Foodstars / Werkervaringen | Maarten Oostenbrink Advies

Foodstars is een project dat is voortgekomen uit een samenwerking van Ludvig Svensson met WorldStartUp. Na een traject waarin kritisch werd gekeken naar het businessmodel van Ludvig Svensson is een business innovation traject opgezet wat leidde tot een aantal experimenten, waaronder het Foodstar initiatief. Gezocht werd naar potentieel interessante start-ups in met name de tuinbouw. Foodstars is inmiddels opgegaan in WorldStartUp.

‘FoodStars is an open innovation platform that support international startups and intrapreneurial innovations in agrifood sector both regionally and globally. Whether they are new technologies, production methods or business models; we seek innovations that not only improve productivity and efficiency, but also have a social, health and ecological impact. Foodstars is a part of WorldStartUp.’

Meet one of the driving forces behind FoodStars: Svensson MD Maarten Oostenbrink

Swedish company Svensson revolutionized climate control in greenhouses when it introduced its climate screens to give plants better conditions to grow in the 1970s. The world market leader supports FoodStars not just because it understands the importance of continuous innovation. “We need to help feed the megacities in the developing world.”

You were very involved in the founding of FoodStars. How did you get engaged?

MO: “I have been a coach at the World Startup Factory which inspired me to think about an incubator or a platform for new startups focused on agriculture and horticulture. I discussed my idea with the World Startup Factory. They took it forward together with iMPACT Booster to start FoodStars.”

Why does Svensson join FoodStars as one of the founding partners?

MO: “We support FoodStars because we are looking for new ideas and opportunities and looking to invest in startups. There is a lot of activity and entrepreneurship in horticulture. There are, however, no startups in this business, while there are a lot of new ideas and technologies coming from our universities. When I got more involved with startups two years ago, I realized that in Holland, surprisingly, the number of startups was limited. We had to look beyond the borders of the Dutch horticultural sector and look internationally to find interesting initiatives that could be translated and adapted to horticulture. We concluded that we need to look globally for innovative horticulture solutions and see how we can let them flourish here in the Netherlands.”

How will FoodStars change the future and landscape of Dutch horticulture?

MO: “FoodStars does not solely focus on our Dutch interests. If you look at the long-term developments in the world you see that, especially in the second and the third world, people are moving from the countryside to the big cities. You see the growth of megacities with maybe twenty to thirty million inhabitants, in South America, in parts of Asia and Africa. All these people need healthy food.”

What do you hope to achieve with FoodStars?

MO: “I hope that we will find initiatives and people with good ideas that can contribute to feeding the world’s cities. If we can invite these ideas and startups to the Netherlands, this is a win-win situation for everyone. The Netherlands is the world leader in horticulture. We have a lot of know-how on how you can increase food production and yields, mainly in covered surroundings like a high-tech greenhouse. We build greenhouses all over the world, so we have the resource, knowledge and opportunity to help companies from other parts of the world.”