New operational scenarios are expected for the food sector, which represents the largest consumer market in the world. And Italy has a leading position in this field. It is therefore no wonder that Startupbootcamp, the global network of accelerators that has been operating around the world since 2010 to connect startups with the most relevant and high-impact leaders in their sector, with vertical programs operating in Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Istanbul , London, Eindhoven, Miami, New York and Singapore, has chosen Rome to launch the first independent global accelerator dedicated to food.
The Startupbootcamp FoodTech program is supported by important partners such as Gambero Rosso, Monini, LVenture group, Cisco, M3 Investimenti a and others. The stated goal is to become the world's leading destination for foodtech entrepreneurs and investors by providing startups with direct access to key industry contacts so startups can accomplish in just 3 months what would normally take 18.
This will take the form of creating opportunities for operational contact between over 100 qualified mentors, 1000 business angels and VCs, over 200 influential players in the food industries and the foodtech sector.
In the announcement announcement of the new operational base dedicated to food, the parent company recognizes that Italy is the global leader in the top of the culinary experience and food excellence. And it is also one of the leading consumer products in industrial food production and processing equipment.
The Startupbootcamp awards also go to Italian agriculture which has one of the highest productivity indexes per hectare in the world, and to our agri-food companies which have reached high technological levels. "With its great culinary culture and its excellent products, Italy - say the managers of the accelerator network - is the perfect place to validate and accelerate all Foodtech companies".
“Thanks to increasingly reduced costs, new technologies – says Paolo Cuccia, president of Gambero Rosso – are radically transforming the traditional models of production, process, tracking, safety, marketing, commercialization, transport, delivery, certification, monitoring and recycling . Emerging innovations in the fields of software, artificial intelligence (AI), ecommerce, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, Virtual Reality /Augmented Reality (VR/AR), wearables, drones, 3D printers and robotics are entering the market by radically transforming the way companies operate".
And the investment prospects in this sector, especially in Italy, appear extremely interesting. This is confirmed by Luigi Capello, managing director of LVenture Group: “The Food sector offers excellent opportunities to investors and entrepreneurs as it is still very open to 'disruptive' innovation. Foodtech is destined to quickly become one of the hottest markets for investors and, given the excellence of Italian production in the agri-food sector, a very positive trend is expected in our country".
It should be remembered that the agri-food sector represents 13% of GDP with a value of 208 billion euros, employs 3,3 million people and that with 269 PDO, PGI and TSG products, Italy is in first place in the EU by number of certificates of origin received and second by land dedicated to organic crops.
The Startupbootcamp Foodtech program will be led by managers and serial entrepreneurs such as Peter Kruger (CEO & Founder) and Paolo Cuccia (Chairman & Co-founder), with the support of global industry leaders. Every year it will invest in 10 foodtech startups, providing 15 thousand euros of capital, tutoring and mentoring services, as well as six months of hospitality.
