[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":787},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fgQ_o8omUbit7AlIIBF4AAHinLh9emgMEkVPsPx7f-YM":3},{"success":4,"update":5,"relatedUpdates":641},true,{"_id":6,"title":7,"slug":8,"excerpt":9,"contentText":10,"richContent":11,"featuredMedia":613,"firstPublishedDate":616,"lastPublishedDate":616,"hashtags":617,"tags":618,"url":635,"language":636,"memberId":637,"pinned":390,"featured":390,"commentingEnabled":4,"translations":638,"categoryIds":639,"relatedPostIds":640},"16ec3bb5-3018-4091-8353-53266dadea2a","From Lab Bench to Supermarket Shelf: EU Funding for Food Innovation in 2026","from-lab-bench-to-supermarket-shelf-eu-funding-for-food-innovation-in-2026","Alternative protein and precision fermentation used to be niche categories chasing scraps of venture capital. In 2026, they're a named EU funding priority, with dedicated grant lines, accelerator fast tracks, and trade mission support attached. 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The Fast Lane Just Got Faster For startups that have already run the gauntlet of early-stage EU funding, there's now a genuine accelerated path. AgriVentures flagged a new Eureka call offering a fast track to the EIC Accelerator, specifically for startups and SMEs that completed Eurostars-3 projects. Call 5 runs from August 31 to September 25, 2026. If your food innovation venture has any Eurostars-3 history, this is the shortest route to European Innovation Council funding currently available. Alongside it, Biotope Ventures has opened applications for its Fall 2026 Basecamp, offering early-stage biotech startups up to €350,000 in funding plus mentorship and access to Europe's biotech ecosystem. Applications close September 25, 2026. These are exactly the kind of time-boxed windows where being one week late means waiting an entire funding cycle. Innovation That Already Made It to Market Funding is only the first step. The goal is a product that reaches real customers. AgriVentures' case studies include Rosey's Mark, a premium food producer selected for an EU Trade Mission to Japan under European Commissioner leadership, proof that food innovation funding in Europe can lead directly to international market access, not just a prototype in a lab. Our broader project portfolio also includes TrueFoods, which works on post-harvest sustainability, equity, and resilience across eight countries under the FutureFoodS European Partnership for Sustainable Food Systems. It's a reminder that \"food innovation\" funding increasingly rewards systems-level thinking, not just a single new product. Why Founders Miss These Windows Food innovation funding is scattered across at least four institutional tracks: EIC, Eureka and Eurostars, national biotech accelerators, and thematic Horizon Europe calls, each with its own eligibility quirks such as prior project history, consortium requirements, and TRL thresholds. Most founders discover a perfect-fit call only after its deadline has passed, simply because no single source pulls all four together in one place. See Every Open Call Before the Deadline, Not After AgriVentures exists to close exactly that gap. Members get a live, filterable database of more than 500 agrifood funding opportunities, including Innovative Food and Food Biotech calls, matched to their profile with deadline reminders built in. Starter, at €8.90 a month, includes full access to the funding database along with a newsletter and activity updates, enough to catch fast-moving calls like the EIC Accelerator fast track. Standard, the most popular plan at €12.90 a month, adds a favorites list, tailored newsletters, and interest-based filtering so alternative protein and fermentation calls surface automatically. Tailored, at €49.90 a month, gives unlimited matching notifications for teams applying across several biotech and food-tech tracks at once. 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Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization. By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. 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mission",{"url":605,"target":63,"rel":606},"https:\u002F\u002Fdonate.stripe.com\u002FcNiaEW0rHadWdEa0mS4wM01",{"noreferrer":4},{"type":14,"id":608,"nodes":609,"paragraphData":610},"s51zy14716",[],{"textStyle":611},{"textAlignment":39},{},{"image":614},{"url":615,"altText":7},"wix:image:\u002F\u002Fv1\u002F51ee1c8376504b319b74225eee977151.jpg\u002F51ee1c8376504b319b74225eee977151.jpg#originWidth=2902&originHeight=2884","2026-08-30T19:33:38.573Z",[],[619,623,627,631],{"_id":620,"label":621,"slug":622},"212442a5-47ee-4926-903e-19975fab7f02","Innovative Food","innovative-food",{"_id":624,"label":625,"slug":626},"8ef35eac-9923-473d-afc9-53827cc3ba7f","AgriFood & Biotech research","agrifood-biotech-research",{"_id":628,"label":629,"slug":630},"cbecd352-91ee-4a79-8d7a-4361217b7511","News","news",{"_id":632,"label":633,"slug":634},"7a0b69d8-2238-4b96-b124-894fb4fa6a61","Sustainable & Circular Agrifood","sustainable-circular-agrifood","https:\u002F\u002Fxpsc9qx4zmq8jvdz5c8j.agriventures.co\u002Fpost\u002Ffrom-lab-bench-to-supermarket-shelf-eu-funding-for-food-innovation-in-2026","en","1cd362a1-09ac-4de4-951b-bf76d96262ce",[],[],[],[642,664,692,717,747,768],{"_id":643,"title":644,"slug":645,"excerpt":646,"contentText":647,"featuredMedia":648,"firstPublishedDate":651,"lastPublishedDate":651,"hashtags":652,"tags":653,"url":660,"language":636,"memberId":637,"pinned":390,"featured":390,"commentingEnabled":4,"translations":661,"categoryIds":662,"relatedPostIds":663},"dbc503ea-5b6b-49e7-ab43-50992c68bdf5","Where Agrifood Biotech and Research Funding Is Actually Going in 2026","where-agrifood-biotech-and-research-funding-is-actually-going-in-2026","Basic research doesn't fund itself, and in agrifood, the gap between a promising lab result and a fundable project often comes down to knowing which of a dozen overlapping EU programmes to approach first. Food safety science, biotech platforms, and multi-country research consortia each follow their own funding logic, and 2026 has brought fresh calls across all three. Two Live Examples Worth Studying Safe-Agri, one of AgriVentures' active projects, is reinforcing the security assessment...","Basic research doesn't fund itself, and in agrifood, the gap between a promising lab