Awards mission

Technological and digital innovation will play a critical role in the future of our food. To address the unprecedented challenges facing our agrifood systems, we need to find new, actionable, innovative and inclusive solutions. We also need to ensure that these solutions take into account the complex, interrelated nature of global agrifood systems.

Through the WFF Startup Innovation Awards, we are seeking to identify, elevate and accelerate the growth of startups who show the greatest potential for a positive impact in transforming agrifood systems, aligned to one of four categories:

1. Digital Innovation in Food Processing
   This Award aims to recognize and elevate startups that are leaders in digital and/or data solutions, which tackle and propose innovations in the following areas in the food processing industry: improved efficiency, higher quality, sustainable production and products, food safety and improving labor conditions.
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2. Empowering Women in Agrifood Systems
   This Award aims to recognize startups that are most impactfully increasing access of women to land, inputs, services, finance and digital technology to drive positive agrifood systems transformation, particularly in the Global South.
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3. Food Loss
   This Award aims to recognize startups that are developing innovative technological solutions to help reduce food loss within global agrifood systems, focusing on single or multiple interventions within agrifood supply chains, from post-harvest to throughout the supply chains up to the retail stage.
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4. Good Food for All, for Today and Tomorrow
   Based on the 2024 theme of the World Food Forum, this Award aims to identify and support global startups that are developing innovative, technology-based solutions to sustainably address food insecurity and access to healthy diets (including, but not limited to: sustainable production of livestock, fisheries and crops; responsible management of forests, wetlands, soil and water; and scaling up clean energy for sustainable agrifood systems transformation).
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Why Apply?

The WFF Startup Innovation Awards will provide the finalists travel allowance to the finals during the flagship event in Rome, global visibility, the chance to raise capital, network with global entities (governments, United Nations agencies, corporations, investors, partners), the chance to join WFF startup accelerator programmes to scale up their innovative solutions and technological breakthroughs, and a total of USD 30 000 in prizes.