Business Factory Food (BFFood) is an initiative promoted by the Galician Regional Government and coordinated by the Food Cluster of Galicia (Clusaga) with the backing of leading companies in the food industry.

The fifth edition of BFFood is aimed at startups, spin-outs and spin-offs that offer solutions for the food sector in one of its 7 challenges: digitalisation and automation; traceability, quality and food safety; logistics; sustainability; new product development; process innovation and marketing; and open challenge.

BFFood has two specific support programmes for participating projects: acceleration and consolidation. The programmes are designed to boost projects according to their stage of development, from the initial idea with the acceleration programme, to the consolidation of sales with the consolidation programme.

The deadline for submitting applications is 20 December 2022 at 2:00 p.m. In the 5th Edition of the programme, 10 acceleration projects and 6 consolidation projects will be financed. The total number of projects submitted in previous editions was 255, of which 47 obtained financing with a total investment of more than 5.6 million euros.

Two programmes

The acceleration programme is designed specifically for new entrepreneurs. With a duration of up to 9 months, the planned activities will focus on the validation and development of a product or service, the definition of a business model, the achievement of the first sales and the empowerment of the team's skills and abilities. The financing available for this modality is 25,000 euros in aid provided by the Galician Innovation Agency, and up to 50,000 euros in participatory loans from XesGalicia.

The consolidation programme consists of comprehensive and specialised support in the food sector for a 12-month period, focused on companies already established with a defined product or service and first sales already made. They will be eligible for a participatory loan from XesGalicia of up to 250,000 euros.

In order to participate in the acceleration programme, the company must have been incorporated for less than 42 months or must be unincorporated with a commitment to incorporate prior to the start of the programme. For the consolidation programme, the company must have been incorporated for less than 72 months.

In both cases, the beneficiary's registered office and tax domicile must be in Galicia, 100% dedication to the project by at least two full-time employees is required, as well as participation in the training, tutoring and mentoring activities carried out in the initiative.

Mentoring

There are 22 leading companies in the sector participating in BFFood, contributing knowledge, dedication and resources as a way to both stimulate the accelerator and mentor for participating projects.

Each of the projects will have at least one specific mentor, with a degree and experience in the specific field of the project, for each of BBFood's driving companies. They will be in charge of leading and guiding its progress, facilitating the alignment of the project's value proposition with the resolution of the challenge.

There will also be specialised coaching to support the projects in each of the stages of development, evaluating their situation and accompanying them in the different steps towards the optimisation of their business plan. The participating projects will also have access to a specific training programme according to their needs and level of development of the project, which will allow them to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for the success of their business project.

They may also access the infrastructure, resources and technical services catalogue, which includes technological and innovation services provided by technology centres and Galician universities. They are available to entrepreneurs for the development of their projects and financed at 80% up to a maximum of €10,000 per edition.