A decade ago, F&A Next started with a simple idea: connect promising agrifood startups with investors, and corporates who actually care about impact. Ten editions and thousands of connections later, that idea has become one of Europe’s most influential gatherings in the AgriFoodTech calendar. This May, as the global community returns to Wageningen for F&A Next 2026, the conversation is shifting from discovery to scale.
The theme running through this year’s program is a frank one: getting a bold idea off the ground is hard, but scaling it is where most innovations stumble. From climate-resilient farming to resource-efficient proteins and data-driven supply chains, the urgency has never been greater. The gap between a promising pilot and real-world impact has never been more pressing to close.
The Scale-Up Challenge Takes Centre Stage
If the early editions of F&A Next were about surfacing the next wave of innovation, 2026 is about asking what it actually takes to get there. “Today’s agrifood challenges demand solutions that scale faster than ever before,” the organizing team explains. “F&A Next serves as the catalyst in that journey.”
New this year, StartLife’s Demo Day has been fully integrated into the F&A Next program as the StartLife Demo Session. Rather than running as a separate event, six A La Carte Startups will pitch live on the mainstage on 20 May, in front of the full F&A Next audience. The six startups taking the stage are Umyno, Soilytix, Qarbotech, Florates, VCG.AI, and Move On, each tackling a distinct and urgent challenge across the food and agriculture value chain.
This year’s mainstage program reflects that urgency directly. On day one, MIT Sloan’s Scott Stern joins an international panel to ask a pointed question: what’s Europe’s next joint effort in the AgriFoodTech startup ecosystem? With risk capital in decline and talent constraints tightening, the discussion promises to be grounded, not aspirational. Alongside Scott Stern, Ryan Rapp, Vijay Chauhan, and biotech founder Anna El Tahchy bring perspectives from outside the Dutch bubble.
Day two opens that conversation further. Michiel Scheffer, President of the Board at the European Commission, takes the stage ahead of a panel on what it means to be truly investment-ready: sharpening value propositions, building teams that last, and navigating the funding pathways that can make or break a scale-up. The panel also features Dan Harburg, Chief Product Officer at Mombak, and Annick Verween, Head of Biotiope, bringing complementary perspectives from both the commercial and innovation sides of the agrifood ecosystem.
Next Heroes: Where The Next Generation Pitches
For those who’ve attended F&A Next before, the Next Heroes sessions are often the highlight: the moment where an unknown startup becomes a name on everyone’s lips. This year, two pitch sessions across both days cover the full funding spectrum, from pre-seed founders making their case for the first time to Series A and B candidates presenting to a room packed with investors and industry leaders.
The stakes are real. At the close of day two, Feike Sijbesma will personally announce two winners of the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award, each receiving a grant of €12,500. Sijbesma is the visionary leader who transformed Royal DSM into a sustainability-driven global company and now serves as Co-Chair of the Global Center on Adaptation.
What Brings Investors Back, Year After Year
Ask any investor in the AgriFoodTech space why they make the trip to Wageningen, and the answer tends to be consistent. “Investors know that F&A Next is where you meet the right people,” says Samuel Rapolu, StartLife’s Investor Partnership Manager. “Founders, corporates, co-investors. And because of who’s behind the event, the quality is always top-notch.”
That quality stems, in large part, from the foundation: Wageningen University & Research, Rabobank, Anterra Capital, PeakBridge, and StartLife. Each brings a distinct perspective, a distinct network, and a genuine investment of time and resources. The result is a program that investors describe not as a tradeshow, but as the place to understand what the industry actually needs and where the next compelling opportunity is forming.
Wageningen as a Living Lab
One element that consistently surprises first-time attendees is the campus itself. This year, F&A Next will again offer guided campus tours across both days, covering startups operating inside the greenhouse facilities at Unifarm and AlgaePARC, the Food Innovation Kitchen, and growing companies like Revyve and the Samyang Foods R&D Innovation Centre that have put down deeper roots in the ecosystem. It’s a reminder that F&A Next isn’t just a conference. It’s a window into one of the world’s most concentrated nodes of agrifood research and innovation.
See you in Wageningen
Whether you’re a founder with a breakthrough that needs its next phase of capital, a corporate looking for your next strategic partner, or an investor tracking the strongest signals in agrifoodtech: F&A Next 2026 is where the conversation is happening. Two days, one campus, and a community that’s been building something meaningful together for a decade.
Use code aSTL26-d for 15% off your ticket: Register here
