EIC Coffee Break with Farmhood: valorising food waste for lower carbon emissions

Brussels, June 18th 2025

Summary

›Farmhood, founded by Selin Arslan, converts nutrient rich food industry by products into plant protein using a solvent free, energy efficient extraction process.
›The company aims to create circular supply chains by upcycling oilseed press cakes and other sidestreams into clean label ingredients and snacks.
›Arslan credits the EIC Women Leadership Programme with sharpening her leadership, pitching and growth strategy skills and won the programme's Pitching Spotlight.
›Technical claims about scalability and carbon reduction are promising but require independent life cycle assessment and validation at industrial scale.
›The EIC Women Leadership Programme is part of broader EIC efforts to boost female leadership in deep tech and is complemented by Women TechEU and other EU initiatives.

Farmhood and the promise of food sidestream valorisation

Farmhood is an Istanbul based food tech startup led by Selin Arslan. The company is built around turning underutilised plant based materials produced by the food industry into value added food ingredients and snacks. Its founding story traces back to Arslan's background in industrial engineering and supply chain consultancy and a pandemic era observation of food loss among small producers in her hometown.

Founder background and company origin

Arslan worked in supply chain consultancy for fast moving industries. Personal frustration with inefficiencies in the food system and a direct observation during the pandemic of nutritious agricultural waste alongside struggling producers prompted her to act. She started Farmhood with the explicit aim of upcycling overlooked plant materials into nutritious, functional food ingredients and snacks.

Oilseed press cakes:A press cake is the fibrous, protein and oil containing by product left after cold pressing oilseeds such as sunflower, rapeseed and sesame. These by products are produced in large volumes and are commonly used for low value animal feed or discarded. They contain proteins, fibres and micronutrients that make them attractive as feedstock for human food ingredients if processed safely and efficiently.

The core innovation and sustainability claims

Farmhood says its proprietary extraction method converts oilseed press cakes and similar sidestreams into high quality plant protein. The company highlights two technical features. First the extraction is solvent free. Second the process is designed to be energy efficient and scalable. Farmhood positions this technology inside a circular food system model where sidestreams become inputs rather than waste, reducing food loss and the carbon footprint associated with conventional plant protein production.

Solvent free extraction:Solvent free extraction means avoiding organic solvents such as hexane, which are commonly used in industrial oil and protein extraction. Solvent free approaches typically rely on mechanical, enzymatic or aqueous processes. Benefits can include lower chemical residues and improved consumer acceptance. Trade offs may include lower yields, different purity profiles and potentially higher upfront processing or enzyme costs. The term does not by itself guarantee lower overall environmental impact without a full life cycle analysis.

Upcycling and circular food systems:Upcycling refers to converting low value waste or by products into products with higher economic value. In food systems this requires supply chain coordination, adherence to food safety and regulatory standards and stable logistics for variable raw material flows. Circular food systems aim to keep nutrients and materials in use for longer and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with primary production and disposal.

Farmhood also works with food companies to close supply chain loops and co create clean label ingredients and products. Those commercial collaborations are an important part of moving from a laboratory demonstration to industrial scale. The company claims reduced carbon footprint for its protein compared with conventional plant protein routes. That claim will need corroboration through independent lifecycle and carbon accounting as Farmhood scales production.

Participation in the EIC Women Leadership Programme

Arslan took part in the EIC Women Leadership Programme WLP as a member of the 8th cohort. She describes the programme as transformative. The WLP combines training sessions, personal mentoring and business coaching aimed at women researchers and entrepreneurs linked to EIC and EIT supported projects. Participants receive targeted leadership training and networking opportunities while refining go to market and investor readiness.

EIC Women Leadership Programme summary:The WLP offers tailored training on topics such as leadership styles, pitching and negotiation, matchmaking with mentors, and business coaching. It is part of wider EIC efforts to increase women s participation in deep tech leadership by offering skills development and visibility. The programme does not provide direct funding to participants but offers access to coaching and an alumni network.

According to Arslan the programme helped her to refine when to lead and when to delegate, to think more strategically about growth and investment, and to use clearer, simpler storytelling for investor pitching.

Winning the Pitching Spotlight and pitching lessons

Farmhood won the EIC WLP Pitching Spotlight. Arslan says the award provided validation and a confidence boost for a team that has so far grown without external investment. The Pitching Spotlight brought together seven other alumni to present to a panel of investors.

