Banoo (Indonesia) Takes Home Grand Prize at TFF Challenge Finale

TFF Runner-Up Prize goes to microTERRA (Mexico)
‘Take it to the Farmer’ Prize goes to PFMS (Cameroon)
Kirchner ‘Most Investable’ Prize goes to CBA Sementes (Brazil)
‘Grow the Future’ Prize goes to Synthesea (UK/Global)

BASEL, October 16, 2020 – The Thought For Food (TFF) Foundation is thrilled to announce the prize-winning teams of this year’s Thought For Food Challenge.

The TFF Challenge is the world’s largest and most diverse food and agriculture-related innovation challenge. This year’s edition saw a record-breaking 5200 entrants from 175 countries, all focused on solving our planet’s most pressing challenges.

The culmination of this program saw the 10 TFF Finalists pitching their solutions at the global telecast of “Thought For Food: The 2020 Challenge Finale,” which also featured speakers from the UN Food Systems Summit, Danone, DSM, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, reNature, and more. The panel of four judges included: Merijn Dols (Danone), Elisabeth Hirschbichler (DSM), Maame Ekua Manful (Sweetpot Yoghurt and TFF Alumni), and Prima Sung (argodesign).

As this year’s winners, Thought For Food announces:

TFF Grand Prize, $10,000 USD – Banoo (Indonesia)
Hardware solution for smallholder aquaculture farmers, integrating a microbubble generator, IoT sensor and solar panel to increase oxygen levels and water quality in fish ponds, improve smallholder yields and revenues, while reducing environmentally-damaging water waste.

TFF Runner Up Prize, $5,000 USD – microTERRA (Mexico)
Alternative protein for feed and human consumption grown in aquafarms while reducing waste water output and freshwater input, and providing new and valuable revenue streams for farmers.

In addition, Thought For Food’s Prize Partners gave out the following awards to teams:

Kirchner “Most Investable” Prize, $5,000 USD – CBA Sementes (Brazil)
Automated aeroponic system to produce high-quality, disease-free potato seeds. Awarded by the Kirchner Food Fellows.

Borlaug “Take it to the Farmer” Prize, $2,500 USD – PFMS (Cameroon)
AI-powered mobile application that helps rural poultry farmers to detect diseases, connect with veterinarians, and help predict disease outbreaks. Awarded by Julie Borlaug.

Grow The Future Prize – SyntheSea (UK/ global)
Sustainable, cost-effective, scalable solution for producing omega-3 for fish feed, from plant precursors. Awarded by Ponsi Trivisvavet, CEO of Inari.

Team Spirit Prize – CBA Sementes (Brazil)
See description above. Awarded by Lorenzo Carter, linebacker at the New York Giants.

For more information, and to check out each of the team’s pitches, please check this page.

Over the past 8 years, the TFF Challenge has helped to catalyse the creation of tens of thousands of new business ideas, and has accelerated and helped to launch 60+ early-stage startups all around the world, which have collectively raised more than $200m in subsequent investments. Previous years’ TFF Finalists and prize winners include companies like Agrilution, Biteback, Agrosmart, Climate Edge, and AgroSpheres.

“Thought For Food is a movement, a global community of supporters who are dedicated to creating real change and impact through collaboration. The 10 teams that pitched today are all deserving of prizes and investment- they have not only developed truly innovative products, technologies and services, but have also shown their ability to be resilient in the face of adversity, especially through the challenges that this year has presented them. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of the teams, and are looking forward to continuing to work with them in the next phase of their entrepreneurial journeys,” states Christine Gould, Founder and CEO of Thought For Food.

If you want to learn more and support the Thought For Food Foundation please reach out here.

About Thought For Food:
Thought For Food is the world’s entrepreneurial innovation engine for food and agriculture. We work with more than 20,000 next-generation leaders from over 175 countries, empowering them to generate and scale breakthrough business ventures that build sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems. Our comprehensive suite of next-gen innovation programs include the TFF Challenge, an annual collaborative innovation prize competition; the TFF Digital Labs, a digital startup accelerator and collaboration platform; the TFF Academy, an in-person incubation program for world-class startups; and the TFF Summit, a flagship global event focused on bringing the voices of the next generation together with policy and business leaders to co-create solutions. TFF‘s work is powered by a global operating structure that includes the TFF Core Team, 14 Regional Coordinators and 550 Ambassadors, as well as diverse partners such as Syngenta, KWS, Google and Rockefeller Foundation. Thought For Food is a 501c3 non-profit entity. Find out more about Thought For Food at https://thoughtforfood.org/