• An Innovation Powerhouse: The initiative unites world-class experts in FoodTech, pet care, and ingredients to accelerate the transition toward a more sustainable pet food supply chain. 

• Seeking New and Scaling Ventures: The program is in pursuit of bold companies with groundbreaking solutions in alternative proteins, fats, oils and novel ingredients.

• Strategic Expansion in Asia: The 2026 program will place a stronger emphasis on Asia, reflecting the region’s growing importance in more sustainable food innovation and pet nutrition.

 

Big Idea Ventures and Mars Petcare announce the launch of the Next Generation Pet Food Program, in collaboration with industry leaders AAK, Buhler, Givaudan, and Ingredion. Now in its third year, the program has become a leading global platform for advancing sustainable solutions in pet nutrition, focused on identifying and scaling the next generation of breakthrough technologies.

 

Unlock Your Startup’s Potential in Pet Food Innovation

The program is seeking startups with groundbreaking low carbon materials that can be applied to pet food, with a strong focus on alternative proteins, fats, oils and novel ingredients. The Mars Petcare Raws4Paws Accelerator is investing in innovation and searching for the next generation of suppliers to help source the best ingredients to support healthy pets and help address concerns about ingredient accessibility, security, sustainability and changing consumer behavior in the pet industry.

Elisabetta Pierangelo, VP R&D Mars Pet Nutrition, said, “We are committed to exploring new technologies and scaling innovation that could reduce the environmental impact of pet food. Through previous cohorts, we’ve uncovered promising new solutions and seen transformative technological developments. I’m eager to build on that momentum and witness the breakthroughs this year’s program will unlock.”

The initiative connects innovators from the human food space to the pet food industry and provides expertise from global leaders to help accelerate their path to market. Over the past two years, the program has generated valuable insights into emerging technologies with several of the startups now testing concepts that could play a key role in shaping the future of sustainable pet food.

Andrew D. Ive, Founder and Managing General Partner of Big Idea Ventures, stated, “Our work with Mars Petcare and our partners has evolved into a focused engine for identifying and scaling the next generation of pet food ingredients. We are connecting high-quality startups with the corporations that can actually support these innovations to market, particularly across alternative proteins, fats, and novel ingredients. The priority now is not just discovery, but accelerating adoption and creating a more efficient path to commercial reality. With Asia playing an increasingly important role, this is about building a global system that consistently delivers better, more sustainable ingredients at scale.”

Selected companies will benefit from expert guidance, potential commercial partnerships, $15,000 and the opportunity to showcase their solutions at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore.

The 2026 program is open to global applicants, with a strong preference for scalable solutions based in or focused on the Asia-Pacific region, innovators from all geographies are encouraged to apply on the program’s website: www.bigideaventures.com/pet-food-program/.