pladis reveals the 12 startups aiming to scale up food and ingredient development

It may sound like science fiction, but thanks to pladis, you may soon see more popcorn produced from waterlilies, legumes that imitate the effects of weight reduction medications, and enzymes that convert sugar into fibre in our bodies.

The snacking behemoth with its headquarters in London has announced 12 start-ups selected for its 2025 Accelerator Program, which aims to scale up food and ingredient development.

Selected from more than 300 applications across five continents, the eight-week programme brings together founders tackling some of the food industry’s biggest challenges: obesity, food waste, sustainable sourcing and the growing demand for personalised nutrition.

“There’s so much creativity in this group. What stood out is how practical their thinking is. This cohort has big ideas that are grounded in real science and they’re ready to be tested in the real world.” said Jennifer Moss, chief R&D officer at pladis.

Among the more radical ventures is Dublin-based Nuritas, which uses AI and genomics to unlock bioactive plant peptides that can trigger health benefits at a cellular level.

Fermtech, meanwhile, has created a cocoa alternative by fermenting food industry side-streams – resulting in a product with a 98% lower carbon footprint than traditional cocoa powder.

Zya, which has developed enzymes that convert up to 30% of sugar into fibre after it’s consumed – a behind-the-scenes transformation that could help reduce the impact of sugar without changing how food tastes.

MicroLub is reinventing texture for the plant-based market with next-gen fat replacements.

PulseON Foods is targeting gut health and satiety – mimicking the biological pathways triggered by new weight-loss medications, but doing it with legumes.

Just Nosh is turning water lilies into a popcorn-like snack, and, Pack2Earth is tackling plastic waste with packaging that breaks down naturally in household conditions, even when used for liquids and semi-solids.

The programme, powered by Yıldız Ventures – the innovation arm of pladis’ parent company Yıldız Holding – will give each start-up access to pladis experts across R&D, supply chain, regulatory and marketing, as well as real-world testing opportunities.

“We applied to the pladis Accelerator because we’re looking for partners who understand both science and scale,” said Dr Nora Khaldi, founder and CEO, Nuritas. “The access to mentors, technical expertise and commercial insight is exactly what we need to bring our next generation of functional plant peptide ingredients to market.”

Forward Fooding has been a strategic partner in helping pladis source and evaluate the applications, using their insights into Food Tech trends and solutions to guide our selection process.

Alessio D’Antino, co-founder and CEO, Forward Fooding: “This selection process has been a highly collaborative and rewarding journey. The 12 companies selected for this programme truly represent breakthrough innovations that are well aligned with pladis’ mission to revolutionise snacking while addressing wellness and sustainability challenges. We’re excited to see how this programme will drive meaningful impact for pladis and the broader industry.”