Extreme Tech Challenge & UN FAO World Food Forum Announce Startup Innovation Awards Semi-Finalists
The second annual World Food Forum Startup Innovation Awards Powered by XTC are on the horizon.
This year, XTC and our partners at the World Food Forum of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations once again set out to showcase startups and innovators who are driving the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems.
With the Finals a little over a month away, we are so close to finding our winners. XTC is delighted to introduce you to our Semi-Finalists for the four categories: Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment, and Better Life.
🚜 Better Production
🇳🇬 Afrimash is Nigeria’s leading eCommerce marketplace for agricultural items.
🇺🇸 Autonomous Pivot transforms standard Center-Pivot irrigation systems into an AI-driven robotic platform.
🇺🇸 Boomitra offers an end-to-end solution where farmers can grow more with less, increase soil carbon, and get paid for reducing climate change.
🇿🇼 CropFix by eAgro diagnoses crops and offers treatment for pests, disease, or nutrient deficiency problems, with just one WhatsApp photo.
🇰🇪 Limachain is focused on developing smart data-driven technological systems for sustainable agriculture.
🇬🇧 Pastoral: Is a regenerative livestock venture that offers simple virtual fencing and animal data to low-income farmers.
🇨🇲 Poultry Farmers Management System (PMFS) is an AI Poultry Management App helping farmers detect diseases, connects with vets to diagnose, and treats animal illness.
🇳🇬 Riwe Technologies is on a mission to build sustainable global food systems by leveraging smart technologies and innovations to drive agricultural operations.
🇵🇭 Sakahon is an agritech social enterprise that focuses on the ability of food producers to consolidate their produce and analyse what the market needs ahead of time.
🇸🇬 Umami Meats creates seafood that’s cultivated, not caught. Developing seafood that is better for nature and better for you.
🌾 Better Nutrition
🇮🇳 FaunaTech develops a diagnostics platform for early detection of critical diseases, monitoring cattle health, screening milk quality, and reducing antibiotic usage.
🇿🇦 Gcwalisa enables communities to buy basic staple nutritional food items through a ‘weigh and pay’ model.
🇮🇱 Kinoko-Tech have created a unique fermentation platform that elevates a healthy food to a superfood.
🇵🇭 Natufia grows a healthy lifestyle with a range of consumer-focused smart gardens that promote indoor farming.
🇦🇷 Nilus develops technology to reduce the costs of living, through disintermediation, the rescue of products at risk of waste, and the organization of community purchasing groups.
🇹🇿 NovFeed has developed a biotechnological platform designed to transform organic waste into alternative protein ingredients.
🇸🇬 Nutrition Innovation unleashes the power of natural bio-active compounds at an industrial scale, replacing or reducing white refined sugar in food and beverage brands.
🇺🇸 Sundial Foods, Inc uses unique Macro and Microstructural engineering to create an ethically and environmentally friendly plant-based meat alternative.
🇮🇱 YieldX Solutions predicts, detects, ad prevents biological threats in complicated food systems using Active Biosecurity.
🏞️ Better Environment
🇨🇭 Alver World develops healthy and sustainable high-quality products made from the microalgae, Golden Chlorella.
🇮🇳 AgriViJay is India’s first marketplace of renewable energy products for farmers & rural households.
🇮🇱 CropX Technologies Ltd. is revolutionizing soil sensing, leading farmers around the globe around the globe into the era of connected soil.
🇸🇬 CRUST Group upcycles food waste and loss into unique beverages and products for our food service and retail partners. We leave no CRUST behind!
🇺🇸 HabiTerre is revolutionizing modeling and monitoring of agriculture in a changing climate.
🇦🇪 Manhat is a deep technology startup based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; focusing on natural water distillation.
🇺🇸 Mi Terro is redefining circular economy in which plant-based and animal-based agricultural wastes are upcycled and engineered to replace microplastic.
🇦🇺 NewWave Biotech aims to grow more food with more nutrients using less water while capturing carbon and regenerating the world’s soil.
🇮🇳 Prayogik is developing thermoelectric module static generator DC power for stationary and portable power applications, from tens of watts to tens of kilowatts.
🇺🇸 Uniphage is developing the next generation of safe and efficient microbe-based antimicrobials for agriculture and beyond.
☀️ Better Life
🇦🇺 AgUnity is a secure, accountable online platform to help reach remote users, establish reliable lines of trade, and resolve transparency and provenance issues in food chains.
🇸🇬 Dietrics Pte. Ltd. is Southeast Asia’s first nano-ingredient food company, developing natural ingredients to create tasty, healthier, natural food.
🇺🇸 E-Livestock Global is a digital system to prove ownership, help with health issues, provide a payment platform, and enable food safety in animals.
🇰🇪 Lipa GAS offers a pay-as-you-go Smart Meter technology, allowing resource-constrained households to adopt LPG with incremental fuel payments.
🇰🇪 Stofresh Africa is a digital aggregation and supply chain startup for fresh produce across Africa, empowering farmers to turn their land into bankable, scalable agribusiness.
The Judges
Better Production
Jun Ho Bae, Venture Investor, Plug and Play Tech Center
Andrew D. Ivy, Founder and Managing General Partner, Big Idea Ventures
Shinya Kasuga, Partner, IT-Farm Corporation
Kevin Lockett, Partner and CEO, Fulcrum Global Capital
Melina Sánchez Montañés, Principal & VP Impact, AENU
Lisa Paglietti, Economist, Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Darius Teter, Executive Director of Stanford Seed, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Better Nutrition
Po Bronson, Managing Director, IndiBio/SOSV
Barry Palte, Chairman, EQ Capital Partners
Dr. Carina Tyrrell, Investor and Chief of Staff, Walden Catalyst Ventures
Jean-Michel Voisard, Global Practice Lead – Agriculture and Food Security, Chemonics International
Better Environment
Daniel Sottosanti, Senior Associate, Xerox Ventures
Nikola Trendov, Digital Agriculture and Innovation Specialist, Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rosie Wardle, Co-Founder and Partner, Synthesis Capital
Alessandro Zago, Investment Officer, Chemonics International
Better Life
Thomas Luk, Partner and Managing Director in Europe and China, A.T. Kearney
Terrance Philips, Head of Private Equity Client Coverage (Asia), Citi Private Bank
What’s Next? — The Road to the Finals
So, what’s next for our Semi-Finalists? Later this month, the Semi-Finalists will pitch live virtually in front of a panel of industry leaders for a coveted spot to showcase at the 2022 World Food Forum flagship event in Rome, Italy.