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TTT-CT investment for startups SAIA en FUL Foods
Partner in the TTT Circular Technology programme SHIFT Invest recently invested in two promising startups. WUR spin-off SAIA aims to bring the revolution of robotics to greenhouse agriculture. Early-stage startup FUL Foods is dedicated to unlock the health and sustainability benefits of microalgae. The investment enables the young startups to further grow and expand their business activities.
The national consortium consisting of 4TU (TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, University of Twente and Wageningen University & Research (WUR)), TNO and investor SHIFT Invest is funded by the so-called TTT-provision, the government’s Thematic Technology Transfer instrument. It provides a crucial impulse to the rapid identification and funding of viable spin-offs from scientific research. Within this five-year programme, the consortium focusses on Circular Technology (TTT-CT).
One year ago, the TTT-CT programme officially kicked-off. The consortium partners have identified several promising initiatives and supported them with ‘proof of concept’ or ‘business development’ activities. Recently, partner SHIFT invested in two promising early-stage startups, SAIA Agrobotics and FUL Foods.
SAIA Agrobotics
WUR spin-off SAIA has the objective to bring the revolution of robotics to greenhouse agriculture. Their aim is to relieve human labour under physically demanding and monotonous conditions, to solve the grower’s problem of finding workers and to provide the world with a sustainable solution for future food security. SHIFT Invest, Innovation Industries and Oost NL are the investing partners.
FUL Foods
The second investment goes to FUL Foods, a startup founded earlier in 2020 that aims to unlock the health and sustainability benefits of microalgae. FUL Foods has developed a proprietary biorefinery process to produce planet positive ingredients from microalgae for the food and beverage sector including a protein-rich branded superfood (FUL®) introduced first through a functional beverage launching in 2021.
The investment will give the startups an extra boost to further grow their business as a part of their mission to make the world a better place to live in.
SHIFT Invest is an early-stage impact venture capital fund. SHIFT expects to announce more investments in promising startups soon.
More information
Are you interested in the TTT-CT programme and the opportunities it offers? Please contact Maurits Burgering, Programme Director.
The TTT-CT programme has been made possible by a subsidy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.