FAQs

MISTA’s purpose is to help transform the global food system to meet the needs of the future. We do this by bringing together a diverse set of companies and helping them develop new ways of thinking and working together, leading to innovative solutions in the ever-changing Food and Beverage industries. MISTA helps start-up companies to scale up, secure distribution, find partners and acquire funding. We also help larger companies to become more nimble and innovative, better understand the emerging opportunities and technologies that will affect their future, and how to participate in the radical collaboration that is shaping our future food system.

MISTA is taking a different approach to accelerating and incubating ideas by creating a platform where we not only support start-ups but also established companies in the food space. MISTA is, in essence, creating a new business model that is Innovation as a Service (IaaS) where we provide New Product Development (NPD), Innovation Strategy and other services that are required to bring new ideas, products and services to market that will create the future of food.

The MISTA leadership team reviews all inquiries from companies interested in becoming a member. The team will review a range of factors including the company’s area of focus, technology, growth needs and reasons for wanting to join MISTA. The way each member contributes to the ecosystem and receives value is unique to each company and the ecosystem evolves over time, so there is no single set of criteria. If you are interested in becoming member, please send us a message on our contact form with a brief description of your company and your interest and someone from the team will get back to you.

MISTA was created to provide a service to our members. A member will be actively involved in the MISTA community and will benefit from the diverse service offerings available, customized for their needs. A strategic partner is usually invited to participate on a specific initiative or to deliver a specific service to a member. Strategic partners range from creative agencies to venture capital firms. Both members and strategic partners play a role in guiding and influencing the global transformation of food through participation in the MISTA ecosystem.

Yes, MISTA is a Membership based model. The membership fees go to directly pay for the infrastructure to support the platform, including maintaining the physical facilities and paying salaries and service fees. MISTA does not seek to generate a profit, but instead re-invests fees into supporting the ecosystem. Our goal is to make MISTA financially accessible to start-ups by creating a tiered membership fee structure.

All members of MISTA retain their IP, completely. MISTA will ensure that any trade secrets remain confidential.