Fi Global Insights is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Meet the jury 2021

Meet the Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge 2021 Advisory Board

The Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge gives startups the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a jury of R&D experts, investors, and major F&B industry company representatives.

It is with great pleasure that we wish to introduce you to our Advisory Board:

Darko JESIC.jpeg

Darko Jesic

Darko Jesic has a PhD in innovation management from the Paris-Dauphine University where he also gives lectures in Strategic Management. After working in the Marketing Department for L’Oréal Group, he oriented his studies towards Management of Technology and Innovation. His field of expertise is managing Open Innovation strategies, R&D initiatives, and collaborative tools that help companies to better satisfy the market needs through innovative products, processes, and services. His special interest is managing of innovation processes through organizing creative workshops with various actors, such as R&D, marketing experts, external partners, etc. With one step in the academic field and the other in the professional field, he brings best practices into action.

BIo Photo Sandra.png

Sandra Einerhand

Sandra Einerhand heads Einerhand Science & Innovation, a consultancy providing nutritional solutions to the food and dietary supplements industry. In May 2021, Sandra received the Nutrachampion Award and in 2020, Einerhand Science & Innovation won the Luxlife Food and Drink award for being the best European Early Life Nutrition Consultancy. Sandra also chairs the Nutrition Consultants Cooperative (NCC) and works as fellow for Presans, a Paris-based service provider in high-end open innovation. Together with her clients, Sandra creates a healthier and more sustainable environment by bringing the client’s nutrition and health products to market more efficiently, more sustainably, with benefits based on science, and with a clear nutritional story enduring success. Before 2015, she worked for Danone Nutricia Research, Tate & Lyle Ingredients and Lipid Nutrition as Scientific Program Director and Nutrition & Health Director leading large scientific programs to bring new (natural) ingredients and (specialty) food products to the market with scientifically proven health benefits yielding several patents.

Alexandre_Bastos_Givaudan.jpg

Alexandre Bastos

Alexandre Bastos’ role leading the Front End Innovation programme at the flavours division of Givaudan, is to explore emerging food technologies, business models and adjacent spaces, while bringing new opportunities by connecting with start-ups, entrepreneurs and innovation thought leaders that are disrupting the food and agriculture ecosystem. Alexandre is an active leader in the Givaudan journey to drive a more collaborative and inclusive working model to deliver innovation. From innovation in taste science and technology to innovation in AgTech such as vertical farming, Givaudan knows what innovation in its broadest sense means. “Our view on innovation is holistic and broad, but we are always focusing on the product, solutions, technology and experience we deliver to our customers,” states Alexandre.

Christiaan Kalk, lsbi life-science based innovations.jpg

Christiaan Kalk

Christiaan Kalk graduated at Groningen University in 1987 (MSc, biology). While managing sales and marketing of contract research at TNO for more than two decades, he became increasingly involved as a project manager and a senior advisor in life sciences testing strategy, regulatory affairs, and communication. In close cooperation with experts in areas including toxicology, nutrition, pharmacology, analytical chemistry, microbiology and biotechnology, Christiaan served hundreds of clients in the international food, chemical and pharmaceutical industry. In numerous studies and projects he contributed to successful innovations, including novel foods like plant sterols/stanols and algal oils as sources for essential fatty acids, as well as a new UV-filter in sunscreens and a new cleaning technology for membranes used in beer filtration. In 2017, Christiaan founded lsbi | life science-based innovations. Experience, trust, a strong network in both the scientific and the regulatory world, as well as commitment to health, safety and sustainability, form the cornerstones of lsbi. Lsbi serves both start-up and established companies, as well as investors.

kcamphuis - PERSO.jpg

Kevin Camphuis

After 20 years in strategy and breakthrough innovation management in the industry, having been, among other projects, in charge of the development of the first ever kitchen connected appliances, Kevin Camphuis founded ShakeUpFactory, a reference business accelerator and open innovation platform dedicated to food and AgTech. Based inside StationF in Paris, it gathers a unique ecosystem of 200+ international startups and corporations, inventing together the ingredients and solutions of tomorrow's food economy.

Albrecht Wolfmeyer.jpg

Albrecht Wolfmeyer

Albrecht Wolfmeyer heads the ProVeg Incubator. ProVeg Incubator is the world’s leading Incubator of plant-based and cultivated food startups. ProVeg Incubator's 40+ alumni startups come from all over the world and have now raised over €30 million and launched more than 100 SKUs. He has extensive professional experience in international profit and non-profit organizations and is an expert in NPO management, marketing and communications, strategy, and project lead. Albrecht was the co-founder and managing director of an online fundraising startup. He studied in Berlin, Toronto, Paris, and Fribourg.