result and a fundable project often comes down to knowing which of a dozen overlapping EU programmes to approach first. Food safety science, biotech platforms, and multi-country research consortia each follow their own funding logic, and 2026 has brought fresh calls across all three. Two Live Examples Worth Studying Safe-Agri, one of AgriVentures' active projects, is reinforcing the security assessment framework for agri-food innovation under the EU's REINFORCING initiative. It's a good example of how regulatory science work, the unglamorous but essential job of building assessment frameworks, is now a fundable category in its own right rather than an afterthought to product development. TrueFoods, also active in our portfolio, tackles post-harvest sustainability, equity, and resilience across eight countries, funded through FutureFoodS, the European Partnership for Sustainable Future of Food Systems, with EU co-financing. Projects at this scale show what EU research funders increasingly want to see: cross-border consortia producing evidence that changes policy, not just publishable results. If your research touches food safety, agri-biotech platforms, or multi-country food systems resilience, these two projects are a useful benchmark for what a competitive application actually looks like. The €350,000 Door That's Open Right Now For early-stage biotech ventures, timing matters. AgriVentures flagged that Biotope Ventures has opened applications for its Fall 2026 Basecamp, offering up to €350,000 in funding plus mentorship and access to Europe's biotech ecosystem, with applications closing September 25, 2026. Accelerator funding like this is often the fastest route from a research finding to a company that can commercialize it. Research Funding Rewards Consortia, Not Solo Applicants A recurring theme across Safe-Agri, TrueFoods, and most Horizon Europe research calls is that the strongest applications come from partnerships, not single institutions. Part of finding funding is really finding the right co-applicants, something AgriVentures supports directly through matchmaking and an expert network built from years of structuring exactly these kinds of consortium bids. The Hidden Cost of Manual Funding Research Academic and industry researchers already spend enormous time on the science itself. Spending equal time cross-referencing REINFORCING, FutureFoodS, Horizon Europe Cluster 6, and national research council calls, each with a different format, deadline, and eligibility language, is time not spent on the research. It's also how strong projects miss deadlines they were always eligible for. Let AgriVentures Track the Calls While You Run the Lab AgriVentures maintains a live, curated database of more than 500 agrifood funding opportunities, including Food, Biotech & Agri Research calls, matched to your institution's or startup's profile with deadline alerts built in. Starter, at €8.90 a month, covers full database access, a newsletter, and activity updates. Standard, the most popular plan at €12.90 a month, adds a favorites list, tailored newsletters with open calls, deadline reminders, and interest-based filtering for biotech and research funding specifically. Tailored, at €49.90 a month, brings unlimited matching notifications, well suited to research teams tracking several consortium calls a year. Business, at €199.90 a month, adds monthly one-on-one expert support, matchmaking to find consortium partners, event invitations, and PIC registration support for Horizon Europe applications. Every plan starts with a 7 day free trial. See your matched research funding calls at agriventures.co. The next Safe-Agri or TrueFoods-scale project starts with finding the right call on time. Check out our guides for funding opportunities Agriventures Connect 3.0  is coming on 20th of April 2027 in Sofia, Bulgaria  The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation. Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization. By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.",{"image":649},{"url":650,"altText":644},"wix:image:\u002F\u002Fv1\u002F3f0266d03420479cbc7079d6c2228ea1.jpg\u002F3f0266d03420479cbc7079d6c2228ea1.jpg#originWidth=4075&originHeight=2442","2026-08-30T19:36:21.577Z",[],[654,655,659],{"_id":624,"label":625,"slug":626},{"_id":656,"label":657,"slug":658},"b759c01d-1f8c-4d93-993b-c82e8285d11d","Agriventures updates","agriventures-updates",{"_id":628,"label":629,"slug":630},"https:\u002F\u002Fxpsc9qx4zmq8jvdz5c8j.agriventures.co\u002Fpost\u002Fwhere-agrifood-biotech-and-research-funding-is-actually-going-in-2026",[],[],[],{"_id":665,"title":666,"slug":667,"excerpt":668,"contentText":669,"featuredMedia":670,"firstPublishedDate":673,"lastPublishedDate":674,"hashtags":675,"tags":676,"url":688,"language":636,"memberId":637,"pinned":390,"featured":390,"commentingEnabled":4,"translations":689,"categoryIds":690,"relatedPostIds":691},"ef924b99-1642-4478-a770-1b1d21357734","VerAgro launches a free self-assessment to help farms measure - and improve - their sustainability","veragro-launches-a-free-self-assessment-to-help-farms-measure-and-improve-their-sustainability","\"How sustainable is your farm?\" It's a question most producers can answer instinctively, but rarely with hard numbers. A new Bulgarian startup wants to change that. VerAgro, a Bulgaria-based agtech startup, has launched a free online self-assessment that gives farms and processors a clear, structured picture of where they stand on sustainability — and what to do next. A 20-minute check-up for your farm The tool works like a health check-up for your operation. Farmers and processors answer 57...","\"How sustainable is your farm?