Thought For Food - TFF Summit | Join us in Rio on July 27, 2018!

The TFF Summit brings together changemakers across sectors to build powerful connections and co-create bold new solutions for the future of food security.

As the culminating event in the TFF Challenge, an annual incentive prize competition where over 800 teams from 160 countries participated in 2018, the TFF Summit is where the selected 10 Finalist Teams deliver their pitches live on stage and compete for up to 25,000 in grant funding.

July 27, 2018

TFF Summit in Rio

This July, we elevated our global impact by hosting the TFF Summit in the prestigious Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, which followed the immersive 4-day TFF Academy. It was an incredible moment for us to bring our global community together in this vibrant city, in an iconic space that inspires exploration and innovation. The Museum of Tomorrow shares our mission to forge revolutionary ideas and build cross-cultural relationships for a better future.

We developed an event experience that was beyond the ordinary, that celebrated human ingenuity, that was oozing with optimism and that delivered real impact. This year’s TFF Summit theme of ‘Multispectral Thinking’ represented our unique open and collaborative approach to innovation, and perfectly suited the Museum’s future-oriented focus.

The Nigerian team Coating+ were selected as the Grand Prize winners at the TFF Summit 2018, receiving a cash prize of $10,000 USD. The team has developed a safe coating for fresh foods that extends their shelf life while also providing hard-to-access micronutrients to help tackle hidden hunger. Other awards were granted to youth-led startups from Kenya, UK and Malaysia that are dedicated to solve food security.

Winners Academy

meet our

Speakers

We filled our TFF Summit stage with the world’s most powerful industry-leaders and influential entrepreneurs who stand at the forefront of disruptive change.

Their thought-provoking keynotes left us with a deeper, multi-perspective understanding of the latest food & ag innovations, game-changing ideas and realizable actions for a better, more sustainable future.

Cristianne Close
The Future of Business Calls for Purpose / Panel of Judges
As Market Specialist at WWF Global Market Practice, she focuses on innovation in new business models for conservation and increase market access for community enterprises at the verge of conservation areas.
Lucas Rizzotto
(Re)connecting Humans Through Technology
Creative Technologist and Founder Where Thoughts Go, a rewarded VR social platform designed to connect strangers emotionally through magical audio creatures.
Mariana Vasconcelos
Transform Purpose into Action
CEO of Agrosmart, member of 4Lab's council and expert in digital agriculture. She is considered one of the 100 most influential people in Agrobusiness.
Anthony Hehir
Let's Shift Focus from Yields to Nutrition
Director of DSM's Nutrition Improvement business, a specialist team that leverages DSM's micronutrient portfolio, nutrition solutions, programs and partnership.
Gabriela Agustini
Entrepreneurship the Millennial Way
Founder and Executive Director of Olabi, a Brazilian social organization focused on encouraging the use of new (and old) technologies for social change.
Darío González
Panel of Judges
CEO of Cultivando Futuro, guiding the research and development process.
Teddy Onserio
Panel of Judges
Teddy Onserio is an Investment Associate at The Open Society Foundations’ Economic Advancement Program, focused on empowering smallholder farmers in various countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Holley M. Murchison
Impactful Storytelling
Founder of Oratory Glory, author of her debut book 'Tell Me About Yourself', and Education Producer

