These companies, who are members of the University of Cambridge IfM’s Open Innovation (OI) Forum, are seeking new solutions to their business challenges, so you have the chance to pitch to them at an event on the afternoon of Wednesday 27th November at an event in Central Dublin.
The Food, Drink & FMCG Innovation Pitching Event is open to all individuals, research organisations and companies of all sizes and levels of maturity. Up to 20 entrepreneurs, start-ups, researchers, innovators and technology developers will be picked to pitch their ideas to a panel of key decision-makers and ‘innovation scouts’ from important Food, Drink and FMCG firms (see full list here).
The Pitching Event will focus on a broad range of important priority ‘Innovation Needs’ identified by the OI Forum members, as listed below:
- Sustainable production practices and systems
- Sustainable materials that maintain/extend shelf life
- Robust and standard sustainability measurements and reporting
- Reduction and valorisation of food waste
- Biotechnology
- Novel and natural ingredients
- Functional food/targeted nutrition
- Customisation of products and experiences for consumers
- Customer engagement and understanding
- Inspection & quality
- Digitalisation, automation and robotics
- AI & Big data
- Traceability throughout production and the supply chain
- Using data and digitalisation - from farm to fork
Reasons to enter:
- Most importantly, all finalists will have the opportunity to present their ideas and products to around 50 senior leaders and decision-makers whose main job role is to scout for and acquire innovation and technology from outside their organisations.
- Winners and highly commended entries will receive a trophy.
- All finalists will receive a certificate and will benefit from publicity associated with the event.
- All proposed pitches will be circulated to OI Forum members, whether they are shortlisted as finalists or not, so this is a sure-fire way of getting your idea in front of some key potential partners.
