UN FAO Startup Innovation Awards
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 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 – Honoring data-driven innovations that enhance food quality, safety and sustainability.
- Driving Innovation in Agrifood Systems – Celebrating breakthrough solutions that leverage digital technologies to strengthen agricultural systems, educate producers, enhance resilience, reduce environmental impact, and promote sustainable practices across agrifood value chains.
Also, two additional awards were presented. One for Innovation of the Year and a special prize for Fighting Malnutrition and Enhancing Food Security presented by MassChallenge Switzerland.
Winners of the 2025 WFF Startup Innovation Awards:
Innovation of the Year Award
- Unibaio (Argentina)
Unibaio is a biotech startup developing natural polymer microparticles that enhance the efficiency and sustainability of agrochemicals. By encapsulating active ingredients in fertilizers and pesticides for gradual release, its technology can reduce chemical use by up to 80% while maintaining or improving crop productivity.
Digital Innovation in Food Processing Award
- Microfy Systems (Spain)
Microfy develops affordable AI-powered automated microscopes for agrifood quality control. Its technology uses machine learning to analyze honey and other products for purity and safety, helping prevent food fraud and improve quality assurance.
Equitable and Sustainable Nutrition Award
- MilletsNow (India)
MilletsNow produces nutritious, affordable and climate-resilient foods using traditional Indian millets like sorghum and finger millet. The startup also empowers rural women by providing training and integrating them into its agricultural value chains, spotlighting India’s heritage grains as a solution for sustainable nutrition.
Driving Innovation in Agrifood Systems Award
- Unibaio (Argentina) [see above]
Enhancing Climate Resilience and Water Security
- Lilliput Technologies (Costa Rica)
Lilliput creates smart, bio-inspired materials to protect crops from climate stress. Its biodegradable Lillishield coating cools plant surfaces under extreme heat without external energy, reducing heat damage to crops and boosting yields – a novel approach to prevent crop loss in a warming climate.
Fighting Malnutrition and Enhancing Food Security (MassChallenge Switzerland)
- Koji es Transformación (Colombia)
Koji combines ancient fermentation methods with modern biotechnology to unlock rich, natural flavors from biodiverse ingredients. Using the koji fungus as a “molecular scissor,” the Koji Lab enhances taste, texture and nutritional value, supporting food producers across sectors.
WATCH THE FINALS: 2025 WFF Startup Innovation Awards finals
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Thank-you to the WFF SIA sponsors – Seeding The Future Foundation, SmartSensor 4 Agrifood, Kilburn & Strode and MassChallenge Switzerland – for helping to foster these important entrepreneurs. Their partnership and commitment to innovation helped make this event possible.