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The ProVeg Incubator is the world’s first and leading accelerator for plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated food startups. We are shaping the future of food by exclusively supporting pioneering companies that are developing disruptive alternatives to animal-based products, ingredients and technologies. The Incubator is part of the food awareness organisation ProVeg International. We are therefore committed to the same mission of replacing 50% of animal products, globally, with plant-based and cultivated foods by 2040.
We support mission-driven startups that are working on plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated-food products and technologies. Your startup should have the potential to remove animals from the global food system, either by providing alternatives or with supporting technology. Your idea should also be impactful and scalable with a strong team standing behind it. We’re particularly interested in hearing from startups in the following areas: functional ingredients; precision fermentation; biomass fermentation; and enabling tech, processes, and platforms.
The ProVeg Incubator considers startup applications from all across the globe. So far, we have worked with more than 100 startups from Latin America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. We want to work with the most impactful food startups in the world and therefore do not limit our selection geographically.
Just fill in the application form here.
Our process: We will review your application thoroughly and be in touch. If we think there is a match, we will invite you for an interview with our team. Afterwards, we will conduct a more in-depth analysis of your company. For this, we will require some basic information including your pitch deck, financial model, IP strategy, and incorporation documents. At the end of these steps, we aim to get a final decision to you on your admission to the programme as soon as possible.
We are open for applications all year round, so you can apply to join us at any time.
Our five-month accelerator programme runs from April to September. Once accepted to the ProVeg Incubator, you’ll get a place in the upcoming cohort. However, you’ll get access to our networks, start getting support from our team, and get access to all of our other services straight away, before the cohort even starts!
We want to make it even easier and faster for founders to get support from us. This setup helps to achieve that.
Our programme does not require you to pay any money to us. Our standard investment is up to $300,000 and comes in two tranches. At the beginning of your journey with us, we will provide you with $25,000 in cash and $75,000 in in-kind services. For this $100,000 investment, we require a 4% equity stake in your startup. After joining our accelerator programme, you will be eligible to receive follow-on investment of up to $200,000. This will be at terms negotiated prior to joining the ProVeg Incubator.
In addition to our capital investment, you will get:
A tailor-made programme: we run a five-month accelerator programme that equips founders with the skills, know-how, and contacts they need to succeed. Our programming includes workshops and fireside chats led by experts in every key business area.
Lifelong support from our team: we develop lasting bonds with our founders and our team will work hands-on with you for as long as you need us. This includes in-depth company assessments, weekly strategy meetings, investor intros, and the support of our parent organisation ProVeg International. We’re here to remove roadblocks for you, amplify your wins, and ensure that you succeed.
Expert input: as well as working with our core team, you’ll get guidance from our experts in marketing, product development, finance, R&D, food law, and sales and distribution.
Demo Days: we wrap up every edition of our accelerator programme with a Demo Day, where you’ll pitch to a global audience of investors, retailers, and industry professionals.
Lifelong access to our growing alumni community: access the wisdom, support, and input from all of the impact-driven, mission-aligned founders in our alumni.
Exclusive network access: the companies that we work with get unlimited access to our global networks of investors, corporate partners, retailers, buyers, journalists, and industry experts.
Mentors: access our unrivalled network of 100+ global mentors – all of whom are real powerhouses of the food world.
Facilities: use our state-of-the-art coworking space, event space, meetings rooms, and test kitchen in the heart of Berlin.
Exposure: we’ll use our extensive networks to get you the attention you deserve in the press and via speaking opportunities.
Events: access exclusive events, webinars, and networking sessions from ProVeg, and free or discounted access to fairs and trade shows from our partners
That’s okay too! We consider startups during all phases of development. If your company is still at an early stage, we encourage you to apply. The Incubator will provide the tools, resources, and connections you need to grow your business, whatever the starting point.
We run our five-month accelerator programme online. This allows us to be truly global, supporting startups from anywhere in the world without them needing to travel to us. We know that your time is precious, and this set-up affords you more time to work on your company. During our programme, you’ll have three to four touchpoints with us per week; you decide how you spend the rest of the time. We also run special events for our community to meet up in real life, and if you want to come work from our HQ in Berlin – do it! We’d love to have you here.
Congratulations! You made it and your startup is now part of our alumni.
Although our accelerator programme only lasts for five months, we like to think you are part of the ProVeg Incubator family for life. We will still be here to guide and support you, whatever you need. We hope that you will also want to help us with upcoming startup batches, by passing on some of your knowledge and expertise.
Yes. If you’ve applied before and not gotten in, then we encourage you to apply again. If you have made significant progress since your last application this is a strong signal to us!
We are unable to support or invest in companies that use any amount of animal-based ingredients in their products. As an impact-driven incubator with the aim of reducing animal consumption, we only work with startups that do not develop any non-vegan end products. The only exception is for cultivated/cell-based products.
At ProVeg, we support cultivated meat because it aligns with our 5 PROs of Health, Animals, Environment, Justice, and Taste and supports our 50 by 40 mission. To read more about the PROs and our mission, please click here.
When you click submit at the end of your application on our website, you will get a confirmation screen and you will also receive a confirmation email. Remember to check your spam folder!
If you didn’t find the answer you were looking for on this page, just email us [email protected]