F&A Next
F&A Next is a not-for-profit agrifoodtech summit founded in 2016 and operated by StartLife Invest B.V. in Wageningen, Netherlands. It convenes ~800 startups, investors, corporates, and researchers per edition for two days of pitching, networking, and debate on sustainable food innovation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersWageningen, Netherlands
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What F&A Next does
F&A Next is a not-for-profit agrifoodtech summit and event platform operated under StartLife Invest B.V. in Wageningen, Netherlands. Founded in 2016, it convenes approximately 800 attendees per edition including startups, scale-ups, dedicated food and agtech investors, leading corporates, and researchers from around the world for two days of pitching, networking, and debate around sustainable food system innovation. The summit is anchored in the Wageningen Food Valley ecosystem and co-organized by five institutional partners: Wageningen University & Research, Rabobank, StartLife, Anterra Capital, PeakBridge, and Foodvalley NL.
F&A Next firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- F&A Next
- Legal name
- StartLife Invest B.V.
- Website
- https://fanext.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- F&A Next is a not-for-profit agrifoodtech summit founded in 2016 and operated by StartLife Invest B.V. in Wageningen, Netherlands. It convenes ~800 startups, investors, corporates, and researchers per edition for two days of pitching, networking, and debate on sustainable food innovation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
F&A Next industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agrifood Innovation Events
- NAICS
- Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Agriculture, Food & Nutrition Congresses (THAHAJAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Product & Innovation Summits (Roadmap, Launch Readiness, Innovation Days) (THAHAMAG), Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)
Keywords
Where F&A Next is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Wageningen
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
F&A Next business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Conference Ticket Sales: F&A Next generates revenue primarily through ticket sales for its annual two-day summit. Tickets are priced differently for professional attendees (€883–€1,110 for full pass, €833–€883 for day passes, excluding VAT) and startup attendees (€335–€445 for full pass, €335–€385 for day passes). Payment terms require settlement within 14 days of invoice or before the event start.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Professional Full Pass — 2-day summit access with all networking features |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Professional Day 1 Pass — single day access |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Professional Day 2 Pass — single day access |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Startup Full Pass — 2-day summit access for startup/scaleup attendees |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Startup Day 1 Pass |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Startup Day 2 Pass |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
F&A Next product offering
Product offeringCore offering
F&A Next is a not-for-profit biennial/annual summit held in Wageningen, Netherlands, that convenes agrifood startups, investors, corporates, and researchers to catalyse sustainable food and agriculture innovation. The offering includes conference programming, networking events (investor dinners, student challenge, agrifood hackathon, startup academy), the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award, and a digital networking layer.
Product overview
F&A Next is a not-for-profit summit and event platform that catalyzes sustainable food and agriculture innovation. The core offering is the annual F&A Next Summit, a two-day conference held in Wageningen, Netherlands featuring the Next Heroes in Food & Agtech startup pitching program and the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award. The platform operates a digital networking platform for participant engagement and offers supplementary side events and breakout sessions. F&A Next connects agrifoodtech startups, scale-ups, investors, corporates, and researchers through a collaborative event model organized by Wageningen University & Research, Rabobank, StartLife, Anterra Capital, and Foodvalley NL.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- F&A Next Summit A two-day not-for-profit summit in Wageningen, Netherlands, convening agrifood startups, investors, corporates, and researchers around sustainable food and agriculture innovation, including conference programming, networking events, and curated matchmaking.
- Next Heroes in Food & Agtech Program A curated program presented at the F&A Next summit that showcases high-growth agrifood and agtech startups to investors and corporates for fundraising and partnership opportunities.
- Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award An industry award presented at the F&A Next summit recognising organisations advancing sustainable innovation in food and agriculture.
Quantifiable outcome
- Approximately 800 attendees per edition, including startups, scale-ups, investors, corporates, and researchers from multiple countries
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use F&A Next
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
F&A Next technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability6 records
F&A Next partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, business and ecosystem partner.
- Wageningen University & Research (WUR)coreFounding organizing partner providing the venue and anchoring the event in the Wageningen Food Valley ecosystem. WUR's Executive Board chair Sjoukje Heimovaara has presented the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award. Four WUR associates serve as editors of the 'Our Future Proteins' book published through the F&A Next ecosystem.
- RabobankcoreFounding organizing partner, a leading Dutch bank with strong focus on food and agriculture. Rabobank's Nicoline van Gerrevink spoke at the 2026 summit on sustainability incentives in agricultural lending. The bank also collaborates through its Foodbytes! platform.
- StartLifecoreStartLife Invest B.V. is the entity operating under the F&A Next tradename. It is the Dutch agrifoodtech accelerator and co-founder of F&A Next. StartLife coordinates event logistics, startup applications, and the Next Heroes program. StartLife celebrated its 10-year jubilee in December 2020.
- Foodvalley NLcoreFounding organizing partner contributing to the agrifood innovation ecosystem. Foodvalley NL, along with StartLife and WUR, share the Plus Ultra II building on Wageningen Campus and collaborate on the F&A Next program.
