The document summarizes an upcoming workshop on food tech innovation hosted by MIT's Startup Exchange. The workshop will bring together industry representatives, academics, and startup founders to discuss trends in food technology innovation. A variety of speakers will provide perspectives on opportunities in food product development, agricultural productivity, computational food, and sensors. There will also be presentations from MIT-connected food tech startups and a panel discussion on important trends, the emerging innovation ecosystem, corporate priorities, and where smart investments are focused. The goal is to connect industry members to startups and research in the food technology field.

1. Connecting Industry to Startups

2. Food Tech Innovation workshop:
MIT's Food Tech Startups
MIT, 22 April 2015
Trond
Undheim,
PhD
Lead,
MIT
Startup
Exchange
undheim@ilp.mit.edu

3. MIT
Startup
Exchange
An innovation community run by MIT Industrial Liaison program, with
the aim of connecting industry to startups. At the heart of the initiative: !
• 220+ “Global 1000” member companies. !
• 172 MIT Faculty who are serial co-founders of startups. !
• 1000+ MIT-connected startups (including founded by alums). !
• MIT innovation players (Deshpande, Innovation initiative, VMS, etc.)!
!
Ingredients:!
• Cluster workshops & Conference exhibitions w/lightning talks!
• Startup profiles & database!
• Opportunity matching (f2f & online)!
• Newsletter & Analytics!

4. 172 MIT Faculty are serial entrepreneurs! For example:!
• Prof. Bob Langer, Koch Institute, MIT (26 companies)!
• Prof. Alex Pentland, MIT Media Lab (16 companies)!
• Prof. Gregory Stephanopoulos, ChemE (7 companies)!
• Prof. Michael Stonebraker, CSAIL (5 companies) !
Serial
entrepreneurs
at
MIT
Source:
MIT
STEX
Database
(2015).

5. Seven
startup
clusters
!
327!
!
!
57!
!
!
81!
64!
!
132!
!
!
27!
!
64!!
n=844
Source:
MIT
STEX
Database
(2015).

6. How
to
engage
with
STEX?
An enhanced service of the ILP – available to members. !
1. Browse the database. Find startups. Ask us to connect you. !
2. Engage with your Liaison Officer or myself to post opportunities.
Startups will ask to connect with you. Their ideas might surprise
you. !
3. Keynote at our cluster workshops. Meet startups after your talk. !
4. Attend MIT ILP’s conference startup exhibits (MIT ICT conference,
MIT R&D Conference, regional events in Austria, Brazil, China). !
• As a non-member you can attend our open workshops. !

7. [Mul,na,onal]
seeks
MIT
startups
• [Multinational] seeks long-term partnerships with MIT-connected
startups for mutual benefit.!
• We have a particular interest in breakthrough/disruptive tech in X. !
• We are looking for startups/companies with [these specific
characteristics in terms of stage of development etc.]!
• Facts, MIT track record, startup track record, and website.!

8. Empowers you with the
knowledge to discover and
enjoy over 200 varieties of
fresh fruits and vegetables.!
4/21/15
8
Founded
in
2013.

9. • Microfluidic device capable
of high throughput, robust
intracellular delivery of a
range of materials for
applications from
immunotherapy and drug
discovery. Founded 2013.!
4/21/15
9

10. 4/21/15
10
• Innovative nanomaterial
coatings and vapor-based
coating processes to boost
efficiencies of a wide range
of thermal fluid systems. !
• Founded in 2014.!

11. 4/21/15
11
• Biowatch that measures the
impact of stress on brain
performance. !
• Founded in 2010.!

12. 4/21/15
12
StarSng
at
$599
• An expressive robot that
can interact naturally with
humans. Jibo can see,
hear, speak, help, and
relate (through social and
emotive cues). !
• Founded in 2012.!

13. The first designer
bracelet that heats and
cools you.!
“Thermal is personal”!
Founded in 2014.!
4/21/15
13
WRISTIFY

14. High quality, low cost 3D
printer that enables
designers and engineers
to create 3D forms with
the touch of a button.!
Founded in 2011.!
4/21/15
14
An (almost entirely) 3D printed speaker.

15. Gives computers the ability to
understand people the way
people understand each other.!
Founded in 2011.!
4/21/15
15
Big data text analytics dashboard

16. Food
tech
innovaSon
(4/22/15)
• How we eat, how we are being served food, what we feed animals,
and what we know about nutrition is undergoing radical change.!
• Where are these breakthroughs coming from? Farms?
Universities? Technologies? Labs? Corporates? Consumers?
Elsewhere? !
• What’s hype and what’s real? !

17. Agenda
• 08:30 AM !Breakfast and registration.!
• 08:50 AM !Welcome: "MIT's Food tech startups," Trond Undheim,
Ph.D., Lead, MIT Startup Exchange, MIT ILP (host).!
• 09:00 AM !Introductory remarks: "Connecting industry to research,
innovation, and startups", Karl Koster, Executive Director, MIT ILP.!
• 09:10 AM "Future opportunities for food tech product innovation
from a research perspective", Omer Yilmaz, PhD, Assistant
Professor of Biology, MIT, gastrointestinal pathologist,
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.!
• 09:25 AM "The Future of Food", Manoj Fenelon, Director of
Foresight, PepsiCo. !

18. Coffee break (10 min)!
• 09:35 AM "Food, sensors, startups - the road ahead from a MIT
perspective", Timothy M. Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor
of Chemistry at MIT and the Faculty Director of the Deshpande
Center for Technological Innovation. !
• 09:45 AM "Innovation in Agricultural Productivity", Larry Gilbertson,
Ph.D., Cambridge Site Lead, Biotechnology, Monsanto Company.!
• 09:55 AM "Computational food", Caleb Harper, Research Scientist,
Project Manager, City Science, MIT Media Lab. !
• 10:05 AM Lightning talks (MIT-connected startups - apply online
on STEX or when signing up to the event). !
Coffee break (10 min)!

19. • 10:30 AM: Panel discussion: What's next in food tech
innovation?!
– What
are
important
trends
in
food
tech
startups
from
MIT
(and
elsewhere)?
– What
does
the
new
food
tech
innova;on
ecosystem
look
like
(infrastructure,
interoperability,
technology,
use
cases,
stakeholders,
success
stories)?
– What
are
corporate
priori;es
in
food
tech?
– What
is
the
smart
money
focused
on?
• Panelists !
– Larry
Gilbertson,
Ph.D.,
Cambridge
Site
Lead,
Biotechnology,
Monsanto
Company.
– Caleb
Harper,
Research
ScienSst,
Project
Manager,
City
Science,
MIT
Media
Lab.
– Omer
Yilmaz,
PhD,
Assistant
Professor
of
Biology,
MIT,
gastrointesSnal
pathologist,
Massachuse`s
General
Hospital
and
Harvard
Medical
School.
– MIT
connected
startup
execuSves
(Fredric
Abramson,
Ph.D.,
Founder,
Digital
NutriSon,
LLC,
Dr.
Alain
C.
Briançon,
Co-­‐Founder/CEO,
Kitchology
Inc.,
Jan
Schnorr,
Chief
Technology
Officer,
C2Sense)
– Manoj
Fenelon,
Director
of
Foresight,
PepsiCo.

20. Connecting Industry to Startups