Curious about young entrepreneurial talent in the food system? On 24 May, the final round of the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award will take place at F&A Next. Four startups will pitch for the winner’s title and €25,000.
The award is an incentive prize for innovative entrepreneurs (<7 years) with a focus on scalable sustainable climate-proof food systems which have a positive impact on society and the environment. Candidates for the award have proven science-based solutions that can make an important contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and provide an answer to the global climate and food security issues we face.
The finalists are rated on their business case and their ability to realize a large-scale transformation for as many people as possible with a positive impact on the environment.
Meet the finalists
The finalists of this year’s Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award are:
| Spatialise (Netherlands): has developed a cutting-edge solution that combines satellite monitoring and deep learning to remotely, accurately, and affordably measure Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) levels. This innovative approach can replace time-consuming physical soil samples, improving land restoration and sustainable farming strategies. |
| Voltiris (Switzerland): enables greenhouse growers to produce renewable energy within their greenhouses. This results in improved energy independence, profitability, and sustainability. Voltiris’ solar modules transform into green energy the part of the light not used for photosynthesis, while transmitting to crops everything required for optimal growth. |
| Orbisk (Netherlands): has developed the world’s first fully automated food waste monitor. The company outfits waste bins with a scale and a smart camera, and then uses AI image recognition to register what food is wasted and why. This helps restaurants to reduce food waste, annually saving an estimated over 4,000 kilos of food waste for an average-sized restaurant, worth €20,000 – €60,000. |
| BIOWEG (Germany): has developed alternative biodegradable, sustainable biobased agricultural coatings by combining the power of bacteria, biotech and green chemistry. Its readily biodegradable coating emulsion replace petroleum and acrylic-based coatings from fertilizers and seeds. They produce this solution in a zero-waste circular process utilizing the waste or side-streams of agriculture and food industry as feedstock. |
Audience involvement
The F&A Next audience also has the possibility to personally support these young entrepreneurs in achieving their impact on the food system: each startup will discuss a challenge that they need help with, giving the audience the possibility to give their answers and ideas and helping them in their next step.
Winner announcement
The Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award is organized by the University Fund Wageningen. The winner will be announced at the end of the day on the main stage by Sjoukje Heimovaara, chair of the Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research.
