- This initiative strengthened the cooperation between Latin America and Europe in advancing sustainable innovation within the fruit sector, according to the framework of the European Union’s AL-INVEST Verde programme, which is part of the Global Gateway strategy.
- It supported Chilean startups and SMEs with their transition to switching to circular economy models, low-carbon production practices, and digitalization.
Brussels, 16 September 2025 – The online presentation by the Startup Europe Awards – Sustainable Fruit, which was held on Wednesday, 10 September 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in Chile and 3:00 p.m. in Spain, successfully united Chilean fruit SMEs, startups, and stakeholders to find efficient and innovative solutions in sustainable production. In addition, for those who were unable to attend this free event, the organizers, Fedefruta and the Finnova Foundation, were able to record it to provide the presentation to those who would benefit from it.
The Startup Europe Awards—Sustainable Fruit is part of the AL-INVEST Verde programme, which is funded by the European Union, under the Global Gateway strategy. The event aimed to seek sustainable growth, promote job creation, and create innovation in Latin America. In Chile alone, the initiative assisted over 150 fruit SMEs in their shift to utilizing more innovative, sustainable, and circular production models. It emphasizes practicing responsible production systems, digitalization, decreased carbon footprint, traceability, and using resources more efficiently. Learn more about AL-INVEST Verde here.
During the presentation, Michele Lapierre introduced the Finnova Foundation, emphasizing its role in promoting innovation, sustainability, and European project participation. The presentation also brought forward the long-lasting relationship between Fedefruta and Finnova, which was initiated in 2023 with a proposal to the AL-INVEST call. The collaboration continued through the Fruta Sostenible project in Chile.
The event presented a detailed analysis of the challenges that participants could address. First of all, the sustainable production and logistics challenge focused on concerns such as optimizing soil health, fertilization, crop diversity, storage, transportation, and cold chain systems, while reducing carbon footprint. The second challenge consisted of sustainability and carbon footprint; it highlighted the importance of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, climate-resilient production practices, and tools like agroforestry and carbon capture. The third challenge was on circular economy and efficient resource use, in which projects focused on waste management, composting, biogas and biomass production, water efficiency, and recycling to enhance long-term resilience were highly encouraged. Another challenge highlighted the importance of finding innovative approaches for newly emerging sustainability issues such as the use of digital tools such as blockchain, for traceability. The projects were submitted either individually or in groups, with the condition that one participant is a small company.
The five winning projects were set to receive considerable support to help strengthen both international competitiveness and the impact created. 25 hours of personalized mentoring will be provided by Finnova technicians to each of the projects between October and November 2025. The mentoring will focus on innovation, internationalization, and co-creation of projects. This mentoring is valued at €2,500, complemented by an online course on European funds valued at €400. Project winners are also provided with networking opportunities with European and Latin American stakeholders, and visibility within Finnova’s communication channels and international events. While Finnova does not directly fund the implementation of projects, these resources prepare projects to secure national and international funding.
The evaluation of projects is based on several key criteria. The relevance to the challenge analyzes how well the proposal addresses specific sustainability challenges. The alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability frameworks guarantees that the projects follow circular economy standards and climate action goals. Additionally, the level of innovation and originality evaluates the uniqueness of ideas and whether improvements to existing systems are impactful. Technical and financial feasibility, methodological clarity, sustainability, and potential for internationalization are also used as criteria.
Applications will remain open until Monday, 22 September 2025. Startups, SMEs, and entrepreneurs are highly encouraged to submit projects through the project page or directly via the application form. For any further information, participants may contact Fedefruta or the Finnova Foundation.
About the SEUA-Chile Sustainable Fruit
The SEUA-Chile Sustainable Fruit initiative highlights the level of commitment the European Union has to ensuring sustainable development, innovation, and circular economy practices, while supporting Chilean fruit SMEs in becoming environmentally responsible, innovative, and internationally competitive. The event helped further reinforce the collaboration between Chile and Europe, highlighting the importance of impactful projects that merge social, environmental, and technological solutions in the fruit sector.
About the FINNOVA Foundation
The FINNOVA Foundation is the European foundation for innovation finance based in Brussels, dedicated to promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and European financing as key tools for addressing major social, environmental, and economic challenges. Through its work, it supports public and private entities in accessing European programs such as Horizon Europe, LIFE, Interreg, Erasmus+, and Al-Invest Verde, facilitating the creation of consortia, project development, and the transfer of good practices.
With extensive experience in communicating European projects, accelerating startups, and training in European funding through open innovation methodology and public-private partnerships, FINNOVA acts as a bridge between innovative ideas and EU funding opportunities.
For more information, visit www.finnova.eu and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and Instagram to stay up to date with our activities and open calls.