BECHU photo.jpg

Françoise Bechu

Françoise Bechu is an R&D Innovation Leader for General Mills in Europe. She joined General Mills 20 years ago and has held various roles in R&D across North America and Europe, delivering new products pipeline and growth renovation ideas. Originally from France, she has been living and working in 4 different countries developing some strong intercultural empathy. She holds a master’s degree in food science & technology from Agrocampus Ouest in France. Françoise is passionate about food and innovation, and she loves spending time trekking for new food trends in stores, restaurants, or social media. She has been interacting over the last year with a lot of food startups in the European network, sharing her passion for innovation and bringing the community together through different networking events.

Marc-Antoine OLIVE.jpg

Marc-Antoine Olive

Marc-Antoine Olive served in a variety of general management, marketing, commercial and business development roles for 20 years, across 7 mature and emerging markets and within 3 major Food Multinationals (Danone, PepsiCo, General Mills). In 2019, Marc-Antoine moved to the food innovation and startup space in Asia and Europe (with various investments and advisor roles in the last years) and is currently the CEO of Feast Creative Foods whose mission is to build the next generation market entry platform for innovative F&B brands into China.

Carla-Ibanez.jpg

Carla Ibáñez

Carla Ibáñez has a background in Agrobiotechnology, a PhD in Natural Sciences, and experience in private equity funding and Tech Transfer.

Andrew Ive.jpg

Andrew D. Ive

Andrew Ive is the founder of Big Idea Ventures. Its purpose is to solve the world’s biggest challenges by supporting the world’s best entrepreneurs. Our first fund + accelerator (NY, Paris, and Singapore) invests in cell-based technology, plant-based foods, and ingredients to impact climate change, animal welfare, and personal health. Investors include Tyson Foods, Temasek, AAK, BelGroup, and Buhler. Advisory Board member for Tufts Nutrition Council. Friedman School Entrepreneurship Advisor. Harvard Business School graduate, Procter & Gamble brand management trained.

Shardul-Dabir-Photo.jpg

Shardul Dabir 

Shardul Dabir is fascinated by all things food! Over the past 8 years, he has studied food through the fields of Engineering, Applied Sciences, R&D, Entrepreneurship, Management, and a highly complementary Liberal Arts. He is a Young India Fellow (YIF) from Ashoka University and has a Bachelor’s in Food Technology and Management from NIFTEM, MoFPI, Govt. of India. He has spent time as a researcher at Rutgers University (USA) and University of Saskatchewan (Canada). Shardul loves traveling & entrepreneurship and has been a Jagriti-Yatri in the past. At GFI India, Shardul works as an Innovation Specialist to accelerate the early-stage innovation ecosystem for the smart protein sector and enable GFI's team of experts in shaping the future of food - efficiently, effectively, and sustainably! 

Gil Horsky - Photo.jpg

Gil Horsky

Gil Horsky is part of the founding team for SnackFutures, the venture & innovation hub from Mondelēz International. Gil, and his team in SnackFutures, are on a mission to invest and develop innovative snacking ventures that are good for people, kind to the planet and deliciously fun! He is currently focused on identifying and investing in high-growth well-being snacking brands and FoodTech capabilities. Throughout his career, Gil had the privilege to innovate for some of the most iconic global food brands, i.e., Milka, Pepsi, Quaker Oats, Toblerone, Cadbury, Oreo, Tropicana & Nestle, and to work across the globe in the US, Europe and the Middle East. Gil is a regular contributor to leading industry journals and a speaker in international conferences about the topics of innovation, FoodTech and corporate venture investments. 

Eline-boot.jpg

Eline Boot

Eline Boot is heading up the global partnerships team for FoodBytes! by Rabobank, connecting startups, investors and corporates. She is a specialist in the Food and Agriculture Industry with over a decade of experience in startup and corporate innovation and investment banking.

Thomas-van-den-boezem.jpg

Thomas van den Boezem’s

Senior Associate at PeakBridge - a global FoodTech VC firm. Former Investment Manager at EIT Food and Investment Analyst at Innovation Industries. Previously led the investment readiness & tech transfer programs at StartLife with Wageningen University. Founded BoxBites, a healthy snacking subscription company. Holds an MSc in Management, Economics, and Consumer Studies and a BSc in Public Health from Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Chamidu-Karunathilake.jpg

Chamidu Karunathilake

Chamidu Karunathilake heads the Innovation for APAC at Rabobank and is based in Sydney, Australia. The FoodBytes! is a global program from Rabobank that help leading Food and Agri companies to connect with innovative startups and insights that will support existing and future strategies. Chamidu has extensive experience in working with forward-looking corporates, investors, consultants, and entrepreneurs that pioneer the future of food and agriculture. Prior to Rabobank, Chamidu managed the innovation portfolio for GrainCorp, the largest listed agribusiness in Australia.

Jury-logos-november.png

button_fi-global-startup-innovation-challenge.png