TESTSIDE: Booster: From Innovation to Impact

The vision of the Food & Bio Cluster Denmark mission is to position Denmark as the leading country in the innovative and disruptive green transition of agriculture and food production. Food & Bio Cluster Denmark wants to empower a new generation of green solutions and export opportunities accommodating climate, environment, and biodiversity, while safeguarding both animal welfare, food production and employment.

The green transition of the agricultural and food sector is a large and complex task, which can only be solved by partnering across sectors and disciplines. The partnership consists of national and international universities, knowledge institutions, public institutions, public authorities, and companies with green ambitions for transforming the agriculture sector and food production in Denmark.

Food & Bio Cluster Denmark is guided by a technical roadmap developed through broad national engagement of researchers and experts from Danish universities, knowledge institutions, public authorities and industry.

Food & Bio Cluster Denmark’s Mission Impact Framework identifies three key Inflection Points where progress is expected to accelerate the transition towards the mission’s North Star:

Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the Danish agricultural and food sector by 2050, while strengthening the environment, nature and a competitive food sector.

This Booster call invites Danish SMEs and startups to apply for funding for innovation projects that contribute to one of three selected themes:

• Methane Emissions from Livestock
• Plant-Rich Food – Health and Nutrition
• Plant Breeding

Applicants must select one primary theme and describe how the project contributes to the related milestone and Inflection Point. Projects must demonstrate credible potential to contribute to greenhouse gas reductions and to the development, implementation or scaling of commercially relevant solutions.

The Booster supports knowledge-based and high-risk innovation projects undertaken by Danish SMEs and startups. Projects may develop, validate, market-mature or scale innovative technologies, products, processes, services or business models that contribute to the green transition of the Danish agri-food sector.

Projects must qualify as industrial research and/or experimental development. Ordinary sales, marketing, commercial production and routine business development are not eligible project activities.

The call seeks projects within the following themes:

Methane Emissions from Livestock
Projects that develop, validate, market-mature or scale innovative solutions capable of significantly reducing methane emissions from livestock. Solutions should demonstrate credible potential for cost-effective and practical implementation under livestock-production conditions while safeguarding animal welfare and productivity.

Plant-Rich Food – Health and Nutrition
Projects that develop, market-mature or scale solutions promoting nutritious plant-rich diets with a low climate impact. Solutions should help make healthy plant-rich foods or meals attractive, affordable and easy to choose repeatedly in everyday settings.

Relevant alternative-protein solutions may be included where they credibly contribute to nutritious, low-climate-impact plant-rich foods or diets.

Plant Breeding
Projects that develop, validate, market-mature or scale plant-breeding techniques, enabling technologies or plant varieties that support resilient, nutrient-rich, high-yield and resource-efficient food production.


Across all three themes, projects should demonstrate strong economic and societal potential, scalability and a credible pathway towards implementation or commercialisation.

The call is open to SMEs and startups with a Danish CVR number. Applicants must meet the EU definition of an SME, including the rules concerning partner and linked enterprises.

The company must also meet at least one of the two call-specific economic criteria described in the call text.

• Total call budget: DKK 8,762,917
• Investment per project: DKK 1–1.5 million
• Maximum funding rate: 35% of total eligible project costs
• Project duration: 1–2 years

Successful Booster projects will be assigned a business development mentor who will help translate innovation into business opportunities by challenging the project’s value proposition, target market and go-to-market strategy.

The mentor will provide an external perspective, facilitate access to relevant consumers, customers and partners, and offer strategic guidance on commercialisation and scaling. The aim is to increase the likelihood that the project creates tangible market value and supports the company’s long-term growth.

• Call opens: 27 October 2026
• Q&A session: 10 November 2026
• Application deadline: 15 January 2027 at 12:00 noon CET
• Expected response: May 2027
• Expected project start: June 2027

Applications are evaluated according to four criteria:

1. Strategic fit to the Food & Bio Cluster Denmark roadmap and mission
2. Quality of the idea
3. Impact
4. Quality of execution

Criterion 1 is evaluated by 1–2 external national experts, while Criteria 2–4 are evaluated by 2–3 external international experts. One impartial evaluator assesses Criteria 1–4 across all applications.

The final funding decisions are made by the Food & Bio Cluster Denmark Board of Directors based on the assessments and the projects’ fit within the overall portfolio