We build the ventures a regenerative food system needs

The goal is to help you shape a venture concept: a clear problem, a validated solution and the start of a viable business model. This could become the foundation for a venture you keep building in the Studio. Along the way, you'll meet potential co-founders, work with experts and stakeholders, and test your ideas in practice.

1. The programme gives you the opportunity to co-found a mission-driven venture by teaming up with complementary entrepreneurs in the cohort.
2. We’ll support you in identifying, testing, and refining solutions with the potential for deep, structural impact on the food system.
3. You’ll develop your ideas with hands-on feedback and gain access to a rich network of users, experts, and mentors to help co-design, test, and validate your approach in practice.

The Venture Building Programme begins with a two-week light digital pre-phase, designed to help you explore our knowledge library, connect with your cohort and prepare for the in-person experience.

This is followed by a 13-week, in-person programme based in Rotterdam. We start by diving into “problem loving”, a deep exploration of the food system to uncover the most promising opportunity areas. From there, you'll come up with and test potential solutions, gradually narrowing your focus.

In the final phase, you'll prototype one solution direction and gather feedback from relevant stakeholders. Throughout, there's a strong emphasis on building a complementary founding team and shaping an idea that could grow into a viable venture.

No. When you are accepted, you commit to the entire programme.

Our goal is to help you build a high-impact venture that contributes to transforming the food system. To support this, we'll work closely with you throughout the programme, bringing together our expertise in systems thinking, food systems, venture development and team formation (including co-founder matching).

You'll also be supported by a core group of mentors and subject matter experts from our network, offering insights from across the food system as well as hands-on venture-building experience. In addition, we'll connect you to key stakeholders, such as farmers, food manufacturers and other end beneficiaries, who play a vital role in validating and shaping your solution.

No, you do not need a team to apply for the Venture Building Programme. In fact, one of the aims of the programme is to help individuals find and build a team as they identify a problem they're committed to solving.

Yes, you can apply with an existing team. The Venture Building Programme is not an accelerator: we work with participants to truly understand the challenges in the food system and develop solutions that can address critical barriers. Each team member needs to apply separately, come with an open mind and be open to the possibility of matching with other co-founders.

That’s okay too. There are many examples of entrepreneurs going at it alone in the beginning, and matches are not always easy to find. However, when it comes to selecting which ventures enter the studio, a well balanced team in sync with each other will be one of the criteria we’ll take into consideration.

No. Some participants come into the programme with an existing idea; others explore several areas. While an existing idea can be valuable pre-thinking, the programme emphasises taking a step back to fully understand a problem before scoping a solution.

It depends on the stage of your idea. Experimenting with different directions is a plus: it shows you are already learning a lot about possible problem and solution spaces. But if your idea is already a business, it's probably not a great fit. The programme starts before the idea, so it is not an accelerator. We start by understanding the problems in the food system in depth, and we ask every participant to step back from their ideas and take a fresh, critical look at their assumptions.

Yes and no. If it’s a grant or a small investment amount in a general direction, then yes. But if it’s a serious seed investment, to us that implies that you’re already quite path-committed to an existing plan and deviating from that path would be problematic for you or your stakeholders. We want to ensure that participants have maximum flexibility when it comes to understanding the problems and designing solutions that can structurally address them.

Yes, generally speaking. There are no IP agreements and you are entitled to work on any ideas that come to you during or after the programme. However, Fresh does not sign NDAs with participants or with entrepreneurs more broadly. You can protect your idea through standard legal means; otherwise it becomes part of a shared toolkit of potential solutions that others, including future cohorts, can use to solve problems.

We aim to build ventures that tackle a systemic challenge by removing key barriers or building critical capacity. For the first few years, Fresh will focus on farmer-centric solutions that speed up the transition of the cultivation side of the food chain towards regenerative food systems. For a fuller answer and examples, see the ventures we build with.

