In het weekend van 10-12 juni 2016 organiseert InnoLeaps in samenwerking met o.a. YFM en het FME Cluster Agri & Food het Food Hack Weekend. Voor nieuwe startups en startup initiatieven uit bestaande bedrijven een unieke gelegenheid! Heb je een idee, ben je een startup of startend initiatief uit een bestaand bedrijf? Meld je aan en gun jezelf deze kans om te versnellen!

Verderop in dit bericht zijn alle details te vinden over aanmelding, doelstelling en thema’s. Tot 31 mei is het mogelijk om je idee aan te dragen, daarna wordt er een selectie gemaakt van 10 initiatieven die in het weekend van 10-12 juni het idee verder aanscherpen onder begeleiding van een aantal doorgewinterde specialisten en beproefde methoden voor versnelling.

Get ready for the challenge!

The program details

Through these bullet points you find information you about the program and how to get involved.

It’s very easy to get involved! Just register your idea before 31 May 2016 for a chance to enter the Food Hack Weekend (10-12 June 2016).
On 3 June InnoLeaps announces the 10 winning ideas.

The tentative admission criteria are as follows:

• The idea can be entirely new, or existing (e.g. an existing startup);
• Preferably have a team of at least two people. When an individual, we’ll try to connect you during the Food Hack Weekend;
• The idea contributes to one of the following themes:
  – Food Tech & Data;
  – Food Delivery & Commerce;
  – Sustainability & Social Responsibility.
• You’re able to join for the full weekend, from 10 June (evening) until 12 June (evening);
• During the Food Hack Weekend, you’ll work with methods like The Lean Startup, the Business Model Canvas and Growth Hacking. You’ll also get Pitch Training to wow the jury;
• No need to worry about your idea being hijacked. You will keep full ownership of your idea and participants agree to treat any information shared in the program as confidential. However, like with any innovation program or accelerator, for the process it’s necessary to occasionally pitch your progress to the other participants and the jury as part of the process;
• You’ll receive intensive mentoring from food experts, startup mentors, and ‘captains of the industry’;
• In the Food Hack Weekend jury will be experts from InnoLeaps, YFM and the industry;
• One winner is selected on 12 June by the jury. This winning team receives full support (mentoring, trainings, financing help) to realize and grow the idea in the market;
• All food and drinks are provided during the weekend, but you’re free to bring your own as well.

Benefits
Getting involved in the Open Food Challenge offers you three big and unique opportunities. It allows you to:

• Accelerate your idea into the market. During the Food Hack Weekend you’ll experience all startup tools, a large ecosystem and dedicated mentors. If you with The Food Hack weekend, you’ll continue to have these benefits at your disposable to grow your idea and your team.
• Meet fellow entrepreneurs, students, teams from leading Agri Food companies and potential new team members from all over The Netherlands. We’ll bring together teams and talent from Wageningen, Amsterdam, Eindhoven and other food and technology hubs. We want to connect food, technology, and marketing expertise so you have everything you need when working on your own idea.
• Connect to leading companies from inside and outside the food industry. Multiple leading brands will join the weekend. Stay tuned to find out who they are. This offers you a unique chance to connect to- and build relations with food corporates early on.

To make your big idea in food happen, apply now!

On the website of InnoLeaps you can find more info on for example the themes of the program, our team and practical details.
In case of questions or comments, you can always also reach out to Thomas van den Boezem of InnoLeaps by email, or call +31 6 27 49 59 22.

Background information
On 17 March the kick-off for the Food Ecosystem Accelerator took place. With over 100 people in the room and several amazing speakers this was a great event!

Summary of the kick-off event
The host, Wilbert, opened the official program by introducing the different kinds of people and food experts in the audience. Students, startups, corporates, media and more were present. André Knol (CEO InnoLeaps) showed that although it will be a tough challenge, radical innovation is essential in agri-food. He outlined the program, in which everyone is invited to submit their innovative ideas for a chance to enter the Food Hack Weekend in June 10-12.

Next up was Ruben Nieuwenhuis, director of StartupAmsterdam and ‘architect’ of Startup Delta. He’s building ‘infrastructures for growth’ around certain areas like food, water and health, and expressed the need for corporates to work together with startups.

Arjen Boekhold, chain director at Tony’s Chocolonely, had an inspiring talk about making impact in the food chain. ‘If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room’, was a spot-on quote. Traceability is a key ingredient for orchestrating a sustainable supply chain over at Tony’s.

Pierluigi Santoro (CEO The Algae Factory) and his co-panelists Mats Siffels (YFM) and André Knol (InnoLeaps) discussed the need for European-wide ecosystem building. Also, it became clear the audience was looking for more in-depth information in the details of the program. We listened, and love to get you up to speed in this email!

Watch the event video on our website and click here to see all event pictures.