AgriFood startups take off

The Growth Alliance, a forward-looking initiative of the Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank and TechQuartier on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), reflects on a successful 2023 and presents exciting plans for the current year. For six years now, AgriFood startups have found a strong partner for start, growth, and innovation in the Growth Alliance – an important contribution to addressing current challenges in agriculture and ensuring food security for future generations.

2023 – innovative and successful

Revolutionizing the use of water in agriculture with the help of satellites in space? Bringing vegan alternatives to fish products to the shelves? Finding the right investors and winning national awards? The Growth Alliance helps in many ways to achieve these and many other goals – success stories from 2023 include impressive achievements from startups like Seedalive, Nunos, and Ordinary Seafood as well as other Growth Alliance alumni, including Reverion, constellr, and Nature Robots.

In 2023, the Growth Alliance hosted four startup programs from ideation to acceleration, supported over 80 start-ups and aspiring founders, and collaborated with companies such as Agravis, Claas, Maschinenringe, KWS, and BayWa. Despite turbulent times for start-ups, the participants received numerous awards, partnerships, and investments with the support of the Growth Alliance. The launch of a new website including rebranding and social media presence, the Idea Camp at Ruhr University Bochum, and the premiere of the Growth Alliance Networking Summit #GANS23 with over 200 guests and speakers were further highlights of the past year.

We are proud that we have already been able to support nearly 90 start-ups with our programs and are delighted by the success stories we have been able to contribute to. For 2024, we aim to maintain this successful course, to tailor our offerings even more specifically to the individual needs of
the startups, and to further expand cooperation within the AgriFood ecosystem.

Patrice Pogorelik, Senior Innovation Manager, TechQuartier

What’s coming in 2024?

The Growth Alliance will also offer plenty in 2024 and presents four free programs for startups and aspiring founders:

Idea Camp (April 24 - 26, Founding Factory Rheingau): Hackathon for aspiring founders interested in innovations for the agriculture and food industry

Start-up Bootcamp (June 17 - 19, TechQuartier Frankfurt): Development program for early stage start-ups in the AgriFood sector

Growth Alliance Networking Summit – GANS24 (June 20, Frankfurt am Main): Annual networking event for the start-up ecosystem of the German and international AgriFood industry

Accelerator Program (October 22, 2024 - January 15, 2025, TechQuartier Frankfurt): Program for AgriFood startups in the growth phase

The events of the Growth Alliance offer pioneers in the agriculture and food industry the opportunity to develop business models, find partners, and collaborate with experienced mentors. The exchange with experts, potential investors, and customers is also facilitated – a win-win situation for the AgriFood ecosystem.

New faces and ambitious goals

The need for a strong AgriFood ecosystem is also confirmed by Lukas Hoyos, the new program manager of the Growth Alliance on the part of the Landwirtschaftlichen Rentenbank:

In the future, the actors in the AgriFood sector will face major challenges due to changing framework conditions in areas such as environment, regulation, competitiveness, or labor market.

Thus, the openness to the integration of innovative ideas has been and remains crucial – provided that practically relevant technologies are available. Exactly at this point, we want to contribute as the Growth Alliance. Through our programs, we provide innovators with the space, know-how, and network to optimally implement their ideas and offer solutions to the agriculture and food sector that are integrable into practice.

Lukas Hoyos, Innovation & Strategy Consultant, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank

Media Contact

TechQuartier:
Alice Bucher
E-Mail: bucher@techquartier.com
Website: www.techquartier.com

Rentenbank:
Christian Pohl
E-Mail: pohl@rentenbank.de
Website: www.rentenbank.de