Startup Innovation Awards at the UN FAO World Food Forum 2024 Event Recap
For the 4th year in a row, XTC was proud to have produced the WFF Startup Innovation Awards competition which attracted hundreds of applicant companies from every continent. We enjoyed a great collaboration with the FAO and with Awards sponsors ADM, Kilburn & Strode, Next Tech Food Factories, Smart Sensors 4 Agri Food, High Five consortium, Qing Engineering and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Innovation Lab.
The essential strength of XTC’s ecosystem is the top caliber of judges we convene to evaluate the applicants and raise the most exciting and investable to the live stage at FAO’s annual Forum in Rome, Italy.
XTC solicited and evaluated startups in four categories for 2024 :
- Digital Innovation in Food Processing
- Empowering Women in Agrifood Systems
- Reducing Food Loss
- Good Food for All, for Today and Tomorrow
460 ventures from 53 countries applied and 2 startups per category advanced to the live event in the Sheikh Zayed Centre at FAO HQ in Rome on October 16. The event was co-hosted by Nancy Yuan, XTC Program Manager and Amanda Namayi of Kenya, UN Youth Action Network Advocate for Zero Hunger.
In her opening remarks, Victoria Slivkoff, XTC Executive Managing Director and Head of Ecosystem for Walden Catalyst Ventures said “Today is about the celebration of youth action, innovation and entrepreneurship as we support and accelerate and ignite innovations and youth’s passions in going forward to address our agri-food challenges. (Over our 4 years doing this) it’s been gratifying to see that the platform has grown to reach more innovators and entrepreneurs…where we can be the connective tissue to bring different stakeholders together.”
Our host FAO Deputy Director General Beth Bechdol said; “Innovation is no longer an option in anything that we do, it is a necessity whether technological, social, policy or financial innovation.” “This is some new territory for FAO, leaning in on private sector, leaning in on entrepreneurship, leaning in on innovation and XTC has been a great partner and friend throughout this journey. Each year they bring an incredible community of entrepreneurs, from so many different regions.” “These awards envision the future that we are all striving to achieve, for generations to come.”