The structure of the global food system is in the process of major transformation due to the negative externalities of the current food production, processing, distribution and consumption. These include negative effects on the climate, living organisms, overuse of virgin materials vs. recycling, peoples’ access to adequate and quality nutrition, and livelihoods in the food sector. On the positive side, the ongoing transition creates opportunities for developing completely new kinds of sustainable businesses. Food production, distribution, consumption and recycling of nutrients are connected to urban life: housing, construction, transportation, logistics and the production and distribution of energy. At the latest in 2050, 80% of food will be consumed in cities. New business opportunities for the agri and food sector arise from these starting points. The transition to local City Region Food Systems opens the "food market" specifically to sectors related to the city-region context and the built environment, to new technologies and innovative business models (construction, housing, logistics, urban farming, nutrient cycling, digital food services etc.). In practice, identifying these opportunities and seizing them is challenging for new actors coming outside the sector (science-based teams and startups developing new agri and food innovations, property owners and real estate developers) because they do not yet know the possibilities and requirements related to the food system sector (e.g. boundary conditions for food crop production and food-related consumer behavior). The goal of the Food SystemiCity programme is to develop and pilot a new cross-sector model based on co-development. The programme facilitates the creation of new innovations and businesses that accelerate the agri-food sector’s sustainability transition through seizing opportunities within building local city region food systems. Food SystemiCity programme supports the formation of new ‘linkage teams’ created between large (e.g. real estate developer) and small operators (e.g. science-based startup), and the development and piloting of co-offerings they can offer to clients. Key components of the programme are refining research-oriented ideas into solutions, companies and business, as well as connecting top international level mentors to the development process of the linkage teams. Novelty within the Food SystemiCity programme resides in its systemic point of departure for the innovation development, which has been identified as necessary by e.g. the EU in achieving sustainable food and agri businesses. Only with product and service innovations that take into account systemic aspects it is in practice possible to generate a sustainability transition within the agricultural and food sectors for guaranteeing the survival and well-being of the climate, biodiversity and humanity. The result of the project is a piloted model of the SystemiCity programme. The vision is to create an internationally top-level development programme that facilitates the development of new successful products and services seizing the business opportunities arising from the ongoing sustainability transition within agri and food sectors and the development of urban and local city region food systems. New innovations that build the local food systems can be based on, for example, new food plant growing technologies suitable for urban environments, sensors and analytics services, digital services, robotization, nutrient cycle solutions and new types of community business models. The project’s main results are the creation of 'linkage teams' and their new sustainable business and systemic product and service solutions that they jointly develop and commercialize for the global markets.