On 23rd Nov 2022, we hosted our last Meetup of the year in our Barcelona Food & FoodTech Innovation Hub, in partnership with Talent Garden. We gathered FoodTech startups, investors and experts to deep dive into Food & Biotechnology: The Future of nutrition. We enjoyed sharing, learning, and enabling meaningful connections between like-minded people working to make our Food System more sustainable.

Check out a few pictures of the event here

The challenges of Biotechnology

As Biotechnology breaks new ground, it touches more and more aspects of our everyday lives. 

Biotechnology involves adapting the genes of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi to create so-called ‘cell factories‘. These micro-factories produce a wide range of chemicals, materials and ingredients: from animal-free milk and meat to petrochemicals-free plastics, from functional proteins to sustainable, healthy and natural ingredients, and more. Biotech is so versatile, it generates solutions all across the supply chain. This explains why it’s present in almost every category of our taxonomy, including Next Gen Food Drinks, Agtech, Food Safety and Traceability, Surplus & Waste Management and Food Processing.

Filtering our FoodTech Data Navigator database, we learned that there are 890 startups and scale-ups currently active in the Biotech space. So far, these companies have collected €24.5B in funding. 

To showcase the quality of innovation and talent in the space, we invited over some of the most exciting Biotech startups from the Spanish ecosystem working at the intersection between biotech and nutrition.

The event

The evening kicked off with a brief introduction of the topic by COO & Co-Founder of Forward Fooding Max Leveau. Next, Spanish AgriFoodTech startups took the stage to present their technologies and share insights on the positive impact these are generating. Entrepreneurs showcased their work in precision fermentation, cell-ag, mycelium fermentation, bio coating, and bioactive extraction to 100+ attendees from the Spanish ecosystem.

Presentations were followed by a fireside chat with Nikolaas Tilkin-Franssens, Regulatory Affairs Manager at Pec & Tec Consulting. Here, we delved deeper into novel foods’ regulatory challenges, put the latest news under a microscope, and reflected on future scenarios.

The day wrapped up with a delicious networking session powered by Vacka, Heura and Current Foods.

Local Biotech Champions

Learn more about our speakers and their journey below:

• Real Deal Milk – Gabriel Mora, PhD, Chief Researcher

Gabriel Mora studied chemistry at the National University of Colombia, biology at the University of Goettingen and did postdoctoral work at the CRG in Barcelona. His research has focused on the metabolism and cell biology of lipids, protein secretion, and the use of microorganisms for agricultural and industrial applications. Since early 2021, he is head of research at Real Deal Milk, developing the necessary technology to obtain dairy products without animals.

• • Ingredalia – Miguel Angel Cubero Marquez, CEO

  Now CEO of the start-up INGREDALIA, which recovers healthy bioactive molecules from the byproducts of the food industry, Miguel Ángel has worked in the food industry for more than 20 years, rising through the ranks from Laboratory Manager to Director for R&D until the current General Management position. He has been a member of the Technical Management team and held other managerial positions at several companies. He was an associate lecturer at the University of Lleida in 2017, teaching Enhanced Food Processes and Products through Biotechnology. Additionally, he has been a guest lecturer in the Food Industry Innovation Masters program – specifically in modules around product innovation and environmental management – since 2008. He has developed and headed up a range of R&D projects, creating new lines and advancing the industrial development of the companies he has joined. His extensive experience carrying out projects from the R&D phase to industrial phase is one of his key strengths.

  Ingredalia is an innovative technology-based company that develops, manufactures and markets natural functional ingredients for the food industry from plant by-products.

• Esencia Foods –  Alessandra Massa, Food Scientist

Alessandra is a MSc Gastronomy Scientist who believes in the power of gastronomy and food as an instrument to make positive changes in our world. She has previous experience in different R&D departments, and Michelin-star restaurants as well as a passion to work on different projects on sustainability and food leftover revalorization. Fun fact about Alessandra: in her last experience she had the chance to take part in a project called “Mycotecture Off Planet” in collaboration with NASA, where she worked with fungal composites to grow structures off-planet, from habitats to furniture.