- RevyvebusinessWageningen-based foodtech scaleup that received €8M joint investment from Cosun and Oost NL. Uses natural micro-organisms to produce animal-free food ingredients from brewer's spent yeast. Participated in the F&A Next ecosystem.
- GFI Europeecosystem partnerGood Food Institute Europe, co-developer of the Novel Food Framework alongside Invest-NL and Forward Food Law to help agrifoodtech startups navigate European regulatory pathways for novel foods.
- Forward Food Lawecosystem partnerLegal advisory partner that co-developed the Novel Food Framework with Invest-NL and GFI Europe, providing regulatory strategy guidance for innovative food companies entering the European market.
- Ontario Genomicsecosystem partnerCanadian not-for-profit leading genomic-based solutions for economic growth. Hosted a Canadian delegation at F&A Next 2023 showcasing Canada's cellular agriculture and precision fermentation ecosystem, including 7 Canadian startups.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
F&A Next competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Foodbytes! by Rabobank: Rabobank's global food and agtech startup discovery platform combining a pitch competition and networking community. Directly comparable to F&A Next's Next Heroes program, but is a year-round digital/competition format rather than a flagship in-person summit; notably shares an ecosystem partner (Rabobank is a founding partner of F&A Next).
- FoodHack: Global community and meetup platform for foodtech founders, with regular meetups and an annual summit. Comparable to F&A Next as a foodtech networking convening, but more community-driven and digitally native rather than a single flagship research-anchored summit.
- New Food Conference: European event organized by ProVeg Incubator focused on cellular agriculture, fermentation and plant-based innovation. Comparable to F&A Next as a European curated agrifoodtech gathering, but narrower (alternative proteins only) and not anchored to a research institution.
Direct peers
- The AgriFoodTech Venture Forum: An invite-only investor-style forum focused on deal flow between agrifoodtech VCs, growth-stage startups and corporate strategics. Comparable to F&A Next's curated investor-corporate-startup format, though smaller in scale and more purely investment-oriented.
- World AgriTech Innovation Summit: Marathon Events' flagship annual agrifoodtech conference series held in San Francisco, São Paulo and other hubs. Directly comparable to F&A Next in audience mix (startups, VCs, corporates) and theme (innovation across the food and agriculture value chain), though broader geographically and less anchored in a single research institution.
- Sustainable Foods Summit: International conference series on sustainability in the food industry, covering eco-labels, green packaging and sustainable sourcing. Comparable to F&A Next in mission (sustainable food systems) but more B2C/retail-brand oriented rather than startup-investor focused.
- Future Food-Tech: Rethink Events' flagship alternative-protein and foodtech summit series held in San Francisco, London and Singapore. Closely comparable to F&A Next as a curated food-and-agtech startup/investor/corporate convening, with a heavier slant toward alternative proteins, fermentation and ingredient innovation.
Broad incumbents
- Rethink Events: Organizer of multiple foodtech and agri-investment summits including Future Food-Tech, Rethink Food and the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Week. Comparable as a peer event-management organization serving the agrifoodtech ecosystem, with a wider portfolio of branded events and broader global footprint than F&A Next.
- Global AgInvesting: Long-running conference series covering institutional capital allocation across agriculture, farmland and agtech. Comparable to F&A Next's investor-attendance model but focused on asset managers and LPs rather than startup venture investors, and broader across the agriculture supply chain.
Regional players
- Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Week: Rethink Events' Singapore-based agrifoodtech summit bringing together regional and global investors, corporates and startups. Comparable to F&A Next's startup-investor-corporate convening model but serving the APAC market rather than Europe.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
F&A Next social profiles
Digital presenceF&A Next financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
F&A Next leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
F&A Next funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
F&A Next M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about F&A Next
What does F&A Next do?
F&A Next is a not-for-profit biennial/annual summit held in Wageningen, Netherlands, that convenes agrifood startups, investors, corporates, and researchers to catalyse sustainable food and agriculture innovation. The offering includes conference programming, networking events (investor dinners, student challenge, agrifood hackathon, startup academy), the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award, and a digital networking layer.
Is F&A Next a public or private company?
F&A Next is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was F&A Next founded?
F&A Next was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is F&A Next based?
F&A Next is headquartered in Wageningen, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does F&A Next make money?
One revenue line is on record: conference Ticket Sales.
Who are F&A Next's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Foodbytes! by Rabobank, FoodHack and New Food Conference. Direct peers are The AgriFoodTech Venture Forum, World AgriTech Innovation Summit, Sustainable Foods Summit and Future Food-Tech. Broad incumbents are Rethink Events and Global AgInvesting. Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Week is listed as a regional player.
Does F&A Next have an API?
No public API is recorded for F&A Next.
What industry is F&A Next in?
F&A Next's product category is Agrifood Innovation Events. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHAJAI, Agriculture, Food & Nutrition Congresses, with a secondary code of THAHAMAG, Product & Innovation Summits (Roadmap, Launch Readiness, Innovation Days). Its NAICS code is 5417 and its SIC code is 8742.