\" It's a question most producers can answer instinctively, but rarely with hard numbers. A new Bulgarian startup wants to change that. VerAgro, a Bulgaria-based agtech startup, has launched a free online self-assessment that gives farms and processors a clear, structured picture of where they stand on sustainability — and what to do next. A 20-minute check-up for your farm The tool works like a health check-up for your operation. Farmers and processors answer 57 straightforward questions covering their day-to-day practices, and in about 20 minutes receive a breakdown across 13 indicators, grouped into three pillars: Your Land & Resources — how soil, water, and energy are managed and cared for. Your People & Community — working conditions, safety, and the relationships that hold a team together. Your Business & Practices — how a farm sells, keeps records, and maintains long-term stability. Rather than handing back a single abstract score, VerAgro's assessment is built to translate directly into action: each result comes with concrete, practical tips a farm can use to improve. For an industry where sustainability requirements from buyers, regulators, and EU programs are only getting more demanding, that combination — a clear diagnosis plus a next step — is what sets the tool apart from a typical checklist or audit. Why this matters now Across Bulgaria and the wider region, farms and processors are increasingly being asked to prove their sustainability credentials — to retailers setting sourcing standards, to funders attaching conditions to subsidies and grants, and to export markets tightening their requirements. Many producers are already doing good work on the ground, but lack an easy way to see it clearly or communicate it. VerAgro's assessment gives them a starting point: a way to see, in their own words and on their own data, what they're already doing right and where the gaps are — before an external audit or buyer questionnaire forces the issue. Because the assessment is free and takes about the time of a coffee break, it lowers the barrier for smaller producers who might otherwise never get a formal sustainability review at all. Try it for yourself Farms and processors curious where they stand can take the free assessment directly at veragro.co — no cost, no lengthy sign-up, just 57 questions and a clear picture of your farm's sustainability at the end. As more producers across the region take stock of their practices, tools like VerAgro's are a sign of where Bulgarian agtech is heading: practical, farmer-facing solutions that turn sustainability from a compliance headache into something farms can actually track and improve. Sources: veragro.co Checkout our guides for funding opportunities Agriventures Connect 3.0  is coming on 20th of April 2027 in Sofia, Bulgaria  The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation. Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization. By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.",{"image":671},{"url":672,"altText":666},"wix:image:\u002F\u002Fv1\u002F11062b_a60675279c964e6dabed1d23c4410f20~mv2.jpg\u002FPlant%20Nursery.jpg#originWidth=5000&originHeight=3333","2026-08-23T08:48:16.000Z","2026-08-30T18:08:51.003Z",[],[677,678,679,680,684],{"_id":628,"label":629,"slug":630},{"_id":632,"label":633,"slug":634},{"_id":656,"label":657,"slug":658},{"_id":681,"label":682,"slug":683},"c91dd194-3b18-4a7a-90a6-50ead08c2a48","Digital Farming","digital-farming",{"_id":685,"label":686,"slug":687},"c1377654-37f1-4a84-8610-1150323a5a59","Case studies","case-studies","https:\u002F\u002Fxpsc9qx4zmq8jvdz5c8j.agriventures.co\u002Fpost\u002Fveragro-launches-a-free-self-assessment-to-help-farms-measure-and-improve-their-sustainability",[],[],[],{"_id":693,"title":694,"slug":695,"excerpt":696,"contentText":697,"featuredMedia":698,"firstPublishedDate":701,"lastPublishedDate":702,"hashtags":703,"tags":704,"url":713,"language":636,"memberId":637,"pinned":390,"featured":390,"commentingEnabled":4,"translations":714,"categoryIds":715,"relatedPostIds":716},"81acfae0-05f5-4472-9550-784378f907fc","A New Door Is Opening for Bulgarian Farmers and Agri-Innovators - And It's Fully Funded","a-new-door-is-opening-for-bulgarian-farmers-and-agri-innovators-and-it-s-fully-funded","For years, the biggest barrier between Bulgarian agriculture and Europe's most advanced farms hasn't been ambition. It's been access — to the right rooms, the right people, and the budget to get there. AgriVentures' new Missions program was built to remove exactly that barrier, and it does it in a way few programs in the region ever have: by covering the full cost of getting Bulgarian farmers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and companies in front of Europe's leading agri-food innovators. If you...","For years, the biggest barrier between Bulgarian agriculture and Europe's most advanced farms hasn't been ambition. It's been access — to the right rooms, the right people, and the budget to get there. AgriVentures' new Missions program was built to remove exactly that barrier, and it does it in a way few programs in the region ever have: by covering the full cost of getting Bulgarian farmers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and companies in front of Europe's leading agri-food innovators. If you work in Bulgarian agriculture, agritech, or agri-food research, this is one of the more concrete opportunities to appear in 2026 — and it's worth understanding exactly how it works. What the AgriVentures Missions Actually Are The Missions program is a series of curated international study tours that connect Bulgarian agricultural professionals with leading farms, research centers, and startups across Europe. Rather than a generic trade delegation, each mission is built around direct, structured exposure: site visits to advanced farms, meetings with agritech companies, and access to a major European trade event. Planned stops include destinations in Italy, Spain, and Belgium, along with a delegation to Agritechnica — the world's leading agricultural machinery trade fair, taking place November 14–20, 2027 in Hanover, Germany. Exact dates and final destinations for each mission will be confirmed as candidate selection progresses, but the itinerary already signals serious ambition: this isn't a sightseeing tour, it's a working trip designed to produce partnerships, contracts, and funding leads. Who This Is Actually For The program is deliberately built for four distinct groups, each with a different reason to go: Farmers get direct access to techniques, machinery, and digital tools already in use on advanced European farms — the kind of on-the-ground knowledge that's hard to get from a webinar or a brochure, and that can meaningfully cut input costs or improve yields back home. Entrepreneurs and startup founders get a chance to validate their product with early adopters, meet distributors, and connect with investors who already understand the agri-food sector — rather than starting from zero in a new