Startup accelerator Big Idea Ventures launches its third cohort for foodtech firms

Big Idea Ventures (BIV), a startup accelerator in Singapore and New York, has announced the launch of its third cohort, which features 15 early-stage startups working in plant-based and cell-based industries.

Photo credit: Big Idea Ventures

Under the five-month program, the startup accelerator will connect the participating firms to mentors, advisors, and investors who will review their businesses and do consultations with them.

BIV is focused on the alternative protein industry with its New Protein Fund, and on developments in the food industry that can solve challenges in waste, water use, plastic use, and carbon dioxide emission with its Generation Food Fund.

Here are the startups in its Singapore accelerator:

• Angie’s Tempeh, a foodtech firm that uses fermentation technology to create protein-rich tempeh with minimal ingredients. The company automates many of the menial processes involved in food production, which are then sold on ecommerce channels, restaurants, and supermarkets.
• Animal Alternative Technologies, a company that provides cell-based meat services including bioreactors and software. Through its platform, it helps food producers make their own cultured meat at commercial scale and tailored to local tastes, along with required specifications.
• Farmsow, a business-to-business ingredients company that is developing sustainable alternatives to tropical oils and animal fats.
• GreenGourmet Foods, a plant-based dairy firm targeting millennials and Gen Z consumers that uses bio-enriched and sustainable indigenous ingredients to create nutrition-rich products. 
• Haofood, a food science startup from Shanghai that produces alternative chicken protein from peanuts.
  
• Mad Foods, a startup that creates plant-based beverages using premium flavors and ingredients. The company claims it has the capability to retail its products via 1000 doors within 12 months, and is currently consolidating a global waitlist of stores.

Meanwhile, here are startups from the hybrid accelerator, with participants coming from Singapore and New York:

• Wellme, a foodtech startup that produces plant-based yogurt rich in dietary fiber, prebiotics, and a variety of probiotics to support and balance intestinal flora.
  
• Meat The End,  a business-to-business company developing production techniques and recipes to transform the texture of plant proteins for plant-based meats to have a more realistic meat-like mouthfeel.

Finally, here are startups from the New York accelerator:

• AquaCultured Foods, a plant-based meat technology firm that uses microbial fermentation to provide an alternative to seafood.
• The Frauxmagerie, an alternative dairy company that uses cashews and a vegan probiotic in the fermentation process to create an alternative to dairy-based cheese.
• Innocent Meat, a B2B cell-based meat production system that aims to become a vertically integrated technology provider for clean meat production, starting from cell lines and plant-based growth factor to AI-driven manufacturing technology.
• IncrEdible, an edible cutlery maker that produces vegan spoons made of non-genetically modified grains in an attempt to reduce the use of single-use cutlery by 2025.
• Blue Ridge Bantam, a cultured meat company focused on cell-based ground and whole-cut turkey. It aims to compete in the B2B wholesale space by marketing turkey breast and rendered fat to plant-based companies as an “animal-free” flavor component. 
• New Breed Meats, a plant-based technology firm that offers burgers, ground meat, and sausages made with fewer ingredients. It also claims that its products have up to 75% less saturated fat than those of leading brands in the market.
• Plant Ranch, a plant-based Mexican meat producer that relies on co-manufacturing so it could focus on selling and marketing its product. It will also develop a broader product offering that will feature authentic flavors in the Mexican food category, among others.

“All of these companies are addressing real-world challenges and represent some of the most promising innovations in the food and agriculture sectors,” said Andrew Ive, founder and general managing partner of Big Idea Ventures.