The EIT Food Accelerator Network Program is designed for impact-driven agritech and food-tech startups seeking technology validation and commercial acceleration. It offers a platform to shape and validate product technology development roadmaps through a combination of master classes, one-on-one coaching, and connections to relevant facilities and experts. The program aims to support successful market adoption for emerging ventures. Applications for the 2026 cohort are currently open, with a deadline of 8th April 2026, at 12pm CET.
Program Overview
The EIT Food Accelerator Network provides a 3-month curated acceleration launchpad for AgriFoodTech startups. The program is delivered in a hybrid format across six innovation Hubs throughout Europe. It offers structured acceleration that enables startups to:
• Validate their technology
• Strengthen their market and investment readiness
• Advance their product development
• Refine their pitches and business model
• Demonstrate potential to earn the RisingFoodStars BeyondScale recognition
Innovation Hubs and Strategic Themes
Each of the six innovation hubs focuses on a strategic theme that addresses key challenges within the food system:
• Catania: Water-Smart Agrifood Systems
• Helsinki: Circular Solutions for Food Systems
• Munich: Smart and Low-Carbon Supply Chains
• Paris: Biotech Ingredients, Products and Processes
• Wageningen: Digital & Autonomous Farming Solutions
• Warsaw: Future-resilient Agriculture
Key Benefits for Startups
Participation in the program provides startups with access to three value pillars designed to strengthen their technology, enhance investment readiness, and accelerate commercial success. These benefits include:
• Targeted product development and commercial validation through expert mentoring and pilot projects with industry partners.
• Exclusive access to corporates and investors to fast-track traction and funding conversations.
• Ongoing access to the EIT Food ecosystem and alumni network to maintain growth momentum beyond the program.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the EIT Food Accelerator Network program, applicants must meet the following criteria:
• Be a registered company established in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe-associated country (including the UK) in or after 2016.
• Possess a business innovation underpinned by a technology with a prototype or pilot project (paid or unpaid) at TRL 4-8.
• Align with one of the EIT FAN’s specified themes.
• Be a pre-series A company with revenues up to €1 million and a team of no more than 20 people.
• Ideally, have successfully completed customer validation.
• Ideally, be able to demonstrate traction through letters of support, sales, or signed letters of intent.
• Note: Switzerland and UK-based companies are eligible to apply; however, eligibility for funding will be determined based on their respective country's eligibility status for EU funding at the time.
RisingFoodStars BeyondScale Recognition
RisingFoodStars BeyondScale is EIT Food’s recognition for scaleups that have demonstrated the rigorous work and discipline required to achieve significant growth. This certification acts as a signal of a company’s maturity, indicating it has undergone a structured process to strengthen its leadership, commercial model, investment readiness, and system impact. Awarded to the strongest startups from the EIT Food Accelerator Network, this status highlights companies ready for meaningful partnerships, investment, and growth. Companies achieving this status gain:
• A trusted signal of credibility recognized across the agrifood ecosystem.
• Enhanced visibility within EIT Food and its corporate, investor, and policy networks.
• A stronger position in investment conversations.
• Access to high-value strategic opportunities with industry leaders.
The program consistently attracts a high caliber of innovators from across the continent. The 2025 EIT Food Accelerator Network cohort, for instance, features 65 groundbreaking startups selected from hundreds of applications with the support of over 60 industry experts, showcasing the competitive and impactful nature of the network.