NEW YORK — Mars Petcare and Big Idea Ventures in collaboration with AAK, Bühler, Givaudan and Ingredion announced three startups have been selected for the 2026 Next Generation Pet Food Program: EcoBean, Loopworm and Space Ark Biomedical. This year’s cohort demonstrates how side-stream valorization, insect biotechnology and fermentation can create new sources of protein and functional ingredients for pet nutrition.

Since its start in 2024, the Next Generation Pet Food Program aims to accelerate breakthrough innovations, from alternative proteins, fats and oils to novel ingredients, with the potential to reduce the environmental footprint of the pet food industry. Previous participants in the program include MiAlgae, BiomeMega, Anomaly Bio, KIDEMIS and String Bio Private Limited in 2024’s program; and ALT-PRO Advantage, Seaqure Labs and Terramatter in 2025’s program.

The program provides startups with expert guidance, access to R&D facilities, tailored business opportunities and a $15,000 cash prize to help refine their solutions and accelerate their path to market.

“This program is a powerful opportunity to bring together ingredient innovators, scientists, manufacturers and industry experts around a common goal,” said Elisabetta Pierangelo, vice president of R&D at Mars Pet Nutrition. “Together, we’re focused on accelerating innovation and turning promising ideas into scalable solutions that could help advance pet food systems with a lower environmental footprint and deliver high-quality nutrition.”

This year’s program received 83 applications across 33 countries, with nearly half coming from the Asia-Pacific region, which reflects the region’s growing role in sustainable ingredient innovation. Additionally, for this year’s program, applicants were only considered that had a higher level of commercial maturity, demonstrating a transition from proof of concept toward supply chain readiness.

More than half of this year’s applications focused on dry proteins, a third focused on wet proteins, and the remaining on fats and oils, all produced via plant-based processing, fermentation, insect farming and other emerging production methods. The startups underwent a multi-stage selection process, examining their innovation, scalability, sustainability benefits and commercial potential.

Hailing from Warsaw, Poland, EcoBean transforms spent coffee grounds into high-value ingredients, like coffee oil, antioxidants, Lignin and sugar syrup.

Originating from Bangalore, India, Loopworm is a biomanufacturer that develops proteins derived from silkworms. The company recently received millions in funding to advance its proprietary process and released a Life Cycle Assessment, demonstrating the carbon negative impact of its ingredients.

Based in Taipei, Taiwan, Space Ark Biomedical upcycles okara and brewer’s spent grain and transforms the materials into functional proteins using enzyme technology and precision fermentation. 

This year’s program will culminate at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore, which will be held Oct. 27 to 29. Each startup will pitch to an international audience of industry leaders, investors and decision makers. 

“The next generation of pet nutrition will be shaped by technologies that have the potential to reduce environmental impacts while maintaining performance,” said Andrew D. Ive, founder and managing general partner at Big Idea Ventures. “What makes this program powerful is the ecosystem behind it. By bringing together breakthrough science, industry expertise, and strategic partners, we can help de-risk promising innovations, validate their commercial potential and accelerate their path into real-world supply chains. Together with Mars Petcare and our partners around the world, we’re helping build the capabilities needed to scale the future of pet food.”

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