Three awards up for grabs, including US$100,000 cash prize
Singapore-headquartered agtech and foodtech focused investment company ID Capital has announced 11 agri-foodtech startups for its Future Food Asia 2020 Collective Edition, which will be held from September 21-25, 2020, according to a statement by the company.
The Future Food Asia platform was launched in 2016, and awards a prize of US$100,000 to one winner after finalists pitch to investors, industry leaders and experts.
In addition to the award, Future Food Asia will be introducing two additional prizes, courtesy of Future Food Asia 2020 partners, ID Capital said in the statement.
The Bühler and Givaudan’s Plant Protein Award, which opens access to Bühler and Givaudan’s joint innovation centre in Singapore, will be awarded to a plant protein startup from the Asia Pacific region.
A second award, Corteva Agriscience’s Food Resilience Award, will go to a startup focused on supply chain workers and food security to support its market expansion trials.
The Collective Edition features a different format from the Future Food Asia’s previous years, the statement noted, with a focus on virtual collaboration. The conference will feature different ‘satellite locations’ for local groups to engage with each other, as well as virtual networking opportunities and exhibitors’ booths.
Applications for Future Food Asia 2020 saw a 45% rise this year, with a majority of applications coming in from India, China, Australia, South Korea, and Singapore, the statement said.
The startups that made the cut are Flurosat and ProAgni from Australia, AgNext and Tartansense from India, ****Aqua Development and Marine Innovation from South Korea, Indonesia-based Crowde, Agrisea from the U.S., Singapore’s Fyto Foods, Israeli startup Soos, and TerraQuanta from China.
These startups represent themes spanning supply chains, sustainability, aquaculture, fintech, artificial intelligence, analytics, and alternative protein.
Gérard Jacquin, former Director of Partnerships, Transfer and Innovation at Institut National de la Techerche Agronomique, Dr Ralph Graichen, Senior Director of Food & Consumer Cluster at Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s Biomedical Research Council, and Peter Huang, President, Greater China, Corteva Agriscience, will form the jury.
They will be joined by ID Capital Founder and CEO Isabelle Decitre.
Future Food Asia has also partnered with Dole Asia Holdings, ADB Ventures, and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), for its 2020 conference.
“The current state of our world has cast light on the prominent role of agriculture and food innovation, and stakes in the Asia-Pacific are higher than ever,” Decitre said in the statement.
“With this first Collective Edition of Future Food Asia, we are glad to broaden the reach of regional Agripreneurs and influence an even wider community of stakeholders,” she added.
Header image by The Climate Reality Project on Unsplash