Americas heat 2025 winners
- WINNER
Hydrosome Labs - A natural and chemical-free process that uses bubbles to improve precision fermentation production times and outputs.
- RUNNERS-UP
Careit - Food donation and rescue software that makes it easy for businesses and institutions to donate surplus food and goods directly to local nonprofits
Marine Biologics - A platform that uses cheminformatics and traditional fermentation techniques to turn seaweed into a programmable biomass for use as a clean ingredient in food and beverages
EMEA heat 2025 winners
- WINNER
BioMara - Develops bioactive ingredients from regenerative Scottish seaweed for functional foods and wellness applications.
- RUNNERS-UP
Clean Food Group - Produces sustainable oils and fats via non-GMO yeast fermentation using food waste, replacing palm oil in food and cosmetics.
Kokomodo - Uses cellular agriculture to produce climate-resilient cacao, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional cocoa farming.
APAC heat 2025 winners
- WINNER
Cropsto
- RUNNERS-UP
Rawga
Tertiary Extracts Otautahi
Renaisun Renewable Resources
Other 2025 shortlisted start-ups
- AMERICAS
AQUA Cultured Foods - The world’s first fish-free seafood made using fermentation, focusing on food texture improvement and taste enhancement.
Better Juice - A patented technology that reduces sugars in fruit juice by converting them into non-digestible fibres, addressing the growing demand for sugar reduction in beverages.
DProtein - A tasteless, odourless alternative protein made via yeast fermentation – with no plants or animals involved.
Future Biome - Using AI and fungi to create prebiotics that support gut health and inflammation reduction through diet.
Kresko RNAtech - Unleashing the power of dietary RNAs to enhance cellular and metabolic health.
RegenCrops - AI Helping farmers unlock higher prices and carbon credits with AI-driven sustainability certification.
Soiltech Wireless - Smart hardware and software that connects growers and processors to reduce food waste.
- EMEA
Polysense - Provides AI-powered machine vision systems for real-time quality control in food manufacturing to reduce waste and boost efficiency.
Nutrition from Water (NXW) - Creates non-GMO, protein-rich ingredients from microalgae and aquatic organisms for affordable, sustainable nutrition.
SCO2 - Uses patented supercritical CO₂ extraction to upcycle food and agricultural waste into high-value ingredients like flavors and oils.
Kyomei - Engineers crop leaves to produce specialty proteins like myoglobin, enabling scalable plant-based meat alternatives with rich umami flavor.
Foreverland Food Sbrl - Makes cocoa-free chocolate from carob and forgotten crops, offering allergen-free, sustainable indulgence.
2nd Nature - Uses AI to upcycle food processing leftovers into clean, functional ingredients for food, wellness, and personal care products.
Grinove Materials - Converts agricultural by-products into compostable, tree-free paper biomaterials for sustainable food packaging.