Alcheme Bio, a startup, emerges victorious in the 'Culinary Action! On The Road' event held in New York.

Alcheme Bio (United States), the foodtech startup that adjusts formulations of cultivated products through its revolutionary approach using artificial intelligence and machine learning, reducing R&D time and costs, has been chosen as the winner of the second stop of Culinary Action! On The Road held in Copenhagen, an international entrepreneurship program aimed at foodtech startups, alongside local partners Green Circle Capital Advisors and Cornell University.

Stu Strumwasser, founder and managing director at Green Circle Capital; Jenn B. Smith, director of the Entrepreneurship Faculty at Cornell University; and Ander López, entrepreneurship manager at Basque Culinary Center, inaugurated the event.

The event brought together various profiles from the sector, from entrepreneurs and investors to professors. Bruno Xabier, deputy director of the Cornell Food Venture Center, opened the event with a presentation on the center's work: providing assistance to companies in the food sector, both large and small, to introduce new products to the market. Following this, under the title 'Ecosystem Agents,' a roundtable was shared: Peter Boldenheimer, founding partner of Unstuck; Rachel Atcheson, deputy director of the Mayor of New York's Office of Food Policy; Caroline Mak, program director at Big Idea Ventures; and Kristen Barnett, founder and CEO of Hungry House.

Alex Papadopoulos, co-founder and CEO of Velada, a startup that went through the Culinary Action! accelerator in 2020, explained in his presentation titled 'The future of restaurant discovery' his experience with Culinary Action! accelerator and the work they do at Velada, the gastronomic guide in app form that compiles the best restaurants for every occasion in collaboration with gastronomic critics.

The participating startups in this stop in New York, organized on December 6, presented and defended their projects before a panel of experts.

Lastly, Joo Youl Lee, professor at the Master's in Gastronomic Sciences at Basque Culinary Center, explained in his presentation titled 'What are gastronomic sciences?' the work methodology of Basque Culinary Center and its perspective on gastronomic sciences through examples and cases applied in the master's program.

The upcoming competitions will take place on February 1, 2024, in London and in late February in Buenos Aires. The winning startups in each local event will receive a prize of one month's residence at the LABe-Digital Gastronomy Lab startup incubator in Donostia-San Sebastián, an open innovation living lab managed by Basque Culinary Center, and the opportunity to develop research and innovation projects for 20 hours at BCC Innovation, the technological center in Gastronomy of Basque Culinary Center. Additionally, during this time, startups will have the chance to engage in an advanced plan on the GOe Community digital platform, where they can join and access the network of experts and mentors from Basque Culinary Center and receive various types of support related to accessing the center's investor network, networking, or support to integrate into the local ecosystem, etc.

Finally, the five local finalist startups will compete in a grand final held in April 2024 in Donostia-San Sebastián, where the winners from each country will compete, selecting the winning startup of the third edition of Culinary Action! On The Road, who will be awarded one year of residence at LABe-Digital Gastronomy Lab and an additional voucher for 25 hours for research and innovation projects at the technological center, BCC Innovation.

Participating Startups from the New York Stop

Ansa has developed a method that allows coffee lovers to roast their coffee beans at home, avoiding waste, unsustainable packaging, and pollution from heating beans.

Unibaio has developed a biodegradable ingredient that optimizes the delivery of agrochemicals to reduce their application doses and toxicity levels.

On the other hand, Atlantic Fish Co. develops cultivated seafood to provide the world with a delicious and sustainable protein.

Lastly, Alcheme Bio allows producers of cultivated foods and those using precision fermented ingredients to adjust the formulations of media and raw materials.