After receiving more than 1,500 submissions from over 100 countries, the World Food Prize Foundation is pleased to announce the Top 10 semi-finalists in the 2026 Innovate for Impact Challenge.
The Innovate for Impact Challenge invites forward-thinking entrepreneurs from around the globe to share breakthrough technologies aimed at revolutionizing agriculture.
The global community now has a chance to help decide which venture should take home the top prize. Each of our Top 10 made a short video explaining their innovation and startup. Select the company name to learn more and watch their pitch. Voting is available on the World Food Prize Foundation Facebook page.
The top three finalists, chosen from a combination of public voting and a committee of experts, will present at the 2026 Borlaug Dialogue, pitching their agritech venture in a “Shark Tank-style” presentation to a panel of judges. The winner of the Challenge will receive a $50,000 prize. Second and third place will receive $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.
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AgricFresh | Cameroon | Solar-powered IoT cold box extending fruit shelf life from five to 30 days, reducing waste
Biotech4life Soluções | Brazil | Turns shrimp residues into bioinputs to help feed the world sustainably
CeluNova | Mexico | Turns pineapple leaves into tree-free absorbent materials for diapers
Ciencia y Tecnología de Fagos SciPhage S.A.S | Colombia | Scalable bacteriophage platform replacing antibiotics to secure safe, sustainable food production
Cooling Crops | Israel | Patented sprayable solution restoring soils and providing thermal resilience for plants
Lyrata, Inc. | Canada | Produces SmartSoil, a patent-pending biodegradable and reusable indoor farming grow medium
metaBIX Biotech | Uruguay | AI-powered biosurveillance platform predicting pathogen risks in animal production systems
Michroma | USA | Fungi-based precision fermentation, producing natural food colorants that outperform synthetic dyes
Tana Lab | Indonesia | AI-designed biological defense systems replacing chemical crop inputs across tropical agriculture
Umami Meats B.V. | Netherlands | Cultivated fish biomass for food, pet nutrition and bioactives