6th Annual UN FAO Startup Innovation Awards Applications Open The sixth edition of the World Food Forum (WFF) Startup Innovation Awards has launched with XTC offering a special “Excellence in Applied AI” Award.  XTC has partnered with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization World Food Forum’s Startup Innovation Awards since their inception in 2001.   The 6th edition is now launched with applications open until April 1, 2026 [APPLY NOW] This year, XTC is offering a special “Excellence in Applied AI” award aligned with our 2026 theme of AI:360 – showcasing how AI is transforming real-world operations, from digital systems […]

The seventh edition of XTC Japan was held on 3 March 2026 on the main stage of Japan Innovation Day 2026 (JID) an event drawing thousands of business leaders and held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center Hamamatsucho Hall.  This year’s event included a record-breaking number of applications, 90% from university spin-offs and a growing collaboration with the Taiwanese startup community.  Technology knows no borders. Deep tech and technology startups tackling humanity’s greatest challenges have the potential to take on significant ventures with the global market as their stage. However, many international investors view Japan-originated deep tech and technology […]

6th Tech Startup Challenge Launched by NXP in India We are proud to have NXP Semiconductors as a founding sponsor and honored to partner for the 6th year of NXP India‘s Tech Startup Challenge by offering a special Excellence in Applied Intelligence Award whose winner will be showcased at our Flagship AI:360 Conference in November.  NXP’s Tech Startup Challenges always highlight India’s finest deep-tech startups focusing on processors development, semiconductor fabless ASIC design, and embedded product development.  We encourage great innovators, especially leveraging Applied-Intelligence, to apply by March 20. The results will be announced on May 31. For more information […]

What an incredible day at the AI & Energy Innovation Summit! Chaired by Young Sohn and co-hosted by Playground Global, the Extreme Tech Challenge brought together more than 100 leaders from AI, semiconductors, and energy to explore one of the defining questions of our time: How do we power the AI revolution sustainably? From speakers to startups, one message was clear: meeting AI’s energy challenge will require collaboration across all areas, from materials science and chip design to grid innovation and power electronics. Special recognition to Karin Schmid, Co-Chair of this event, whose deep expertise in energy systems and infrastructure […]

5th Annual Startup Innovation Awards at the UN FAO World Food Forum 2025 The fifth edition of the World Food Forum (WFF) Startup Innovation Awards competition reached a successful conclusion with a live pitch session in front of a global audience at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters on 15 October 2025, granting 6 awards to exciting startups.  From the 41 semifinalists announced in July, 8 Finalists were invited to the WFF Flagship Event in Rome – 2 in each of four award categories: Equitable and Sustainable Nutrition – Recognizing inclusive innovations that improve access to more sustainable, affordable […]

The World Food Forum (WFF) Startup Innovation Awards, powered by Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), is a global competition that identifies, supports and scales young innovators using technology to transform agrifood systems in support of ending hunger and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For its fifth edition, the Awards received 1,507 applications from 102 countries across four categories: Equitable and Sustainable Nutrition – Recognizing inclusive innovations that improve access to more sustainable, affordable and nutritious diets. Enhancing Climate Resilience and Water Security – Spotlighting solutions that strengthen community resilience to climate change and water scarcity. Digital Innovation in Food Processing […]

The World Food Forum (WFF) Global Youth Action Initiative’s Startup Innovation Awards (SIA), powered by Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), is a global competition that supports and showcases young innovators and entrepreneurs using technology to accelerate the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Now in its fifth edition, the SIA received 1 507 applications from 102 countries across four award categories: Equitable and Sustainable Nutrition – Recognizing inclusive innovations that improve access to more sustainable, affordable and nutritious diets. Enhancing Climate Resilience and Water Security – Spotlighting solutions that strengthen community resilience to climate change […]

Bakar Climate Labs is a new program, just 3 1⁄2 years old, spun off from the research and incubation program launched under the Biology segment (QB3) of the California Science and Innovation Institutes created at the turn of the century/millenium. Within that, a core activity is the Bakar Institute of Digital Materials for the Planet or BIDMaP and during April, BIDMap held their first symposium “AI and Climate Symposium: From Cutting-Edge Research to Commercialization” to showcase how the massive advances in large learning models are having a positive and accelerating impact on innovations in chemistry, material sciences and business tools […]

XTC Startup Cup Drives Sustainable Innovation at CES 2025   As Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC)Founder Young Sohn put it, “Ten years ago, if you said you had a chip startup, everyone would run away. Now, it’s taking center stage in venture investing.” This seismic shift was on full display at the XTC’s Semiconductors & AI Innovation Startup Cup, sponsored by industry giants Arm and Hon Hai Technology Group (better known as Foxconn). Chips are now an essential part of modern technology—without Arm, there would be no mobile phones; without Intel, no PCs; and without NVIDIA, AI training would be far […]