In celebration of 40 years of the World Food Prize, the World Food Prize Foundation is proud to recognize four finalists in the 2026 Innovate for Impact Challenge! Chosen from more than 1,500 submissions and narrowed down from our 10 semifinalists, these innovators rose to the top with solutions that demonstrate fresh thinking, strong potential for scale and real impact for farmers and communities worldwide.
Each finalist will travel to Des Moines in October to compete at the 2026 Borlaug Dialogue in a live, “Shark Tank-style” pitch competition on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, before an expert panel of judges and international audience.
- First Place: $65,000
- Second Place: $50,000
- Third Place: $10,000
- Fourth Place: $5,000
Meet our finalists below and explore the innovative solutions they are bringing to global food security.
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Biotech4life Soluções | Brazil | Turns shrimp residues into bioinputs to help feed the world sustainably
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CeluNova | Mexico | Turns pineapple leaves into tree-free absorbent materials for diapers
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Ciencia y Tecnología de Fagos SciPhage S.A.S | Colombia | Scalable bacteriophage platform replacing antibiotics to secure safe, sustainable food production
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Lyrata | Canada | Produces SmartSoil, a patent-pending biodegradable and reusable indoor farming grow medium