For our ecosystem of agrifood businesses, scaling an innovative idea to regional, national, and ultimately global market impact remains the fundamental challenge. On 20th and 21st May 2026, the international agrifoodtech community gathered in Wageningen for the 11th edition of F&A Next to address this scale-up challenge head-on. The summit brought together startups, scale-ups, and investors to explore why most early ventures fail, how a select few successfully scale, and what makes the difference.

Our Communications and Events Officer, Dr Dominic Hill, attended the summit to gather intelligence for the Growing Kent & Medway network. He returned with a wealth of insights for the UK, focusing on what drives founder success, how startups must position themselves to survive, and how our ecosystem can best support that journey.

What Makes an Agrifood Startup Investable in Kent and Medway?

In her opening keynote, Eva de Mol, co-founder of CapitalT, delivered a stark reality check: nine out of ten startups fail, and the agrifood sector is no exception. Crucially, founders cannot rely on brilliant ideas alone to scale for market impact. According to de Mol, 60% of startups that collapse do so because of dysfunctional team dynamics.

Investors are increasingly assessing the diversity of founding teams, simply because diverse groups consistently outperform homogeneous ones. This outperformance occurs because diverse teams are far less susceptible to a critical investment red flag: excessive agreement. "Task-related conflict is a key driver of success," de Mol explained. A team that never argues signals a lack of passion, overly authoritarian leadership, or a concerning lack of creativity to potential investors.

Despite this clear commercial evidence, venture capital allocation remains stubbornly skewed. Recent data show that approximately 83% of funding goes to strictly all-male teams. At Growing Kent & Medway, we are taking active steps to correct this imbalance in our region. By supporting female founders, young people, and young parents, we have proudly exceeded our inclusive growth goals, delivering 63.2% of our support to these underserved innovators.

Diversity is not the only metric used to judge a team. Previous failures are now viewed much more positively by investors. This is not charity, but smart business. Founders who have failed previously are statistically more likely to succeed in their next venture, as trying again demonstrates tenacity and a willingness to learn from past mistakes.

"At the Kitchen Table": Falling in Love with the Problem

Beyond team dynamics, the summit highlighted the critical importance of involving farmers in research and development (R&D) much earlier. In the agritech sector, the end user is almost always the farmer. Yet, as Michiel Scheffer (European Commission) noted, there is a profound disconnect between the laboratory and the field.

Annick Verween (VIB) provided a brilliantly blunt solution for agritech startups: "Stop loving your technology and start loving solving a problem that someone will pay you for." A common pitfall among agritech founders is prioritising technological R&D over solving immediate, commercial problems in a way that works practically on the farm.

European startups consistently produce world-class innovation, but they frequently fail to translate that science into commercial value. British startups are no exception. That is exactly why Growing Kent & Medway prioritises a collaborative approach that brings startups, academics, and growers together from day one of any R&D project.

This model echoes Scheffer’s advice that founders must reengage with farmers "aan de keukentafel" (at the kitchen table). Without understanding the practical, financial, and regulatory restrictions farmers face on the ground, startups risk building brilliant solutions for problems the market will not support.

Next Heroes 2026: Agrifood Startups Solving Value Chain Bottlenecks

The winners of the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award perfectly embodied this problem-first philosophy. B-COS secured the early-stage prize for developing a scalable, bio-based alternative to synthetic pesticides. NoPalm Ingredients took the later-stage award for producing sustainable oils through fermentation to replace conventional palm oil. Both businesses address urgent value chain bottlenecks with commercial pragmatism and represent excellent examples for our agritech startups.

Functional Foods and the GLP-1 Era: New Frontiers for UK Food Manufacturers

Along with reconnecting with end users, startups must adapt to a shifting value landscape within the food system. Recent technological advancements and the changing climate are rapidly redefining where value can be added by agrifood ventures.

Perhaps the most disruptive short-term shift for UK food and drink manufacturers is the rapid uptake of GLP-1 obesity medications. As Dr Gali Artzi (PeakBridge) noted, "the calorie economy is ending; the performance nutrition economy is beginning." Because GLP-1 users experience suppressed appetites, every mouthful must deliver a higher nutrient density, meaning "every bite must do more."

This companion nutrition market is forecast to grow by over 300% in the next ten years, creating an exceptional opportunity for functional food and drink brands. At Growing Kent & Medway, our Food Accelerator programme has supported numerous local startups that are ideally placed to excel in this rising performance nutrition economy.

Shifting Value on the Farm: Sustainability and Regulatory Waves

Value definitions are not just shifting in the supermarket; they are shifting on the farm itself. Nicoline van Gerrevink explained how Rabobank places agricultural businesses into sustainability buckets, offering top performers the best lending rates. Their research indicates a strong correlation between sustainable practices and farm profitability, prompting Rabobank to actively incentivise ecosystem services and proving that climate resilience and commercial viability are increasingly intertwined.

To navigate these radical marketplace transitions and scale effectively, Dan Harburg  (MOMBAK) advised startups to watch for "regulatory waves" where government and commercial interests align. Because domestic and European Union regulations can be a frustrating barrier to market entry, positioning a business to catch these policy fast-tracks early is often far more conducive to growth than having an innovative idea in a high-regulation environment.

The Road Ahead: Driving the Southeast’s Sustainable Food System

The core lesson from F&A Next 2026 is that world-class science cannot succeed in a vacuum; it requires a robust, integrated architecture to reach commercial maturity. As Growing Kent & Medway looks toward its next phase of supporting the regional food system, these global insights will directly inform our strategy.

Through our targeted grants, business support, and research facilities, we are committed to helping local horticultural and plant-based businesses build resilient teams, align their R&D with genuine grower needs, and capture emerging high-value markets like performance nutrition. By bridging the gap between exceptional research and practical commercial deployment, we will ensure that the Southeast remains a thriving, self-sustaining hub for agrifood innovation.

Growing Kent & Medway was a supporting Business Partner of F&A Next 2026. Early bird tickets for next years’ conference which takes place 19^th and 20^th May 2027 are now available for pre-registration: https://www.fanext.com/