Vitafoods Europe Startup Challenge crowns four winners, spotlighting nutraceutical innovation trends

Four startups walked out of Barcelona with prizes after a two-stage pitch process that turned the Vitafoods Europe Startup Challenge into a live read on where nutraceutical innovation is headed. The competition drew 14 finalists, who first pitched behind closed doors on 4 May and then took the stage on 5 May before a large Vitafoods Europe audience.

Exolab Italia won the finished-product category with Exocomplex Fertility, a formulation aimed at female reproductive health that uses plant-derived extracellular vesicles and a patented, solvent-free extraction process. EVANIUM took the ingredient category with Optisolv, a dual-coated berberine designed to improve absorption and controlled release for metabolic and blood sugar support. MOA won the digital-solution category with fermentation-based technology that turns agrifood side-streams into functional bioactive compounds tied to metabolic health, mental wellbeing and healthy ageing.

The sustainability prize went to The Protein Brewery for Fermotein, a mycelium powder made through fungal fermentation and positioned as a complete, high-fibre protein. That entry feels especially close to the active-nutrition conversation because The Protein Brewery says Fermotein delivers 50% complete protein and 30% dietary fibre, a combination that lands squarely in the sweet spot for recovery products, meal replacements and higher-protein everyday foods. The company also says Fermotein received a positive scientific opinion from EFSA on 1 December 2025, approval from the Singapore Food Agency in March 2024 and self-affirmed GRAS status in the United States in 2021. In December 2025, it added a €2.3 million EU LIFE grant to scale the ingredient for dairy-alternative products and a €568,742 EIT Food commercialization grant to accelerate market entry.

That mix of regulatory progress and commercial backing matters because Vitafoods Europe is not a niche meet-up. The show ran 5 to 7 May 2026 in Barcelona and, according to Vitafoods Insights, drew more than 1,600 exhibiting companies and over 30,000 industry stakeholders. For Barcelona’s fitness and wellness scene, the signal is clear: the products that get validated on this stage are the ones most likely to migrate into supplement aisles, studio recovery counters and coaching-led nutrition stacks.

The judges saw more than polished startup theater. Imran Afzal, founder of the food consultancy Worth The Squeeze, said the live pitching was “genuinely impressive,” a comment that fits a competition where the strongest ideas were not vague wellness promises but specific answers to real market problems, from female health to metabolic support, sustainable protein and cleaner delivery systems. The Startup Challenge has become a fixed part of Vitafoods Europe in Barcelona, and this year’s winners pointed to the next wave of products likely to shape the city’s active-nutrition market.