market. Researchers and scientists get to tour leading laboratories, compare methodologies with European peers, and identify potential partners for joint EU-funded research projects. Corporates get a structured way to scout technologies, startups, and collaboration models that fit their innovation pipelines or ESG commitments. That range matters. It reflects something AgriVentures has built its whole platform around: agri-food innovation in Bulgaria isn't just a farmer's problem or a founder's problem — it's an ecosystem problem, and the people who solve it need to be in the same room. Why \"Fully Funded\" Is the Detail That Changes Everything International study tours aren't a new idea. What makes this one different is that transport and accommodation costs are fully covered for selected participants, funded through AgroDigiRise 2.0, a European Digital Innovation Hub for agriculture. That's a meaningful detail: AgroDigiRise was recognized as one of Europe's first digital innovation hubs dedicated specifically to agriculture, and it's one of several EU-backed digital innovation hubs now operating in Bulgaria's South Central region. The Belgium leg of the program also comes with institutional weight behind it, developed in partnership with Flanders Investment & Trade and the Belgian Embassy — the kind of government-to-government backing that typically opens doors a private company alone couldn't. In short: the cost barrier that normally keeps smaller Bulgarian farms and early-stage startups out of these rooms has been deliberately removed. How the Process Works The application path is straightforward but competitive, since spaces are limited: Pre-register by email to receive full program details as dates and destinations are confirmed. Apply with a short motivation statement explaining what you're looking to get out of the mission. Selection — AgriVentures curates participants based on fit, readiness, and potential impact. Participate in the mission itself — site visits, meetings, and structured networking. Follow-up support after the trip, helping turn the contacts made abroad into actual partnerships, pilot projects, or funding applications. That last step is easy to overlook, but it's arguably the most important one. A study tour that ends when the plane lands home is a nice trip. A study tour with structured follow-up is a pipeline. Part of a Bigger Moment for Bulgarian Agriculture The Missions program isn't happening in isolation — it's landing at a moment when Bulgarian agriculture is getting more institutional attention than it has in years. On the funding side, Bulgaria's CAP Strategic Plan for 2023–2027, part of a combined €20.5 billion package approved for Bulgaria and Romania, continues to channel EU support into the sector, and 2026 has been described in Bulgarian financial press as a year of record CAP payment levels for farmers. Separate national investment calls — including recent grant rounds worth hundreds of millions of euro for farm investment in vulnerable sectors — are opening alongside it. On the innovation side, momentum is visibly building in Sofia. In March 2026, AgriVentures Connect drew a sold-out crowd of farmers, investors, scientists, and technology companies to the capital for a day focused on practical innovation in the agrifood sector — covering everything from EIC and EIT funding instruments to precision agriculture and carbon farming as new income streams. Bulgarian agritech companies are getting international recognition too: robotics and AI-driven farming startup Smart Farm Robotix was recently named among the country's most promising startups to watch. Put together, the picture is clear: funding is flowing, attention is growing, and the Missions program is a direct, low-friction way for individual farmers and innovators to plug into that momentum rather than watch it from the sidelines. Frequently Asked Questions What is a European Digital Innovation Hub, and why does it matter here? It's an EU-backed center that helps businesses — especially SMEs and farms — access digital tools, testing facilities, and funding to modernize. AgroDigiRise is one of the first in Europe focused specifically on agriculture, which is why it's able to underwrite programs like the Missions. Is the program really free to join? Transport and accommodation for selected participants are fully covered through AgroDigiRise 2.0. As with any funded program, final terms are confirmed at selection, so applicants should read the confirmed program details closely once received. Do I need to already run a company to apply? No. The program is open to farmers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and corporate innovation teams — you don't need an existing startup to benefit from the farm visits or knowledge-sharing. How competitive is selection? Spaces are limited and selection is curated based on fit and motivation, so a clear, specific motivation statement matters more than a long resume. How to Get Started Spaces in each mission are limited, and destinations are being finalized on a rolling basis. The fastest way to stay ahead of the selection process is to pre-register through AgriVentures' Missions page now, so you're first in line when dates, destinations, and selection criteria are confirmed. Bulgarian agriculture doesn't lack talent or ambition. What it's often lacked is a funded bridge to the rest of Europe's agri-food innovation ecosystem. This is that bridge — and it's open for applications. Checkout our guides for funding opportunities Agriventures Connect 3.0  is coming on 20th of April 2027 in Sofia, Bulgaria  The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation. Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization. By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.",{"image":699},{"url":700,"altText":694},"wix:image:\u002F\u002Fv1\u002F1cd362_257c3c47e6324bcc8594b4cea65f2ac9~mv2.jpg\u002F_01_AgriVenture_SEC_04062026(145).jpg#originWidth=1024&originHeight=768","2026-08-23T08:40:51.000Z","2026-08-30T18:09:07.838Z",[],[705,706,707,708,709],{"_id":628,"label":629,"slug":630},{"_id":632,"label":633,"slug":634},{"_id":656,"label":657,"slug":658},{"_id":681,"label":682,"slug":683},{"_id":710,"label":711,"slug":712},"4df0061f-1f9e-4f0d-8498-4ac293a4fd16","Events","events","https:\u002F\u002Fxpsc9qx4zmq8jvdz5c8j.agriventures.co\u002Fpost\u002Fa-new-door-is-opening-for-bulgarian-farmers-and-agri-innovators-and-it-s-fully-funded",[],[],[],{"_id":718,"title":719,"slug":720,"excerpt":721,"contentText":722,"featuredMedia":723,"firstPublishedDate":726,"lastPublishedDate":726,"hashtags":727,"tags":728,"url":743,"language":636,"memberId":637,"pinned":390,"featured":390,"commentingEnabled":4,"translations":744,"categoryIds":745,"relatedPostIds":746},"64b24ad4-678a-44f8-9ada-0fbe0cb5977d","Inside projects.agriventures.co: Your Gateway to EU AgriFood Innovation","inside-projects-agriventures-co-your-gateway-to-eu-agrifood-innovation","AgriVentures has launched projects.agriventures.co, a dedicated portal that brings the full portfolio of our EU-funded initiatives into one place. Where agriventures.co connects agrifood innovators with funding, the Projects site shows what happens next: the live programmes, Living Lab pilots, and network activity that funding makes possible. Here's what you'll find on the site — and how each part of our community can put it to work. A Live Portfolio of EU Projects The homepage opens with our...","AgriVentures has launched projects.agriventures.co, a dedicated portal that brings the full portfolio of our EU-funded initiatives into one place. Where agriventures.co connects agrifood innovators with funding, the Projects site shows what happens next: the live programmes, Living Lab pilots, and network activity that funding makes possible. Here's what you'll find on the site — and how each part of our community can put it to work. A Live Portfolio of EU Projects The homepage opens with our active project portfolio, each one co-funded by the European Union and built around a real challenge in the agrifood sector: •     Sysarm — systemic resilience and modernisation in farming, co-funded through Erasmus+. •     Circular Voices — amplifying farmer and researcher voices in circular food systems, part of the Circular Food Systems \u002F Global Research Alliance network. •     Safe-Agri — strengthening security assessment frameworks for agrifood innovation. •     TrueFoods — advancing post-harvest sustainability, equity, and resilience across eight countries, under the FutureFoodS partnership. •     Agrodigirise — driving digital transformation for farms and agribusinesses through the Digital Europe Programme. •     Foodity SEBP — a completed initiative on sustainable employee benefits for responsible companies and consumers. Each project page lays out its funding source, objectives, and current status, so visitors can see at a glance where AgriVentures is active and how a specific programme relates to their own work. An Ecosystem Map and a Library of Free Guides Beyond individual projects, the site maps our wider innovation ecosystem — members, Living Labs, and partners across the network — and hosts a growing library of free downloadable guides covering EU agrifood funding, women's entrepreneurship in agriculture, food and beverage innovation, soil health and carbon farming, circular economy models, digital tools and robotics, biotechnology, and European biomass flows. It also lists upcoming international innovation missions — study visits to farms and innovators abroad, with travel and accommodation costs covered for approved participants — plus the latest updates from AgriVentures Connect events and the team's LinkedIn activity.   Four Ways to Get Value From the Site The site is organised around four audiences, each with a direct path to the right kind of support. For Farmers Farmers can request a free service, join a Living Lab pilot, or apply for support in shaping a project idea. Being part of the Living Lab network means access to sensors and monitoring tools, hands-on expert guidance, and visibility within the AgriVentures ecosystem — plus the chance to join fully-funded innovation missions to farms and events across Europe. For Startups and Innovators Startups can tap into Testing Farms services for field validation, get matched with partners, and find open EU funding calls where AgriVentures is actively building a consortium. The projects listed on the site — from digital farming to food safety — are entry points into concrete, fundable collaborations rather than abstract opportunities. For Corporate and Institutional Partners Companies and institutions can sponsor a Living Lab, launch joint R&D work, or commission life-cycle, legal, and financial assessments that feed directly into ESG and CSRD reporting. Partnering through the site connects an organisation's sustainability strategy to real, on-the-ground pilots rather than a one-off report. For Researchers Researchers can join active consortia, co-author project deliverables, and draw on data collected across Living Labs in more than twenty countries. The portal is a direct line to practitioners and farms already engaged in the projects listed on the site, shortening the path from academic collaboration to field application.   Why It's Worth a Visit projects.agriventures.co exists to make AgriVentures' EU work visible and usable: every project, guide, and mission on the site is a concrete way in, whether the goal is funding, field validation, partnership, or research collaboration. Visitors can browse the project portfolio, download a guide, or reach out through the contact form that routes each enquiry — farmer, startup, corporate, or researcher — to the right person on the team. The site sits alongside agriventures.co, which focuses on funding discovery and application support; together, the two properties cover the full journey from finding the right EU grant to seeing a funded project run in the field. Checkout our guides for funding opportunities Agriventures Connect 3.0  is coming on 20th of April 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria  The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation. Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization. By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.",{"image":724},{"url":725,"altText":719},"wix:image:\u002F\u002Fv1\u002F1cd362_1a633f687e164727b737e9f8db4964da~mv2.jpg\u002FAgriSafe(22of204).jpg#originWidth=5000&originHeight=3333","2026-08-09T19:09:25.320Z",[],[729,730,731,735,736,737,738,739],{"_id":656,"label":657,"slug":658},{"_id":624,"label":625,"slug":626},{"_id":732,"label":733,"slug":734},"4e250c66-db11-4e96-ab32-2012cbfcf98b","Carbon farming","carbon-farming",{"_id":681,"label":682,"slug":683},{"_id":620,"label":621,"slug":622},{"_id":628,"label":629,"slug":630},{"_id":632,"label":633,"slug":634},{"_id":740,"label":741,"slug":742},"35d9c4dd-a7c1-46c3-b814-5dfecce7c382","Women in Agrifood","women-in-agrifood","https:\u002F\u002Fxpsc9qx4zmq8jvdz5c8j.agriventures.co\u002Fpost\u002Finside-projects-agriventures-co-your-gateway-to-eu-agrifood-innovation",[],[],[],{"_id":748,"title":749,"slug":750,"excerpt":751,"contentText":752,"featuredMedia":753,"firstPublishedDate":756,"lastPublishedDate":757,"hashtags":758,"tags":759,"url":764,"language":636,"memberId":637,"pinned":390,"featured":390,"commentingEnabled":4,"translations":765,"categoryIds":766,"relatedPostIds":767},"093cf7fa-0ca5-4fb6-90b0-d9b8620d8e10","Understanding Biomass Flows in Europe: A €6M Horizon Europe Call Agrifood Founders Shouldn't Miss","understanding-biomass-flows-in-europe-a-6m-horizon-europe-call-agrifood-founders-shouldn-t-miss","A question we've been getting a lot lately, including from our own LinkedIn community, is some version of: \"Can my startup actually apply for this, and how?\" This time it's about Understanding biomass flows in Europe (HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-05), a Horizon Europe call with a total budget of €6,000,000 that opened on 17 April 2026 and closes on 17 September 2026. It's exactly the kind of opportunity worth breaking down properly, because the honest answer is \"yes, but not the way most...","A question we've been getting a lot lately, including from our own LinkedIn community, is some version of: \"Can my startup actually apply for this, and how?\" This time it's about Understanding biomass flows in Europe (HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-05), a Horizon Europe call with a total budget of €6,000,000 that opened on 17 April 2026 and closes on 17 September 2026. It's exactly the kind of opportunity worth breaking down properly, because the honest answer is \"yes, but not the way most founders assume.\" Here's what the call actually funds, who's eligible, and the concrete steps to get from \"interested\" to \"submitted.\" 1. Why This Call Matters Biomass, wood, agricultural residues, food-industry by-products, algae, and more, sits at the heart of Europe's bioeconomy. It's a limited resource, and the solutions it enables, for climate, biodiversity, and new products, depend on how well we understand where it comes from, where it goes, and how much is actually available for sustainable use. The problem is concrete. The EU's forest carbon sink is below target and declining in most member states, while the need to restore ecosystems keeps growing. At the same time, industrial demand for biomass keeps rising. The result is tension between supply and demand that today is managed with incomplete, fragmented data spread across regions and sectors. That's precisely where this call comes in. The European Commission is funding projects that build better monitoring and assessment tools for biomass flows, from regional to EU-wide scale, and that show how that data can translate into real business decisions. It sits within the Commission's broader push on biotechnology and biomanufacturing, the Clean Industrial Deal, the new EU bioeconomy strategy, and the Circular Economy Act, so the data infrastructure built under this call is likely to shape policy and funding decisions for years afterward. 2. The Call at a Glance Parameter Value Topic identifier HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-05 Programme Horizon Europe, Cluster 6 – Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Type of action Research and Innovation Action (RIA) Call opens 17 April 2026 Deadline 17 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels time Total call budget €6,000,000 Indicative EU contribution per project ~€3,000,000 (expected to fund around 2 projects) Funding rate 100% of eligible costs Funding model Lump sum 3. What the Project Must Deliver Every proposal has to address all three mandatory activities: Build better monitoring tools. Develop or improve administration-light methods and digital tools for monitoring and modelling biomass flows at regional, national, and EU-wide scale, with particular attention to areas with untapped sustainable biomass potential. Update the supply-and-demand picture. Provide an updated estimate of biomass supply and demand today, and projected to 2050, at national and EU level, factoring in quality, potential uses, sustainability, and risks such as the spread of pathogens, together with scenarios for the EU's future bioresources. Test it in the real world. Test and demonstrate, together with stakeholders, the feasibility of biomass reporting in test regions across at least 10 countries in Europe with differing biomass supply potential. The European Commission's own Joint Research Centre (JRC) may join the winning consortium, either with zero funding or as an associated partner, since the tools developed are expected to feed into the EU-wide biomass assessment led by the Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy. Proposals are also encouraged to build on existing efforts: the Circular Biobased Europe Joint Undertaking, the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, the BIOEAST Initiative, and prior projects like BIO2REG, CONCERTO, and NextGenCarbon. 4. Who Can Apply This is where most solo founders self-select out too early, and where a little context changes the calculation. This call requires a consortium, not a solo application. To be eligible, a proposal must include at least three independent legal entities established in three different countries: at least one in an EU member state, and at least two more in different member states or countries associated to Horizon Europe. Eligible organisation types include SMEs and startups, private companies, research institutions and universities, public bodies, NGOs, and EU bodies. So a startup or SME absolutely can take part, but typically as a consortium partner rather than the lead applicant, since this is a Research and Innovation Action requiring broad, international expertise rather than a single company's product roadmap. Eligible countries include all EU member states, their linked overseas countries and territories, and countries associated to Horizon Europe: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, the Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, South Korea, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. 