We support startups and founders with technological and economic questions to implement new ideas for attractive and sustainable products in the food sector.
We support startups and founders with technological and economic questions to implement new ideas for attractive and sustainable products in the food sector.
DIL Innovation Hub | Startups
Your partner for startups and founders from the food sector.
The DIL Innovation Hub is part of the research institute DIL Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e. V. can look back on many years of experience in product and process development. The DIL continuously supports its partners in the innovation process in the areas of food safety and authenticity, structure and functionality as well as sustainability, as part of food science.
With this experience, we have a variety of options for advice and training in the food sector. We offer the opportunity to research innovative solutions for current and future foods.
Get started with the DIL Innovation Hub.
From the first entry to participation in our EIT food programs, with MAKEathons, boot camps and pre-accelerators, in which new innovative ideas are generated in international teams, right up to technological scale-up. With its location in the heart of the DIL campus and the direct proximity to the BIQ business and innovation park Quakenbrück, the DIL Innovation Hub offers an ideal environment for new ideas and innovations for the food sector.
- Alle
- Ag-Tech
- Biotechnology
- Food
- IT - Software - Apps
- Packaging / Tablewear
PLÄIN
PLÄIN
PLÄIN is offering tasty, nutritious, and fully functional dairy alternatives fitting consumer’s expectations based on their experience with dairy products. PLÄINS first product is “PLÄIN original” a plant-based milk-alternative. PLÄIN original is mimicking the properties of cow’s milk, plus it is free from allergens and it is a clean label product. PLÄINS ingredients are natural, we do not use preservatives or any other artificial ingredients. The need to substitute dairy is bigger than it has ever been! That’s why we are making the switch as delicious and easy as possible. Our products are providing enjoyment without compromises and concerns. PLÄIN is bringing you perfect moments of joy over and over again.
ZeroBullShit
The Zero Bullshit
The mission of Zero Bullshit is “use instead of waste”. We save leftover side streams of the industrial food manufacturing and further utilize them for our “Retter Products”, which are sustainable, healthy, and tasty. Our first product is the “Retter Kräcker”, a snack made from more than 50% leftovers and containing 30% protein and 11% fibers. Of highest importance for us is that our product is made from “real”, natural ingredients and we don’t use any artificial additives. In the future, we plan to come up with more “Retter Products” to save as much food as possible from being wasted and participate in a circular food system.
AllCup
AllCup
260 billion disposable cups are used worldwide every year and then thrown away. When drinking from such a cup, 25,000 plastic particles enter the human blood and organs due to the plastic coating. After drinking, the cups end up in the environment and cause considerable pollution.
We at AllCup want to change this situation and have developed a coating that is heat and water resistant up to 90°C and edible or compostable. Our patented coating offers a solution to replace plastic coatings. In the first use case, we coat waffles and transform them into edible coffee cups so that no more plastic is absorbed during consumption and even if the delicious waffle cup is not consumed, it decomposes like an apple. Our coating can also be applied not only to waffles, but also to paper cups, paper, and disposable salad bowls, for example, to replace plastic coatings there too. As a result, the environmental costs of €3.1 trillion caused by plastic can be significantly reduced in the long term.
We therefore offer the perfect solution for health and the environment.
Kulero
Kulero
Billions of single-use plastic spoons are used every year to end up thrown away after just a couple of minutes. This is burdensome for the environment and needs a lot of resources. That is why we developed edible cutlery. You can enjoy your meal and eat the spoon afterwards. The ingredients are 100% natural. We do not use any preservatives or artificial flavors. As ingredients, we use multigrain flower, salt and water and spices, herbs or cocoa for the flavor.
SACCHA
SACCHA
We need more sustainable protein sources to feed the growing population. Consumers demand healthy, tasty and affordable food products. Plant-based proteins face challenges in achieving a desired nutrition and taste profile. SACCHA offers a versatile protein ingredient extracted from microorganisms like brewer’s yeast. These proteins contein essential nutritional values, provide the desired taste and texture whil using being more sustainable compared to the traditional meat industry.
