Americas heat 2026 finalists

2nd Nature Inc - A Cincinnati‑based food‑tech start-up that uses AI-power to power its AgWaste Portal to transform agricultural and food‑processing side streams into high‑value functional ingredients. This includes natural zero‑calorie sweeteners and umami enhancers, in turn unlocking hidden molecules in waste to create cleaner, more sustainable and cost‑efficient alternatives for food, beverage, and personal care brands.

BioBlends - Argentina-based start-up, BioBlends has developed gas-based bio-preservatives (using bacterial volatile organic compounds) that extend shelf life, especially in bakery, without altering taste or texture. This enables clean-label products and reducing food waste.

Fermeate Inc. - A San Francisco–based biotech start-up, Fermeate was spun out of Princeton University and uses optogenetics (photomolecular fermentation) to control microbes with light. This doubles yields and slashes GHG emissions and can be plugged into existing fermentation setups to produce everything from sweeteners to specialty chemicals more sustainably, according to the company.

Joyn Foods - New York–based Joyn Foods is a food-tech innovator that blends animal-based meat with premium mushrooms (via its 50CUT line) to boost umami, nutrition and yield, all while halving carbon footprint.

Kresko RNAtech - Argentina-based biotech innovator Kresko RNAtech isolates and stabilizes dietary ribonucleic acids (supernutrients lost after harvest) to create functional ingredients that support gut, metabolic, skin and mental health, which is all powered by AI-driven discovery and bioinformatics.

Maia Farms - Vancouver-based food-tech start-up Maia Farms won NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge and uses mushroom mycelium fermentation to create high-protein, clean-label ingredients (textures, powders, fresh formats) for bakery, snacks, hybrid meats and more. Its product offers 66g protein per 100g, is organic/vegan and scalable production to around 200t a year.

Michroma - A biotech start-up that uses precision fermentation and synthetic biology to turn filamentous fungi into scalable, stable, natural food colors (like their heat- and pH-resistant “Red+”) and flavors, aiming to replace petrochemical dyes with clean-label, sustainable ingredients.

SCO2 - Minnesota-based cleantech start-up SCO2 uses patented supercritical CO₂ extraction to upcycle food and agri-waste and processes five to 50 tons an hour without pre-grinding to recover oils, flavors, and bioactives, turning waste into revenue while cutting costs and emissions.

Spacemilk - A nutrition start-up creating a next‑generation, non‑GMO yeast‑derived protein with a Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score of 1.0 (the highest possible score) and clinically validated performance –matching whey in muscle, strength and endurance gains – while offering superior digestibility, gut-health benefits and clean, solvent‑free sustainability.

Strive Nutrition - Family-founded, Kansas-based sustainable beverage company Strive pioneered aseptic processing and now offers “dairy without the cow.” Shelf-stable, animal-free whey protein milks (like Strive FreeMilk) are made via precision fermentation with Perfect Day, delivering real taste, 10g protein, 75% less sugar and around 97% lower GHG emissions than traditional milk.

Take a look at the article on FoodNavigator here .