Business Factory Food (BFFood), the vertical accelerator of the Galician food sector driven by the Xunta de Galicia and energized by the Cluster Alimentario de Galicia (Clusaga), opens the deadline for submission of projects to opt to be part of its VI Edition. The process of receiving applications will close on November 15 at 14.00 hours.

From the proposals submitted to this call will be selected up to 16 innovative entrepreneurship projects, both national and international, which respond to the challenges of the Galician food industry. BFFood has promoted, throughout its five previous editions, 61 projects of the 288 applications received, both from Spain and from outside the European continent. In this new edition, up to ten initiatives will be chosen for its acceleration program and up to six for the consolidation program.

BFFood is managed by a consortium led by Clusaga, which also has our participation along with that of the three Galician universities, AGACA and ANFACO CECOPESCA in its technical committee. The activity of the entrepreneurship accelerator, launched in 2019, allowed the creation of 26 new companies and the generation of 200 qualified jobs.

Two modalities

Startups, entities and companies with an innovative idea can apply for one of the two BFFood categories.

The acceleration modality, a nine-month program, offers comprehensive and specialized support in the food sector for entrepreneurial initiatives in their initial phase, which are developing a minimum viable product or service and outlining a business model, and are no more than five years old.

The consolidation modality, which lasts twelve months, offers comprehensive and specialized support in the food sector for established companies in the food sector for companies already established, with a defined product or service aligned with one of the challenges of the sector, and which have been operating for a maximum of seven years.

For both modalities, BFFood offers coaching, specialized training, access to scientific-technical infrastructures and advanced services, mentoring from industry leaders, direct funding and access to investment, as well as to a network infrastructure and advanced services, mentoring from industry leaders, direct funding and access to investment, as well as a networking network in the food innovation ecosystem.

Proposed challenges

BFFood seeks to promote and consolidate those innovative projects that respond to the main challenges posed by food companies in the food sector: digitalization and automation; traceability, quality and food safety; logistics; sustainability; new product development; and process and marketing innovation. There is also an open challenge for any project applicable to the industry that involves the introduction of some type of innovation or improvement.

Mentoring and financial support

The projects selected in the sixth edition of BFFood will have the financial support of the Xunta de Galicia. Specifically, projects in the acceleration program will have access to €25,000 in non-refundable funding from GAIN, as well as a participative loan of up to a maximum of €50,000 through XesGalicia. Projects in the consolidation program will be able to access a participative loan that could entail a capitalization option of up to a maximum of €250,000 through XesGalicia.

Each selected project will have one or more specific mentors, belonging to one of BFFood’s driving companies. These will be responsible for guiding their evolution and development, facilitating the alignment of the value proposition with the resolution of the challenge. In this VI edition, the BFFood mentor companies are Bodegas Martín Códax, Cafés Candelas, Calvo, Clavo Food Factory, CEAMSA, Congalsa, CLUN, Gadis, Galacteum, Kiwi Atlántico, ALS Laber, DS Smith, Grupo Lence, Grupo Pereira, Larsa, Nueva Pescanova, Quescrem, Torre de Núñez, Viña Costera, Vegalsa, Casa Grande de Xanceda and Hijos de Rivera.

IV Edition Demoday and VI Edition Infoday

To present the results obtained by the 13 projects promoted in its fourth edition, and to publicize the benefits of participating in the sixth edition, BFFood, through Clusaga and our foundation, is organizing the IV Demoday and VI Infoday on October 10 at our headquarters in Santiago de Compostela.

The event, which will begin at 9:30 a.m., will serve to recapitulate the achievements of the projects of the IV Edition, delve into the opportunities of being part of the VI Edition, networking and approach innovation, entrepreneurship and the future challenges of the food sector from different perspectives.

Reserve your place now!

• When: October 10
• Time: at 10 am.
• Where: FEUGA Building. Santiago de Compostela (Campus Vida)
• Check the program here
• Register here