Kiana Agriculture
Kiana Agriculture
Our mission is to develop nature-based solutions to make agricultural production more profitable to the farmers, more respectful to the Mother Nature, and healthier for the consumers. Our formulations are precisely engineered to solve the major problems we are facing in agriculture today such as soil degradation, climate crisis and loss of biodiversity. Kiana products increase crop yields (20-100%) while decreasing chemical fertilizer use (up to 100%). The reduction in chemical fertilizer use also significantly reduces fertilization costs and carbon emissions.
farmAIr
farmAIr
farmAIr. is a Plant Stress Management, AgriTech company, specializing in Crop Protection and particularly in the Early and Accurate Detection of Biotic and Abiotic Plant Stress.
farmAIr’s patented technology is combining thermal & visual (RBG) images with Computer Vision & Artificial Intelligence, to see what no one else can – we are Agronomists’ MRI. We can detect plant stress, on a leaf level, long before the onset of any symptom – in trunk diseases, as early as 2-3 years ahead.
We are mainly addressing the following market segments:
1) Growers (B2B) who through our platform can accurately & promptly gather all necessary information to react, to cure infected plants, to prevent contamination of their healthy fields, as well as to better manage irrigation and the use of pesticides & fertilizers, ensuring efficient & sustainable agriculture.
2) AgTech Companies (B2B2B) like smart tractors, Spraying Drones, Greenhouses, etc., which can utilize our actionable data on-demand to provide complementary services to their end-customers (Early and Accurate Detection of Biotic and Abiotic Plant Stress) and to increase efficiency of their services (targeted irrigation, fertilization & spraying).
3) Agricultural Input Companies (B2Corp): cooperating with their R&D department, we can – among other services – help them to further develop & promote the effectiveness of their products or to improve the accuracy of their digital farming solutions.
Our technology may be used to provide solutions to many other industries, like for example to insurance companies, to better define insurance premiums and claims / remuneration.
mamu
Mamu Mushrooms
Mamu is an ag-tech, circular economy production system that collects spent grain from breweries and repurposes this as a raw material to produce fresh, exotic mushrooms (for local distribution). We aim both to lower the risks and costs of the current means of disposing spent grain and to help local EU states meet the rising demand for sustainable food production. Finally, we are not only helping breweries become more sustainable but also committing to being a zero-waste business ourselves as we explore recyclable packaging, a dried mushrooms line (for those unsold), and animal feed from the substrate that the mushrooms are grown on.
Engineered Food Solutions
Engineered Food Solutions (EFS)
Dried meat, also known as beef jerky, is becoming increasingly popular. However, the production of this tasty snack is very resource-intensive. An average of 200-350 g of fresh meat is needed to make around 100 g of beef jerky. We have developed a completely plant-based alternative: our plant jerky. The newly developed production process enables us to produce jerky that comes very close to the original in terms of texture, flavour and appearance.
Eatly
Eatly
‘eatly’ is a fermented liquid batter consisting only of organic rice and lentils. Directly from the bottle into the pan, eatly allows you to prepare fresh and healthy dishes in just a few minutes: soft or crispy, hearty or sweet, vegan, as a pancake, pizza or wrap, there are countless recipes for eatly. And the most important: eatly is lactose- and gluten-free, also suitable for vegans and allergy persons. Currently, eatly is produced in the technical center of the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences in Freising and is available in a 0.5 liter glass bottle. PETAs Vegan Food Award 2020.
Dipits
Dipit´s
Dipit’s is a series of dipping sauces that are not only healthy and delicious, but also sustainable. Made from two side streams of the food industry, namely acidic whey and plant-derived fibres, we actively contribute to the reduction of food waste. The combination of these two ingredients results in a creamy, satisfying product, where no further additives such as thickeners or emulsifiers are needed. Consequently, the list of ingredients is short and transparent to consumers. In addition, our dipping sauces are high in proteins and dietary fibre, while being low in sugar and fat compared to similar products. As the “basic recipe” of our dips remains unchanged, the introduction of new flavour varieties is quickly and easily feasible through the addition of quality-enhancing ingredients such as spices and fruits. As a result, no artificial flavours or colorants are necessary.
