BioBoosters accelerator programme boosts innovation in bioeconomy and agritech
Bioeconomy, agriculture, and sustainable food production have the greatest potential as a sector to slow down climate change and promote carbon capture and sequestration. The BioBoosters accelerator programme invites bioeconomy and agritech startups and early-stage growth companies to collaborate in accelerating the digital transformation in bioeconomy and food systems!
Jamk University of Applied Sciences, together with top companies Valtra, AGCO Power, Neste and Innovestor, is launching an international bioeconomy accelerator programme, Bioboosters, as part of the Finnish Future Farm project. It is targeted for growth-oriented startups in the fields of bioeconomy and agritechnology. BioBoosters accelerator programme connects agritech and bioeconomy startups and growth companies with end users, investors and corporations.
BioBoosters is an accelerator for bioeconomy and agritech companies, providing a unique environment for product and service development, testing and validation, increasing customer understanding and finding financing. Your company will benefit from a customised development programme, the multidisciplinary expert network of the University of Applied Sciences, experienced coaches, and direct access to your potential customers and investors. The network of partners includes leading corporations, such as Valtra, AGCO Power and Neste, as well as investors who are ready to support the innovations promoted in the accelerator. Your accelerator journey will culminate in the AgriVenture event, where you will be able to present yourself to investors interested in your industry.
What is it about?
BioBoosters accelerator programme offers the attendees not only a tailored growth plan, but also access to valuable industrial partnerships, investor contacts and unique testbed environments. The programme offers the startups coaching and mentoring by top mentors to crystallize your business model, increase customer/end user understanding and readiness for external financing. An important part of the programme is the possibility for validation of products and services in the virtual and physical testbed environment of the Bioeconomy Campus, as well as on partner farms. The accelerator programme connects the bioeconomy and agritech startups efficiently with potential end users, investors and leading corporations.
Highlights:
- The ecosystem your startup needs: Connecting startups with corporate partners, investors and potential pilot customers / end users
- Business acceleration: Training, mentoring and coaching by top mentors for crystallizing the business model, increasing customer/end user understanding and readiness for external financing
- Market fit and validation: Physical and virtual testbed environment of Bioeconomy Campus and partner farms for testing, validating and co-creating smart bioeconomy & agriculture in Nordic conditions
Who are the accelerator services aimed at?
- Growth-oriented, international startups and early-stage companies in bioeconomy and agritech
- Scalable ideas and teams that aim to disrupt the bioeconomy and sustainable food value chains
- Corporations seeking for innovative partners
- Investors active in the AgriFoodTech and bioeconomy sectors
Meet our partners
Neste is the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel, whereas Valtra and AGCO Power are part of the US listed company AGCO Corporation, which is one of the world’s largest manufacturer of tractors and agricultural machinery. In the BioBoosters programme Valtra and AGCO Power want to build partnerships with startup teams developing the agritech and bioeconomy industry. Innovestor’s Corporate Venturing provides the startups with coaching by experienced mentors and direct contacts to investors active in this field. Jamk University of Applied Sciences is strongly committed to fostering the growth and collaboration networks in bioeconomy, and offers the companies access to both office and laboratory space as well as versatile testbed and co-creation facilities in the BioEconomy campus area.
The accelerator programme consists of:
1) Company-specific/group-specific coaching and mentoring sessions with a designated company coach
2) Accelerator programme teams' common training days
3) A wide range of networking and matchmaking events, including
- Deal Day pitching events and demonstration events in the Bioeconomy Campus environment several times a year
- SmartBioeconomy Bootcamp event: bringing together startup teams and university-level students in a Bootcamp event, next event in May 2024 (27-31 May, 2024)
- AgriVenture Finland - Agritech & Sustainable Food Chain VentureDays, an international startup and investor event, next event in June 2025
- Business-oriented hackathons, I.e innovation competitions to bring startup teams and corporations together and start collaboration
In addition, participating companies will be offered the possibility to use a wide range of testing and validation services in the Bioeconomy Campus' virtual and physical testbed environment and partner farms as well as networking opportunities with end-users, investors, and corporations.
