Announcements

For the past six years, Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) has proudly partnered with NXP India on its annual India Tech Startup Challenge, a program dedicated to identifying, supporting, and elevating India’s most promising deep-tech innovators. We were honored to once again participate in this year’s competition, which concluded on June 19th.   NXP India Tech Startup Challenge attracts entrepreneurs and innovators from across India, showcasing breakthrough technologies spanning AI, Electric Vehicle, Industrial Automation, Robotics, MedTech, and more. This year’s finale was held virtually, culminating in the selection of three winners from a highly competitive group of 10 finalists. Those finalists […]

Extreme Tech Challenge’s first partner event in Sweden was held jointly with Norrsken Foundation at their Impact Meetup in Stockholm, on June 9.  XTC’s AI:360 theme looks beyond basic models and into “applied intelligence” and physical AI.  A group of six Scandinavian startups were selected to showcase and pitch their physical AI solutions on stage in front of the Impact Meetup’s audience of investors, corporate executives, and fellow founders.  The winner of XTC’s Excellence in Applied AI Award was Agteria, whose groundbreaking work demonstrates the power of AI-driven discovery, developing entirely new molecules that can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions […]

  Extreme Tech Challenge – XTC – is excited to announce that applications are now open for the AI:360 Global Startup Competition 2026. Startups from around the world are invited to apply for the opportunity to showcase their innovations and present live at the AI:360 Summit and Startup Showcase, taking place in California in November 2026.   APPLY NOW   Advancing Applied AI for Global Impact The AI:360 Summit is the flagship event of Extreme Tech Challenge, the world’s leading community of startups, corporations, investors, and innovators focused on advancing applied artificial intelligence for global impact aligned with the United […]

At Extreme Tech Challenge, our focus has always been on spotlighting practical, investable solutions that drive meaningful benefits and impact across business, society, 
and the environment.   The 2026 Excellence in Applied AI Award is part of our AI:360 focus on Applied Intelligence and recognizes the most effective and innovative ways of Using AI. Whether in mobility, medicine, energy, industrial or physical AI, these solutions are built to work and scale to obtain a more immediate return-on-AI. The winners will be invited to our AI:360 Summit in November in Palo Alto, California where 
they will have the opportunity to pitch […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]