Israeli accelerator opens door for start-ups to drive innovation in alternative foods

15 Dec 2022 --- Accelerator programs act as a vehicle to help shape the future of food. After concluding its first year, the Israeli food innovation non-profit Modern Agriculture Foundation (MAF) has begun accepting applications from start-ups for the second cohort of its Better Plate alternative protein edition within MassChallenge Israel’s 2023 Accelerator program.

In addition to connecting the early-stage businesses with experts and industry leaders, the accelerator aims to introduce the companies to relevant technologies that can help them overcome hurdles within their own innovations.

The program is accepting Israeli start-ups operating within the alternative protein industry with plant-based, fermentation, cultured meat or other sustainable food innovations.

Two out of the five Better Plate cohorts were among ten start-ups invited to join MassChallenge Israel’s roadshow to Boston and New York, an “outsized accomplishment” among a pool of 42 start-ups from all fields.

The program is accepting Israeli start-ups operating within the alternative protein industry with plant-based, fermentation, cultured meat or other sustainable food innovations.Shalom Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Mush Foods – one of the track’s 2022 cohorts – outlines that the accelerator has offered key insights on creating pitch decks, finding strategic partners and investors, getting proof of concept, navigating the regulatory maze and going to market internationally.

Desert hotbed of food innovation
While Israel ranks second only to the in terms of investment in the alternative protein sector, MAF stresses that well-established companies in more advanced stages are the “overwhelming beneficiaries” of funding, leaving little leftover for young companies just starting out.

That isn’t to say the nation hasn’t seen its fair share of wins for smaller players. Israel-based Vanilla Vida was recently awarded the Most Innovative Processing Technology designation at FiE 2022’s Startup Innovation Challenge for cracking the code on vanilla flavor potency with its computer-guided curing process and other high-tech cultivation methods.

Also at FIE 2022, Israeli start-up Brevel won the Most Innovative Plant-Based or Alternative Ingredient award with its sustainable microalgae protein. Yoav Earon, CBO of Brevel, told FoodIngredientsFirst that microalgae protein is being recognized more broadly as a highly functional and ingredient.

For the packaging sector, Tetra Pak is collaborating with food technology incubator Fresh Start to help businesses in Israel food packaging solutions to combat some of the challenges facing the global food systems.

Last October, Ashdod-headquartered start-up Forsea Foods hooked US$5.2 million toward its catch-free, cell-based eel meat made using its organoid technology to make nature identical at cost parity. This is just one among the various moves in Israel to tap into the burgeoning cultivated meat sector, with the nation’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sampling the nation’s first cuts of slaughter-free chicken by Aleph Farms in 2021.

In other highlights, Israel is proving to have an extremely vibrant start-up ecosystem for AI and machine learning systems being put toward agricultural efficiencies. Researchers in the Israeli desert have recently deployed solar powered autonomous robots for harvesting solar power and tending to crops.

By Benjamin Ferrer