LaVache
LaVache!
LaVache! provides plant-based functional gummi sweet treats based on whole fruit and vegetable purees that are enriched in Vitamin B12 for a healthy diet especially targeting the needs of vegetarian and vegan consumers. Thus, we are aiming to make healthy nutrition fun without the need of supplements and helping consumers to reach their 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day by our LaVache! snacks.
Geschmackvoll Reck GmbH
With our products we want to offer an healthy and natural alternative to existing products at the
food market. Our first two products are UMAMI and KETCHUP. The particular aspect of our UMAMI
is, that it is an alternative to the synthetic produced glutamate with only natural resources, which
contains natural glutamate. The particular aspect of our KETCHUP is, that it is completely without
industrial sugar. The sugar in it is naturally fruit sugar from apples and it contains only 4,6g sugar per
100g. Also it is made of natural tomato without concentrated tomato puree. Our next Product will be
a hazelnut cream. Also without industrial sugar based on dates.
www.geschmackvoll.com
LEROMA
Leroma
Digital, effizient und einfach: So sollen heutige Prozesse aussehen! In der Lebensmittelindustrie suchen Lebensmittelhersteller oft wochenlang nach Rohstoffen für ihre Produkte, die den geforderten Qualitätsansprüchen gerecht werden, während Rohstofflieferanten nach Käufern für ihre Waren suchen. LEROMA ist das Portal für die Suche nach Rohstoffen zur Produktion von Lebensmitteln mit dem Ziel, den Beschaffungsprozess zu vereinfachen. Zusätzlich bietet LEROMA eine Überschussbörse mit einem digitalen Marktplatz für Reststoffe, Restposten und Überschüsse eine nachhaltige Lösung um Rohstoffe günstig zu kaufen, zu verkaufen und Lebensmittelverschwendung zu reduzieren.
Better Food Consulting
Better Food Consulting
Better Food Consulting supports corporates and startups in the AgFoodTech sector in the selection, processing, and combination of raw materials, as well as in upscaling, marketing and much more. Our consulting includes personalized workshops and individual support based on scientific expertise and practical knowledge in product development. We also offer laboratory analysis to make your RnD more resource efficient along the entire value chain.
Better Consulting for Better Food.
Ant Robotics
Ant Robotics
We are addressing the massive labor shortages in agriculture and building an autonomous and collaborative transport robot. The robot assists pickers in harvesting fruit and vegetables and carries harvest boxes to central collection points. This can increase productivity by up to 30%, which offers clear added value to farms. Our robotic platform has proven itself in several pilot trials with customers and, once launched, will be extended to support crop monitoring, picking and spraying applications, in addition to transport performance.
beworm
beworm
Beworm is developing a biocatalytic recycling process for polyethylene, the world’s most used plastics. We work with microorganisms and their enzymes to split down low density polyethylene into virgin like raw materials for the petrochemical industry. The process aims to be resource-saving, energy-efficient and environmentally conscious.
Legendary Vish
Legendary Vish
Legendary Vish mission is to offer everyone who loves the taste of fresh seafood a delicious plant-based alternative. We are driven by the belief that we need to radically rethink the way we produce proteins to feed 8 billion people. Plant-based seafood lacks the structure of conventional seafood. We want to change that. Our method: Cutting edge 3D Printing technology! Finest, realistic structures of salmon fillets. You will not be able to tell the difference!
Investment Opportunities
Startups looking for investors
The start-up is looking for an investor to invest in production technology (approx. € 200K).
The startup has developed a disruptive process for the freeze-drying of food (primarily fruit and vegetables) and will distribute own its own products (B2C and B2B). The market response has been extremely positive and the first trial sales have been executed.
First contact via DIL Innovation Hub