Arslan highlighted the technical challenge of compressing complex science and strategy into a four minute pitch. Her main lesson was that clarity matters more than trying to say everything. Investors respond to clear value propositions, measurable progress and a credible path to market. She also emphasised the role of authentic storytelling rooted in real traction.

Advice for female founders

Arslan s advice to other women in deep tech is pragmatic. Start before you feel fully ready because momentum comes from action. Demonstrate the idea s value by starting small and iterating fast. Recognise that deep tech and food systems require time to show impact but consistent steps build credibility. Finally build a support system early and learn to ask for help when needed.

Who else pitched at the WLP Pitching Spotlight

Name	Role	Company	Focus
Julia Minici	Co Founder, Chairperson & CPO	Afterwind	Recycling end of life composites from wind energy, construction and mobility into traceable virgin grade materials
Sorina Uleia	Co Founder & CEO	Recycllux srl	Deep tech platform to fight marine plastic pollution with transparent, data driven and scalable solutions
Harshni Selvaraj	CCO	Solmeyea	Producing carbon negative functional food ingredients as alternatives to animal and plant proteins
Fanni Giannou	Founder & CEO	Alithea Biotechnology GmbH	Precision immunopeptidomics and end to end solutions for personalised cancer therapies
Anthea Wirges	Co founder and CEO	CARTemis Therapeutics GmbH	Developing CAR T cell therapies for haematologic malignancies and autoimmune diseases
Valentina Garonzi	CEO	Diamante Società Benefit srl	Plant based biomanufacturing platform for a new class of immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases
Silvia Scaglione	Founder and Chief Scientist	React4Life	Organ on chip platforms to replace and improve upon traditional in vitro assays and animal models
Selin Arslan	Founder	Farmhood	Upcycling food industry by products into plant proteins and ingredients

Practical background on Farmhood

Farmhood is based at Nişantaşı University in Istanbul, Turkey. The startup draws on its team s combined 25 years of expertise in food engineering, biotechnology, business strategy and marketing. The company was founded by Selin Arslan and built partly through EIT linked activities, as the WLP had a partnership with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. Farmhood encourages readers to visit its website for more details and commercial contact.

Context on EIC support to women innovators and related EU initiatives

Supporting women innovators is an explicit part of the European Innovation Council s strategy for 2021 2027 and sits inside broader EU efforts to strengthen competitiveness through inclusive innovation. The EIC runs the Women Leadership Programme and supports schemes such as Women TechEU. Women TechEU provides a targeted grant of EUR 75 000 to selected women led deep tech startups and access to coaching and mentoring through EIC Business Acceleration Services.

The EIC reports rising representation of women in its portfolio but gaps remain. For 2024 the EIC notes that 30 percent of companies supported in the EIC Accelerator were women led representing 42 companies in that year. The EIC s overall portfolio includes 134 women led companies which equals about 19 percent. In research programmes 24 percent of EIC Pathfinder and 23 percent of EIC Transition projects are coordinated by women. These are improvements but they also underline that women remain underrepresented in deep tech leadership relative to the population and the policy goal of broader inclusion.

Programmes such as the WLP are designed to improve leadership skills, build networks and increase visibility. They do not replace the need for capital, regulatory support and market access which remain the key hurdles for scaling hardware heavy or regulated food and biotech ventures.

Assessment and caveats

Farmhood s approach aligns with demonstrable needs in the EU and global market for more sustainable protein production and for reducing food loss. The company s solvent free and energy efficient claims are positive indicators from a sustainability perspective. However the following points bear watching as the company scales. Independent life cycle assessment and carbon accounting will be required to validate claimed emissions reductions. Food safety, ingredient regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions and consistent raw material quality are practical barriers for any upcycler. Finally, moving from pilot to industrial volumes typically raises capital expenditure and operational complexity that must be financed and managed.

Contacts and further information

Farmhood s public profile includes its website and its association with Nişantaşı University. For enquiries related to the EIC Women Leadership Programme contact details are available through the EIC Community contact page under the 'EIC Women Leadership Programme' category. The EIC Community platform includes FAQs and information on how to participate in future WLP cohorts.

Disclaimer This article restructures and clarifies information shared in the EIC Coffee Break interview and related EIC materials. It is intended for knowledge sharing and analysis and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission or any other organisation.