Fresh is looking for a diverse mix of people. Business-minded individuals, domain experts, and technical people of different stripes are all needed to create well balanced teams. Often what we see is that people from very different fields are capable of approaching these challenges in unique and innovative ways.
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Alongside a diverse cohort, everyone needs a strong drive to transform the food system, and the intention and capacity to start a venture as a long-term commitment. Our founders need grit and perseverance to push through challenges, and the appetite to challenge the status quo. We look for people who are comfortable with uncertainty: intent on listening, learning and questioning their own assumptions. Fresh founders have and cultivate the energy to mobilise supporters and meet the needs of key stakeholders. They communicate clearly, with multiple perspectives in mind. And they are set on building a deeply impactful organisation, structured along steward ownership principles.

Yes! You'll have the chance to pair up with someone stronger on the business side, and the programme and the Studio are designed to develop and complement your skills in that area. We also have a broad network of experienced entrepreneurs who can guide you during the programme.

You'll need to live in or near Rotterdam for the in-person part of the programme, so plan to move to the Netherlands for its duration. Building relationships with potential co-founders and teammates needs proximity. Relationships are built over dinners, drinks and struggling through a challenging process together, not over video chat.

If you can't relocate, have a look at our self-paced course.

Currently, the Venture Building Programme is open only to people with EU citizenship, residence or a visa that allows them to take part. We are working to open it to applicants from outside the EU without existing work permits, but for now that's unfortunately not possible.

No, the programme is free for participants. We see it as an investment in people and in the ventures we may start together.

Unfortunately we do not offer financial support during the programme. Participants cover their own personal and programme-related expenses. During the programme, we provide breakfast and lunch in the space. After the programme, each team that joins the Studio can receive a kick-start budget of up to €10,000.

You will have to find housing yourself. However, we support everyone with helpful resources, tips and tricks, and the ability to coordinate with other participants.

No, the programme is a full-time commitment and needs participants' full attention.

If you can't attend full-time, have a look at our self-paced course.

No, the programme requires a full-time commitment. If you want something you can do alongside a job, have a look at our self-paced course.

In general, accepted applicants can't defer their place. A lot can happen in a year, and our focus areas for future programmes may shift. In extenuating circumstances, we'll work with you to find a way.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, but since our interview capacity is limited, we group interviews into batches.

‍Our tip: apply as early as possible. Cohort spots are limited and may fill up before the final deadline. The last round is mainly for late deciders, when spots are tight and competition is higher.

At the end of the programme, venture teams can join the Studio to co-found and build their venture with us. It has to be a mutual choice: if either the team or Fresh doesn't see a good fit, the team is free to keep building the venture on its own.

We have a network of funders who help us access early grants and seed funding for ventures joining the Studio. Whether a venture raises investment depends partly on its stage: some start with grants, subsidies and early pilots first.

Ventures joining the Studio receive a kick-start budget of up to €10,000 for early expenses.

For details on equity and how we structure and finance ventures when they join, see the programme and Studio agreement page.

Yes, when you join the Studio we co-found the venture alongside you. Programme support, fundraising, network building, recruitment, researching the opportunity and our hands-on help are all part of our investment. We favour steward ownership for the ventures we co-found, which changes how shares work: it separates decision-making rights from profit-sharing rights and creates different types of shares.

You as founder or founding team will receive 100% of the exclusive decision-making shares, meaning you have the hands on the steering wheel. Founders also receive economic shares for the hard work, the risk you take, and investment you are making at an early stage.

We calculate our investment as a co-founder based on what we deliver through the programme and the time the venture spends in the Studio. This investment is put into an EPOS (similar to a SAFE), which lets your venture postpone valuation and makes fundraising easier. The EPOS converts into shares after a first investment round, or when the company reaches full positive cash flow through natural growth. On conversion, Fresh receives non-voting shares. If the venture adopts steward ownership, which we strongly favour and help you set up, our return is capped at a predefined multiple.

The Studio acts as a co-founder, supporting the venture day to day in its first one to two years. It works hands-on alongside the founding team to organise funding, connect to expertise and build a team, and helps with the nitty-gritty such as legal, accounting, design and finding early customers. The aim is for each venture to become fully independent as it finds traction.

Our team reviews all applications and will get in touch if there are any questions or if we need more information. When we see potential in an applicant, the next step is an interview with members of the Fresh team. We plan interviews on a rolling basis, but because our interview capacity is limited, we group them into batches.

‍Our tip: apply as early as possible. Cohort spots are limited and may fill up before the final deadline. The last round is mainly for late deciders, when spots are tight and competition is higher.