave the company a very significant boost. The company's victory in the finals of the local competition at the Technion gave it the ticket to the European finals of the program, where the outstanding companies that passed the program in the various European centers arrived.
"We believe that innovation is the key to improving the food system and a condition for the food we consume to be healthy and sustainable," he said Business Development Manager at EIT Food, Benoit Bontin At the ceremony announcing the winners. "The selected startup companies reflect the uniqueness and innovation that characterize the EIT Food community and illustrate the vitality of entrepreneurs in accelerating change in the food world."
"EIT Food Accelerator Network is a unique pan-European program established to promote breakthroughs mainly through support and advice for new startups," he said Prof. Uri Lazmes from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering who led the acceleration program at the Technion. "This year, ten early stage start-up companies participated in the program at the Technion. Due to the corona crisis, the program was conducted in a hybrid manner and combined online teaching with practical workshops at the faculty. The companies that participated in the program at the Technion are engaged in finding food substitutes and enriching the familiar food chain - a trend that is prevalent in the food world today. Happily, Israel is today at the forefront of innovation in the field. The Israeli entrepreneurs bring creativity and courage to the food field, and it is not without reason that Israel is an important player in the global foodtech industry."
Dr. Avi Spiegelman from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering And one of the leaders of the program at the Technion points out that "the uniqueness of the program lies in the combination of knowledge and skills from academia and industry and the location of the program within the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering - a location that makes its knowledge and advanced infrastructure accessible to participants."
According to Dr. Avital Regev Siman-Tov, CEO of the program in Israel, "The program expresses the spirit of the Israeli startup nation and the knowledge gained in it and exposes the participants to a unique combination of lectures, practical workshops and leading experts in the industry. In fact, the program formulated by us at the Technion together with Strauss has become one of the building blocks of the European acceleration program, which will soon begin its fourth year of operation. "
This is the second time in the three years of the program that a company that participated in the program at the Technion has won the prestigious award. In the first round it was Redefine Meat - an Israeli company that developed a technology for XNUMXD printing of steak pieces from vegetable materials. According to the company's CEO Ashhar Ben Shatrit, that win led to significant recruitments and the expansion of the team.
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