The Extreme Tech Challenge joins the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s World Food Forum to transform agri-food systems with the power of youth and innovation
Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s World Food Forum (WFF), is pleased to announce the Winners of the first WFF Startup Innovation Awards. The WFF Startup Innovation Awards are a global startup competition established to support and showcase innovators and entrepreneurs who are harnessing the power of technology to drive the sustainable transformation of agri-food systems in support of ending global hunger and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Competitors were curated from the Extreme Tech Challenge startup community and submitted to a rigorous evaluation by a jury of leaders from across the social entrepreneurship, tech-startup and investment communities. Finalists are listed below.
The winners are:
Better Production: Wasteless (Israel) – delivers an AI-driven markdown optimization solution for fresh food in supermarkets, allowing retailers to automatically price products based on expiration dates and/or waste risk.
Better Nutrition: Pebble Labs (USA) – uses directed biotics™ as the delivery vehicle for RNA or other bioactives to harness a plant or animal’s natural processes to repel pests or activate disease protection processes.
Better Environment: Bondi Bio (Australia) – leverages solar energy and water to sequester and valorize CO2 to solar bio manufacture high-value plant-derived natural products.
Better Life: Hillridge Technology (Australia) – offers a platform enabling novel parametric insurance for weather events for the agricultural industry.
The other XTC startups announced as WFF Finalists on September 13 are:
Better Production: Freshbox (Kenya) and FarmSense (USA)
Better Nutrition: Boost Biomes (USA) and Amai Proteins (Israel)
Better Environment: Solercool (Uganda) and ecoSPEARS (USA)
Better Life: The Live Green Co. (Chile)
XTC Board Chair Young Sohn said, “Our partnership with the FAO on the World Food Forum is anchored on our mutual commitment to empower the next wave of disruptive entrepreneurs, exemplified by these WFF winners, who are harnessing the fifth wave of technology evolution – an era driven by data and AI – to drive the sustainable transformation of agri-food systems to end global hunger.”
“XTC has become a marketplace for innovation. I want to see game changing companies continue to come out of this contest that have a really positive impact on this planet” said Bill Tai, XTC Co founder.