The programme kicks off in June 19th, 2024, the duration of the accelerator programme is six months, the language is English, and participation is possible both virtually and on-site, so you can participate from anywhere in the world! Participation in the accelerator programme is free-of-charge and equity-free for the startup companies. Instead, we work closely with the investors active in this business area, and network the interesting startup companies and investors with each other.
The application period for the Spring 2024 Accelerator Program is now closed.
Interested? Contact us!
Annimari Lehtomäki
Liinamaaria Hakola
References - What our customers say
BioBoosters Business Accelerator has paved the way in Bioeconomy and Agritech business and can help early-stage companies to fly. Through the accelerator there is help and expertise available on various topics, e.g. markets, financing and productization. In addition, testbed environments and support for internationalization, as well as shortcuts to the first customers, are available. Here is a partner who has already created and is actively creating more connections with the industry's leading actors and investors internationally.
Miiro Jääskeläinen, Underground Weatherman, Soil Scout Ltd.
Cooperation with BioBoosters has significantly increased our network in the agritech industry, especially contacts with industrial companies and experts in the field. The ValioHackathon was particularly good - As a startup company, there you could dialogue directly with key personnel of an industrial partner. Through student projects, we have been able to speed up our data collection significantly, they yielded concrete results very quickly and produced a lot of other useful market information in addition to data collection. International contacts through BioBoosters help companies map opportunities in other countries, and BioBoosters events bring together a relevant network of startups, very potential investors in this industry and other partners. I can warmly recommend cooperation with BioBoosters to agritechnology startups!
Aki Marttila, CEO, Anicare Ltd.
Frequently asked questions
What is the duration and structure of the accelerator programme?
The BioBoosters accelerator programme lasts approximately six months and requires a commitment of an average of two working days per month.
The accelerator programme consists of company or group-specific coaching and mentoring sessions with a designated company coach, themed training days for the accelerator programme teams, and various networking events (e.g. SmartBioeconomy Bootcamp event, Deal Day pitching event and demonstration events in the Bioeconomy Campus environment, AgriVenture Finland - Agritech & Sustainable Food Chain VentureDays, an international startup and investor event, which will take place in June 2025).
Participation in the accelerator programme is possible both virtually and on-site. We recommend live participation particularly in the Accelerator Kick-Off Day, Demo Days, and, where appropriate, in the joint training days. In the campus area there is office space as well as versatile laboratory and testing facilities available for the companies participating in the programme.
What does it require from the startup company to participate in the accelerator programme?
Participation in the BioBoosters accelerator programme requires a commitment of about two working days per month. Participation in the accelerator programme is possible both virtually and on-site. Live participation is particularly recommended for the Accelerator Kick-Off Day, Demo Days, and, where appropriate, in the joint theme days. Participation in the accelerator programme is free-of-charge and equity-free for the startup companies. Instead, we work closely with the investors active in this business area, and network the interesting startup companies and investors with each other.
How to join the accelerator programme?
The next call for applications for the accelerator programme will open in March 2024. If you are interested in more information, please contact Annimari Lehtomäki.
What does the accelerator programme offer for investors and corporations?
The BioBoosters accelerator programme and related events give investors and startups access to the Bioeconomy and Smart Agriculture startup ecosystem and a view to the hottest Bioeconomy and AgriFoodTech startups and growth companies internationally. We are currently looking for investors and corporations to join the network. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Annimari Lehtomäki.
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The BioBoosters accelerator programme is implemented as part of the "Finnish Future Farm" project funded by The Regional Council of Central Finland. In the “Finnish Future Farm” -project, a physical and virtual testbed environment and a center of expertise for testing, demonstrating and co-creating Smart Agriculture in Nordic conditions will be created at the Bioeconomy Campus in Saarijärvi, Central Finland. The main implementer of the project is Jamk University of Applied Sciences and co-partner is POKE Vocational College. The project is supported by several top companies in the field, such as Valtra, AGCO Power and Neste, as well as the city of Saarijärvi.
