Submissions Open for Fourth Annual Seeding the Future Global Food System Challenge

CHICAGO — The Seeding The Future Foundation and the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) announced that submissions are open for the fourth annual Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge. Awarding up to $1 million, the challenge is designed to create and accelerate the pace of innovations needed to transform food systems to become more nutritious, regenerative and equitable.

The challenge is hosted by IFT and funded and initiated by the Seeding the Future Foundation. In its first three years, it has attracted over 2,400 submissions from teams of scientists, engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs and multidisciplinary teams across non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, social enterprises, universities, research institutions as well as small and emerging for-profit enterprises.

Applications close on Jan. 6, 2025.

“Science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship can transform ag/food systems on a global level as the need for human-centered and high-impact climate-positive solutions that are scalable becomes more urgent every year,” said Seeding The Future Foundation founder Bernhard van Lengerich. “The purpose of the challenge is to inspire and reward teams of innovators who are creating impactful ideas that address the most relevant issues facing ag/food systems globally. Solutions with the highest likelihood to win are those that focus on the intersection of safe and nutritious food, sustainable practices and equitable access to food that is affordable, appealing and trusted.”

To incentivize innovation at all levels, ranging from idea generation to development and scale-up, the challenge offers three levels of awards:

• Up to eight Seed Grants ($25,000 each) will be awarded to organizations that have created innovative ideas and have developed a prototype or initial proof of concept demonstrating that their idea is feasible and impactful when scaled.
• Up to three Growth Grants ($100,000 each) will be awarded to organizations that have demonstrated their innovation is doable, scalable and have projected both economic feasibility at scale and high potential to be transformative in impacting the health of people and the environment.  
• Up to two Seeding The Future Grand Prizes (up to $250,000 each) will be awarded to organizations that have created innovations that are economically feasible at scale, trusted by consumers and have demonstrated major impact potential benefitting the lives and health of people and the environment.

“IFT is proud to partner with the Seeding The Future Foundation on the challenge and support its mission to provide innovators and entrepreneurs with the resources that are critical to ensuring a healthy future for food,” said IFT CEO Christie Tarantino-Dean. “The challenge truly celebrates the unsung heroes of the global food system, and we are excited to see how this year’s entrants continue to raise the bar on impactful innovation.”

New this year, applicants who pass the first phases of the review process can earn a spot in the Seeding The Future Global Food System Innovation Database and Network, a peer-reviewed, interactive and searchable database of challenge applicants and their innovations. This database will be available to global organizations focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme, as well as philanthropic organizations. The database will also be available to the investment community to provide capital for innovative organizations that their respective investment criteria.

Currently in development, the database will enable AI-assisted searches to find innovations or organizations that focus on specific food and agriculture issues; sustainable development goals; planetary health factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, water, land use or biodiversity; as well as field of application such as post-harvest loss reduction, school feeding programs or biofortification. Entries include organization name, type, website, project title, executive summary, a description of the innovation and its benefits, projected size and type of impact on people and the environment, as well as focus areas where support can either be provided or be received. This feature allows solution seekers to connect with solution providers to share experiences and accelerate the pace of their innovations.

To learn more about the challenge, go to www.ift.org/food-system-challenge.