5. Getting Registered: PIC and Your Participant Profile Before you can be named on any proposal, your organisation needs a Participant Identification Code (PIC) on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. It's a one-time setup, but it's worth doing early: Create an EU Login account using a professional email address on the Funding & Tenders Portal, this is the entry point for everything else. Go to \"Organisations\" → \"Register your organisation\" in the Participant Register and search first to confirm your organisation isn't already registered. Duplicate PICs cause delays. If it isn't found, complete the registration form, sometimes referred to as the Participant Identification Form (PIF), with your organisation's exact legal name, address, legal status, and financial details. This generates a provisional 9-digit PIC. Appoint a LEAR (Legal Entity Appointed Representative) for your organisation, the person who manages your organisation's data and user access on the Portal going forward. Be ready to upload supporting documents (statutes or registration act, VAT certificate) if the Commission's validation services request them. Accuracy at this stage avoids delays later. Do this well before you need it: a provisional PIC is enough to be listed in a proposal, but full validation is required before signing a grant agreement. 6. Finding Partners and Announcing You're Looking Building a three-country consortium from scratch is the part founders underestimate most. A few concrete places to start: Use the Portal's own Partner Search tool. On the topic page for HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-05, log in and publish a partner request: what expertise you offer, what role you're looking to fill, and your contact details, visible to other registered users browsing the same call. Check the Pilots4U database, powered by the COPILOT project (biopilots4u.eu). It's a free, searchable directory of 100+ open-access pilot and demonstration infrastructures for the European bioeconomy across 21+ countries. Since Activity 3 of this call requires testing biomass reporting in at least 10 countries, these facilities and their contacts can become genuinely useful regional partners. Reach out to National Contact Points (NCPs) for Cluster 6 in your country and in countries where you need partners. They run their own partner-search tools and matchmaking events tied to specific calls. Use complementary networks: EURAXESS Partnering, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), and thematic platforms such as the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform and the BIOEAST Initiative, both explicitly named in the call text itself. Prepare a short pitch before you contact anyone. One to two pages, or a 3-5 slide deck, stating the topic reference (HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-05), your organisation's role and expertise, the kind of partner you're looking for (a research institution to lead modelling, or an SME with regional biomass data, for example), and a short paragraph on how you'd contribute to the three required activities. A tailored pitch gets replies; a generic one doesn't. 7. Preparing and Submitting Your Application Once the consortium and roles are set, the submission itself follows a fairly standard Horizon Europe process: Appoint a coordinator, usually the partner with the strongest RIA track record. Fill in Part A directly online in the submission system: administrative information about the organisations, a summarised budget, and call-specific questions. Download the Part B template from the Portal, complete the technical description of the project (maximum 45 pages), and re-upload it as a PDF. Include a mandatory plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results, including communication activities. Submit entirely electronically through the Portal before 17 September 2026, 17:00 Brussels time. Paper submissions aren't accepted. Eligible costs are funded as a lump sum rather than reimbursed line by line, meaning the budget is agreed against the activities and results described in the proposal, not against detailed invoices after the fact. 8. Practical Tips for Startups and SMEs If you're a startup or SME without in-house research capacity, aim for a partner role bringing expertise in data, digital tools, or a specific sector (agricultural residues, forestry, algae), rather than the coordinator role, which is usually held by a research organisation. Anchor your proposal to initiatives already named in the call text: the Circular Biobased Europe Joint Undertaking, the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, the BIOEAST Initiative, and projects like BIO2REG, CONCERTO, and NextGenCarbon. Referencing these strengthens a proposal's credibility. If you don't have a research partner or consortium yet, but already have a market-ready product or technology, this may not be the right vehicle. Consider whether the EIC Accelerator or cascade funding through a different Cluster 6 project fits your stage better than a standalone RIA proposal. Give yourself real lead time before 17 September 2026. Building an international consortium across at least three countries, registering PIC numbers, and preparing a 45-page technical proposal all take weeks, not days. 9. How Agriventures Can Help This is exactly the kind of opportunity Agriventures exists for: not just a grant listing, but the connective work of finding partners, reviewing the fit, and getting a proposal submitted on time. Agriventures maintains a curated database of 500+ agrifood funding opportunities, including EU calls like this one, filterable by country, funding rate, and sector focus. Our AI Funding Scanner can read your organisation's profile and surface programmes aligned to your work, and our team offers direct support on PIC registration, consortium building, and application preparation for founders navigating exactly this kind of process. If you're weighing whether this call, or one like it, is worth the effort for your organisation, reach out to our team or explore current funding opportunities on the Agriventures platform. Checkout our guides for funding opportunities Agriventures Connect 3.0  is coming on 20th of April 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria  The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation. Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization. By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.",{"image":754},{"url":755,"altText":749},"wix:image:\u002F\u002Fv1\u002F4d0fd597bfa54ff4acf8662a6501c1c2.jpg\u002F4d0fd597bfa54ff4acf8662a6501c1c2.jpg#originWidth=4000&originHeight=2667","2026-08-09T10:13:14.000Z","2026-08-09T10:13:14.009Z",[],[760,761,762,763],{"_id":628,"label":629,"slug":630},{"_id":632,"label":633,"slug":634},{"_id":656,"label":657,"slug":658},{"_id":624,"label":625,"slug":626},"https:\u002F\u002Fxpsc9qx4zmq8jvdz5c8j.agriventures.co\u002Fpost\u002Funderstanding-biomass-flows-in-europe-a-6m-horizon-europe-call-agrifood-founders-shouldn-t-miss",[],[],[],{"_id":769,"title":770,"slug":771,"excerpt":772,"contentText":773,"featuredMedia":774,"firstPublishedDate":777,"lastPublishedDate":777,"hashtags":778,"tags":779,"url":782,"language":636,"memberId":783,"pinned":390,"featured":390,"commentingEnabled":4,"translations":784,"categoryIds":785,"relatedPostIds":786},"92a6f677-9e89-45c4-8f4b-dca7ae8ff7b5","SYSARM Launches Its Website: Discover Why Systems Thinking Is the Future of Farming ","sysarm-launches-its-website-discover-why-systems-thinking-is-the-future-of-farming","We are excited to announce the launch of the official SYSARM – Systems Thinking for Agricultural Risk Management website! 🌐 Visit us at: https:\u002F\u002Fsysarm.eu\u002F As the project begins its journey, the website will become the central hub for news, project updates, learning resources, events, and insights into one of the most important concepts shaping the future of agriculture: systems thinking. What Is Systems Thinking? Agriculture has always been about managing uncertainty. Today, however,...","We are excited to announce the launch of the official SYSARM – Systems Thinking for Agricultural Risk Management website! 🌐 Visit us at: https:\u002F\u002Fsysarm.eu\u002F As the project begins its journey, the website will become the central hub for news, project updates, learning resources, events, and insights into one of the most important concepts shaping the future of agriculture: systems thinking. What Is Systems Thinking? Agriculture has always been about managing uncertainty. Today, however, farmers face an increasingly complex combination of challenges—from climate change and extreme weather to rising production costs, evolving regulations, market volatility, and rapid technological change. These challenges rarely occur in isolation. Instead, they interact, creating ripple effects across farms, supply chains, rural communities, and the environment. Understanding these connections is at the heart of systems thinking. Rather than addressing one problem at a time, systems thinking looks at the relationships between different parts of a system and how decisions in one area can influence outcomes elsewhere. It encourages us to move beyond short-term fixes and consider the long-term impacts of our actions. A Farming Example Imagine a farmer experiencing recurring droughts. A conventional response might be to invest in a larger irrigation system to secure water for crops. While this may solve the immediate problem, it could also increase energy costs, place additional pressure on local water resources, and reduce long-term profitability. A systems thinking approach takes a broader perspective by asking questions such as: Can improving soil health increase water retention? Could cover crops reduce evaporation? Would crop diversification make the farm more resilient to climate shocks? How might these decisions affect biodiversity, productivity, operating costs, and future risks? Rather than searching for a single solution, systems thinking helps identify combinations of actions that strengthen the resilience of the entire farming system. Why This Matters Every decision made on a farm influences multiple parts of the agricultural system. Healthier soils improve water retention. Better water retention helps crops withstand drought. More resilient crops reduce financial risk. Lower risk supports more stable farm incomes and strengthens long-term sustainability. Equally, decisions that appear beneficial in the short term may create unintended consequences elsewhere. Recognising these interconnections enables farmers, advisors, educators, and policymakers to make better-informed, more strategic decisions. Why SYSARM? The SYSARM – Systems Thinking for Agricultural Risk Management project has been launched to strengthen systems thinking and risk management competences across Europe's agri-food sector. Over the coming months, the project consortium will develop innovative learning resources—including a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), simulation-based learning tools, a Trainer Toolbox, and European micro-credentials—to support adult learners, educators, and agricultural professionals in navigating increasingly complex agricultural challenges. By combining scientific knowledge, practical experience, digital learning, and participatory approaches, SYSARM aims to make systems thinking accessible and applicable to everyday decision-making in agriculture. This is just the beginning. Throughout the project, sysarm.eu will feature news, educational articles, project results, learning opportunities, and events designed to help build a more resilient and future-ready European agri-food sector. 👉 Follow our journey and explore the project at https:\u002F\u002Fsysarm.eu\u002F. The project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation. Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization. By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.",{"image":775},{"url":776,"altText":770},"wix:image:\u002F\u002Fv1\u002F5f37f8ac3f0143158a6ace86a962682f.jpg\u002F5f37f8ac3f0143158a6ace86a962682f.jpg#originWidth=4998&originHeight=2761","2026-08-03T06:57:04.057Z",[],[780,781],{"_id":628,"label":629,"slug":630},{"_id":656,"label":657,"slug":658},"https:\u002F\u002Fxpsc9qx4zmq8jvdz5c8j.agriventures.co\u002Fpost\u002Fsysarm-launches-its-website-discover-why-systems-thinking-is-the-future-of-farming","ac0c59a4-e1e1-4399-9f88-500dac6c8de7",[],[],[],1788119155857]