Growth Alliance: Support for AgTechs and FoodTechs

In a cooperation between Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank and the innovation hub TechQuartier, start-ups in the field of agricultural technology (AgTech) and food technology (FoodTech) in Germany will be supported and accompanied in their development. Under the Growth Alliance brand, a series of programs will be offered that are aimed at people interested in founding a company and start-up teams in all growth phases.

The program will start in April 2023 with a Scale up Masterclass for AgriFood startups with scaling goals. This will be followed by a four-day Idea Camp for aspiring founders in April and May. In July, a bootcamp for early-stage startups and the Growth Alliance Networking Summit (GANS 23) will be offered. All programs are free of charge for participants and it is required that they actively contribute to at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations.

Jens Varnskühler of seedalive, winner of Rentenbank's Start-up Award, expressed his excitement about his participation in last year's Growth Alliance Bootcamp:

The Growth Alliance Bootcamp was a great event for us. We were able to make many new contacts with other founders from the agri-food industry and further develop our product through the diverse offerings such as input sessions, speaking sessions, 1on1 meetings or the pitch training. We can only recommend every start-up to take advantage of the now expanded program.

Jens Varnskühler, founder of seedalive

Dr. Christian Bock, head of Rentenbank's funding business division, emphasized the long-standing collaboration with TechQuartier and the goal of building an AgTech and FoodTech ecosystem that connects startups with leading scientists and industry players. Lucas Schmitt, COO of TechQuartier, sees this as a great opportunity and emphasized that TechQuartier wants to promote innovation and growth in a sustainable way as a program-based ecosystem manager.

As of now, interested founders and start-up teams can apply online for the Growth Alliance programs. All programs are free of charge and an active contribution to at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals is required. With this program, the cooperation between Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank and TechQuartier offers start-up teams a variety of support in their development.