• Cubiq Foods – Pilar Ramírez, PhD, Food Science and Technology and David Guarch, Head of Sales & Business

Pilar Ramírez has more than 15 years of experience in R&D and Technical support for pharma, supplement and food companies. Developed solutions mainly focus on natural ingredients from sustainable sources for food, feed, and cosmetic industries. For the past 2 years, she has been supporting Cubiq’s customers by creating new smart fat solutions.

David Guarch has more than 20 years of experience in sales, as a Sales Director, Export, KAM, Sales Manager, in the food, tech, and food tech sectors. He joined Cubiq Foods two years ago, and now serves as Head of Sales & Business Development for Southern Europe.

Cubiq Foods’ smart fat solutions’ develops and produces cultivated fat from animal cells and adapts them to the needs of industrial food clients. They are one of the leaders on the future of nutrition via three distinct processes; a novel oil/water emulsion, omega-3 micro-encapsulation techniques, and the first cell-culture platform for specialty fats (cell-based Omega-3). The company evolves natural ingredients into customized solutions for a wide range of food-producing partners. Their innovative platforms can tune for hardness, texture, and flavor as well as fat content in bespoke product applications. They also run the first cell-culture platform for specialty fats (cell-based Omega-3) to produce high-quality omega-3’s in a sustainable, scalable way. Sustainable, healthy ingredients are integral to their solutions.

• Bio2coat – Solon Cunha, Chief Technical Officer

Solon is a Food engineer and Brewmaster with 28 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. Solon started his career at Heineken, in Brazil in the area of Operations, then moved to Tetra Pak, where he spent 5 years in the area of process design and engineering. In 2003, Solon moved to Canada and joined AB InBev, where he worked for 19 years, mostly in the area of Innovation & Technology Development. During this period, he had the pleasure to live and work in Canada, Mexico and Belgium. His last role in AB InBev was as Global Director of Product Innovation. Solon was invited to join the advisory board of Bio2Coat in 2021 when he had the opportunity to learn more about their mission and the positive impact that their technology can have on our planet. In August 2022, he finally decided to join them, full-time, as Chief Technical Officer.

Bio2Coat is a company that has its origin in the will of its founders to contribute to the reduction of food waste. Bio2Coat is guided by the principles of circular economy and disruptive innovation.

Fireside chat with Nikolaas Tilkin-Franssens, Regulatory Affairs Manager at Pen & Tec Consulting 

Following the startups’ presentations, our Head of Research & Data, Leonardo Paradisi, hosted a fireside chat with Nikolaas Tilkin-Franssen, Regulatory Affairs Manager at Pen & Tec Consulting. Nikolaas Tilkin-Franssens works as a specialized consultant in food regulatory affairs at Pen&Tec Consulting, where he secures the smooth access of inventive food products to new markets. Holding both a Master of Law and a Master in Food Safety, Nikolaas is combining his law vocation with his passion for food & nutrition to deliver the foods of tomorrow. He has extensive, international experience with rules governing functional foods & alternative proteins.

During the session, Nikolaas and Leonardo discussed the regulatory framework for innovative foods in Europe and other major global markets. Nikolaas shared some insights and tips on how companies can take their food and feed products to market faster.

If you are interested in this topic, stay tuned because soon, we will kick off a news series of blogposts around the regulatory challenges of food innovation.

Thank you!

We had a great time mingling with all the attendees and enjoying some tapas provided by Heura, Vacka and Current Foods, residents members of the Barcelona Food & FoodTech Innovation Hub.

A big thanks goes out to our partner Talent Garden for hosting us as we build and foster Barcelona’s FoodTech community. Last but not least, thanks to all the participants who made this event so insightful. The incredible entrepreneurial talent who came together during this occasion is a testament to the transformative potential of Spain’s FoodTech community!

About our Barcelona FoodTech Innovation Hub

Hosted in the heart of the vibrant Poblenou area, The Food & FoodTech Innovation Hub is Barcelona’s first shared workspace dedicated to AgriFoodTech innovation. Powered by Forward Fooding in partnership with Talent Garden, the Barcelona Hub is the ideal destination for startups and scaleups looking to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs and the go-to-place where collaborations between established organizations and startup companies spark.

Want to learn more about our work at Forward Fooding? Get in touch to learn more!