10 September 2025, London, UK: Tate & Lyle PLC (“Tate & Lyle”, “the Company”), a global leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food and beverages, announces a new strategic partnership with MassChallenge UK and MassChallenge Switzerland, global hubs in the renowned early-stage start-up accelerator, to help foster innovation ecosystems driving the future of food.
Tate & Lyle joins as a foundational corporate partner in the UK programme which works with start-ups and early-stage companies to build capabilities, develop networks and compete for funding – accelerating the scale-up of transformative technologies. Tate & Lyle is also joining the established Swiss programme, which includes many of the food industry’s leading innovators, with the shared goal of solving critical challenges. Shared challenges include improving the nutritional value of food, finding more sustainable ways to farm and process food, while reducing food waste, ultimately advancing more sustainable, health-focused food innovation.
Through this partnership, Tate & Lyle's innovation leaders will work closely with MassChallenge’s regional teams to identify participants aligned with Tate & Lyle’s innovation priorities. Through coaching, feedback sessions and workshops, MassChallenge’s experts will then engage with these start-ups to help them collaborate effectively with corporates, refine their market approach and scale their operations. Participants in MassChallenge also benefit from expert mentoring, in-depth market insights, commercial legal advice, fund-raising expertise and access to a global network.
This collaboration, activated through Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation programme, complements the Company’s existing in-house R&D programme by developing partnerships with access to new, proprietary technologies. Participation will enhance Tate & Lyle’s new ingredient innovation capabilities and accelerate its speed to market.
Karen du Plessis, Head of Open Innovation at Tate & Lyle, said: “This new partnership provides us with access to some of the most dynamic start-ups and early-stage companies working to develop the novel ingredients, process innovations and sustainability solutions that our food system needs to continue to thrive. By supporting MassChallenge’s efforts to nurture innovators, helping them to refine their ideas and business models to become investment-ready more quickly, we’re helping to build a strong, collaborative innovation community and developing a strong future pipeline for Tate & Lyle of innovative solutions for our customers to enjoy.”
David Kinsella, Managing Director, Mass Challenge UK, said: “Scaling an early-stage startup is never easy; validating technological breakthroughs, raising investment, developing new business models, and building highly skilled technical teams are challenges most inventors face. The Swiss model of MassChallenge has been hugely successful, accelerating nearly 1,000 start-ups, who went on to raise €2 billion in funding, and creating more than 55,000 jobs in a ten-year period. With Tate & Lyle’s help, we’re working to replicate this success in the UK, and build a world-renowned innovation hub in East London’s Royal Docks.”
ENDS
For further information or to request an interview, please contact:
Anna Taylor-Elphick, Snr. Manager, Global Corporate PR
[email protected], +44(0)7766361515
Notes to editors:
Recent partnerships established through Tate & Lyle’s Open Innovation programme include the Company’s collaboration with BioHarvest Sciences to develop the next generation of proprietary plant-based molecules, initially focussed on sweeteners, and Manus to establish the first large-scale commercialisation of an all-Americas-sourced, manufactured, and bioconverted stevia Reb M ingredient.
