Lizzy Award

Wageningen Ambassador Peter Poortinga, former CEO of Plukon and now CEO of Wageningen-based company Solynta, established the prize to give them a boost. He named the award after the chicken Lizzy from a well-known commercial, where the concept for image stabilisation in cameras came from a chicken’s head, which remains stable while its body moves around.

The Lizzy Award is awarded to multiple entrepreneurs each year during the Wageningen Impact Expo. 

Congratulations to this year's Lizzy Awards winners:

• Milo Kleijnjan – OmnoMyco, develops a range of edible wild mushroom species as reliable, year-round crops, providing sustainable and flavourful alternatives to meat.
• Marlies Willemsen-Regelink – Buiten Bloeiers, connecting children with nature through outdoor and experience-based education.
• Iepe Bouw – Nettle Project, creates circular solutions that turn nettles into high-value spinnable fibers for textiles.
• Jordi Floriach-Clark – Chempanoptics, develops technology to improve the early testing of substances used against harmful fungi in agriculture and healthcare
  

The Lizzy awards are meant to support impact, driven by (former) WUR startups. Market urgency/customer validation are the central topics for the awards. To apply for this award, it is necessary to prepare a motivation letter and a two-pager or pitch deck which emphasize these topics. 

The letter and 2-pager/pitch deck should at least contain the following:

1. Short description of your startup - include website and/or socials

2. Social impact (potential)

3. Expenditure request if grant is awarded

The motivation letter and the deck serve as the information for the jury to select winners; there is NO pitch competition during the Expo, only a startup presentation – after all, the aim of the Impact Expo is to place the story of the startup at the centre. The winners are therefore contacted in advance and can prepare to give a short presentation during the Expo itself. 

 The jury criteria are:

• Feasibility
• Social Impact
• Market urgency/customer validation as the next step

The applications for 2026 are closed.