This season we steer the development paths of five interesting teams with innovative food and agri inventions, poised to advance the much-needed changes in the food system (find the list of Germinator batch 3 teams at the end of the article).
These teams all passed Germinator's entry criteria, which goes beyond business potential, focusing on four vital sustainability aspects that define a robust food system: sustainable nutrition, environmental well-being, circular economy practices, and positive societal impact. Hence, our chosen teams are embarking on a journey to create businesses that can be both sustainable and financially viable from the start.
The Germinator is the only pre-incubator programme dedicated to the agrifood sector in Finland. Thanks to this, the selected teams enjoy the support of our vibrant network of industry and sector experts contributing to their development paths. Additionally, Germinator teams’ efforts are guided by sector’s business professionals, the coach-in-residence Laura Forsman, and the experts at the programme’s six sponsor-mentor companies this year: Raisio, Valio, Foodwest, Leipurin, Verman and Foodiq. They offer the teams crucial insights, sector-specific understanding and mentorship needed by each team.
As the third season unfolds, we're excited to witness the progress of these promising teams. Like before, the Germinator teams will pitch at the Y science event, an official Slush side event co-hosted by the Viikki Food Design Factory. So come see them to Messukeskus on the 30th of November and stay tuned for news and updates on their journey in creating impactful solutions for more sustainable food systems.
Acornia Greentech
Acornia Greentech works on a food tech solution for processing nutritious and underutilized acorns into a healthy and sustainable coffee alternative. Additionally, they aim at a zero waste process making use of the side streams too. Acornia Greentech team has expertise in food science, marketing, and application of advanced food technologies.
Kitsain
Kitsain develops a digital service solution to food waste prevention for households. The application has various features users can choose from with the aim of functioning also as a marketing and food ordering platform for food brands and retailers. Kitsain team is mostly comprised of IT experts with various academic backgrounds.
MyShroom
MyShroom creates food tech for turning mycoprotein into a versatile and easy-to-use raw material for the food industry. Their fermentation process can be used in converting agricultural and food supply chain side streams into biomass that naturally contains protein, fibers, and umami flavour. The MyShroom team has expertise in food and sensory sciences, microbiology and bioprocess technology, and food business.
Nuts about Nuts
Nuts about Nuts develops food tech for creating new textures and flavours from nuts for food industry ingredients and cooking solutions. Their aim is to increase the accessibility, usability and cost efficiency of cashews and macadamia nuts for the food industry for producing more nutritious products with high quality protein for consumers. Nuts about nuts works directly with the farming communities in Africa, promoting social sustainability and biodiversity. The team consists of a food scientist entrepreneur and commercial and food experts.
Resource Pulling
Resource Pulling develops an agri-tech solution for upcycling phosphorus and nitrogen from waste material or sludge into mineral fertilizers and biochar. This will help providing a sustainable resource management solution for the agriculture, environment, and energy industries. Resource Pulling has a team of environmental and atmospheric scientists and a business developer.