One-liner: Spain's leading food-tech institute (Paterna) — 12 pilot plants and 140+ ENAC-accredited labs where a foodtech/agrifood/biotech startup can develop, scale and validate a product without building its own factory. The single most important access-map asset for a Valencian food founder.
What you get
- 12 pilot plants for new-food development and scale-up: extrusion, microencapsulation, fermentation, novel-food processing, drying, thermal processing, etc. — bench-to-industrial without capex.
- 140+ accredited labs (ENAC / ISO 17025) for food safety, quality, nutrition, microbiology and shelf-life analysis.
- R&D partnership (contract research, prototyping), regulatory/novel-food support, and help co-applying for grants.
- AINIA Network — a community of 800+ companies/organisations; +13,000 m² facilities, 35+ years' experience.
Who it's for
- Foodtech, agrifood, alternative-protein, nutraceutical and biotech startups moving from lab bench to production scale, or needing accredited testing/certification to reach market.
How to engage (routes)
- Direct service/testing contract — scope a testing or scale-up plan with AINIA; pay per project/test (member socios get preferential rates).
- R&D collaboration — joint development / contract R&D, often structured as a funded project.
- As a subcontractor in your own grant — use AINIA's pilot plants/labs as an eligible external-service cost in IVACE PIDI-CV 2026, NEOTEC 2026 or VIC Innovation Grants 2026 (external R&D/technical services are subvencionable).
- Membership (socio) for ongoing access, watch/vigilance and discounts.
Key facts
- 12 pilot plants · 140+ accredited labs · 800+ network members. Cost = service fees (project/test-based), reducible via membership and grant co-funding.
Relations
- Run by: AINIA
- Part of: REDIT
- See also: KM ZERO Open Call
- See also: Foodtech (niche)
- See also: Testbeds (support)