Dutch StartLife organization representatives visited the Wageningen University and European Research & Development Center.
On June 21, 2021, Yili signed a cooperation agreement with StartLife, a Dutch professional investment institution in food and agricultural technology, becoming a member of the Open Innovation Forum at the University of Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing (IfM). Yili is the only global dairy company and the only Chinese company among the members of these two organizations. This move marks stronger innovation cooperation with Europe. Yili will work with its partners to deliver more extensive healthy solutions to consumers worldwide and build a global health ecosystem.
As the longest-running and leading food and agriculture technology accelerator in Europe, StartLife has long been committed to promoting enterprise development in the healthy food field. Since 2010, StartLife has successfully established, supported, and funded over 300 start-up companies. Through its partnership with StartLife, Yili will collaborate with the most promising start-up and scale up companies in Europe to share more wisdom for the industry. It is worth noting that Yili's European R&D Center and StartLife are both located at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, which is also the core area of the Dutch Food Valley. This partnership is a mutual choice based on the two parties' development strategies, and it makes the outside world look forward to the future cooperation between these two "cordial neighbors".
Institute for Manufacturing（IfM, Cambridge, UK
As a top global university, the Manufacturing Engineering Division of the University of Cambridge (IfM) is dedicated to providing intellectual support to businesses, governments, and academia in tackling complex challenges through innovative research. Among them, the "Open Innovation Forum" established by IfM focuses on providing cooperation opportunities for the food, beverage, and fast-moving consumer goods industries, promoting the organic integration of internal creativity, industry insights, and market opportunities for forum members. By joining the University of Cambridge's IfM "Open Innovation Forum", Yili will collaborate with global industry experts and scholars to promote breakthroughs in trend insights, cutting-edge technologies, and innovative tools. Becoming a member of the "Open Innovation Forum" is a favorable addition for Yili after joining the University of Cambridge's "Enterprise Innovation Leadership Forum", which expands Yili's innovative cooperation with the University of Cambridge once again.
As one of the top five dairy companies in the world and the number one in Asia, Yili has been committed to becoming the most trustworthy provider of healthy food globally. The Yili European R&D Center located at Wageningen University in the Netherlands has become a bridge for Yili to connect Europe with China and even the world's innovation. This partnership with StartLife and the University of Cambridge further opens up Yili's innovative cooperation path with Europe in the fields of agriculture and healthy food, laying the foundation for more global high-quality resources to enter the Chinese and Asian markets. Yili will mobilize the strength of the global healthy ecosystem, accelerate the flow of resources such as talents, technology, and funds, and provide more practical solutions to tackle front-line issues and future challenges in the global healthy food industry.