As Head of Partnerships at StartLife, Dr Bernadette Sztojka is responsible for shaping and executing a partnership strategy that truly serves startups: bringing together the right corporates, investors, knowledge institutions and ecosystem partners to accelerate innovation in the food and agriculture domain.
In her role, Bernadette ensures that partners are not just “connected” to StartLife, but actively involved in helping startups learn, validate, grow and scale. By aligning partner activities with StartLife’s overarching purpose, she makes sure that every collaboration contributes to building a more sustainable and resilient food system.
Building Collaborations As A Growth Engine For StartLife Startups
As Head of Partnerships, Bernadette leads the development and execution of StartLife’s partnership strategy. This involves identifying which organizations can create the most value for startups, designing mutually beneficial collaborations and ensuring that partners remain engaged.
She focuses on translating partner capabilities into concrete opportunities for founders: expert sessions, pilots, market access, co-development, and strategic guidance. In this way, partnerships are not a side activity, but a core engine behind the success of StartLife’s startups.
“Congratulations to Bernadette on her new role as Head of Partnerships! I’m truly excited to move forward together and to see how her leadership will continue to strengthen StartLife’s support for startups,” says Dr. Nikki Harrison, Managing Director of StartLife.
Partners as an Extension of the Startup Team
For Bernadette, a strong partnership is one where the partner becomes an extension of the startup team. That can mean a corporate that opens up its facilities for testing, an expert that shares sector expertise early on, or a knowledge institution that helps validate a new technology.
By carefully curating the partner network and matching startups with the right organizations, she ensures that founders have access to knowledge, networks and resources that would otherwise be out of reach at an early stage.
Personal Drive: Impact Through an Open Network
Bernadette’s personal motivation lies in magnifying the positive impact startups can have on both our food system and the environment. She loves helping founders turn bold ideas into practical solutions that can scale and make a real difference.
Her goal is to build a supportive, transparent and diverse partnership network where stakeholders are willing to learn from each other, share risks and co-create solutions. In this ecosystem, startups are not alone: they are surrounded by partners who are committed to helping them turn promising ideas into real-world impact.
“No single organization can solve the complex challenges in agrifood. That’s why we need open, collaborative partnerships where everyone is willing to learn, and build solutions together.” says Bernadette Sztojka, Head of Partnerships of StartLife.
Aligning Partnerships With StartLife’s Purpose
Every partnership initiative that Bernadette drives connects back to StartLife’s mission: empowering startups to shape a sustainable food future. Whether it is setting up strategic collaborations, designing new programs with partners or exploring long-term joint initiatives, she ensures that partnerships remain mission-driven.
By combining strategic thinking with a strong sense of purpose, Bernadette helps create an environment where startups can grow faster, partners can innovate more effectively and the broader food system can move in a more sustainable direction.