Steven Wall
Capstone Project: New Solutions for Smallholder Farmers
Steven is a senior leader at Syngenta where he is developing and implementing strategies for new technologies that incorporate evolving regulatory, safety, political and societal perspectives.
Joe Fletcher
Capstone Project: New Solutions for Smallholder Farmers
Joe Fletcher is a co-founder and Executive Creative Director at Raft. He has 15+ years experience in corporate design management and consulting.
Lorelei Davis
Capstone Project: IoT, AI, Robotics – Right-Sizing Tech for the Smallholder Farm
Leading KWS SAAT SE's new Digital Innovation Accelerator, that identifies and tests novel digital technologies for their application to the agriculture industry.
Satish Rai
Capstone Project: IoT, AI, Robotics – Right-Sizing Tech for the Smallholder Farm
Senior Innovation and Licensing Manager at KWS R&D division, focused on scouting and licensing of early-stage technologies.
Clarissa Biolchini
Capstone Project: IoT, AI, Robotics – Right-Sizing Tech for the Smallholder Farm
Expert in innovation processes, based on design thinking and service design.
Michael Kock
Open IP Models for Open Innovation
Open IP Pioneer, Strategy Consultant and renowned author and speaker on innovation enablement.
Megan Willis
Do's and Don'ts of Fundraising
Social impact and sustainability professional working with Indigo Ag. She spent over a decade in international development: as a US Peace Corps Volunteer, at Chemonics International and USAID.
John Cumbers
Frontiers of Synthetic Biology
Founder and CEO of SynBioBeta and senior consultant to leading companies and investors for over a decade.
David Li
Brick by BRIC: DIY Innovation in Emerging Economies
Co-founder of Maker Collider and Executive Director of Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab.
Henry Gordon-Smith
Smart Ag for Smart Cities
Founder and Managing Director of Agritecture Consulting and global thought leader in vertical farming.
Maeva Dang
Smart Ag for Smart Cities
Maeva is a civil engineer and researcher at the TU Vienna and the UniRio, passionate about urban agriculture.
Marco de Boer
How to restore nature through Agroforestry
Expert in marketing communications / advertising and Co-Founder of reNature Foundation.
Felipe Villela
How to Restore Nature through Agroforestry
Co-Founder of reNature and expert in agroforestry systems.
Caroline Steiblin
Exploring Nutrition's Complexities & Impact Investment
Researcher with a background in physics and economics, and a passion for helping sustainable businesses grow.
Dr. Mike Gould
Create, Innovate, Invent
An inspiring leader, scientist, change-agent and disruptor. He developed and led innovative R&D programs in fields ranging from biotech to complexity science to vertical farming.
Kesso Gabrielle van Zutphen
Exploring Nutrition's Complexities
Public health nutritionist with a background in public health and public policy.
Srujith Lingala
Exploring Nutrition's Complexities
Manager Technology and Entrepreneurship at Sight and Life. His projects span Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, India and Indonesia.
Dr. Leah McCann
Unlocking new perspectives on agriculture by combining science and data
Senior Crop Scientist at CiBO Technologies, that thrives at the intersection of R&D and commercial application.
Dr. Jenette Ashtekar
Unlocking new perspectives on agriculture by combining science and data
Soil Scientist and Engagement Manager at CiBO Technologies, leading customer facing projects.
Brittany Dahl
Big Data and GIS
GIS consultant passionate in technological projects that connect communities with sustainable choices.
Vinicius Filier
Big Data and GIS
MBA and Geographer, currently working for Esri Brazil, spreading the word of how Geography and GIS can help us solve most of our biggest global challenges.
Richard Hylerstedt
Design Thinking
Interdisciplinary designer and facilitator. He is on a mission to change the public sector, currently as Lead Service Design Coach for the City of Helsingborg.
Pedro L. Rodriguez
Social Media
VP, Business Growth, Digital Marketing & Transformation at Horizon Media Inc. and rewarded blogger for the HuffingtonPost with focus on emerging social and digital trends.
Brennan Costello
Boots on the Ground
Startup Coach and Business Relation Officer at the University of Nebraska. Co-Founder of FarmAfield.
Matt Foley
Boots on the Ground
Investment Analyst, Invest Nebraska Corporation and Co-Founder of FarmAfield.
Gemma Milne
Starting a Science Startup
Freelance journalist, deep science consultant and co-host of Science:Disrupt – a podcast covering science, tech, culture and politics.
Alexander Lazarou
Maximizing Engagement, Awareness & Impact
Senior Account Supervisor, Social Purpose and Sustainability at MSL/Publicis who has worked on global campaigns for private companies and NGOs.
Peleg Chevion
Moving to Food Industry 4.0 / Panel of Judges
Chief Commercial Officer of Blendhub, leading the global deployment of the world’s first distributed production platform for powder based food.
Taísa Cecília de Lima Caires
BASF Game: The Road to Sustainability
Management Consultant for the Sustainability of the Espaço ECO® Foundation, founded by BASF.
Tiago Egydio Barreto
BASF Game: The Road to Sustainability
Management Consultant for Sustainability at the Espaço ECO® Foundation by BASF.
Mush’ab Nursantio
New Foods
Award-winning entrepreneur, Co-Founder and CEO of Biteback.
Mashita Fajri
New Foods
Founder of EconoodlE. Expert in Food Security and Environmental Health.
Peter Bickerton
Slam Poetry
Peter is a science communicator, poet, and writer. In his day job, he writes about science for the Earlham Institute as Science Communications Manager.
Alfredo Costilla-Reyes
Impact Investing
Kirchner Food Fellow, Mexico National Youth Award and Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Adrian Garcia-Casarrubias
Impact Investing
Kirchner Food Fellow and Plant Biotechnology Ph.D. candidate at CINVESTAV-IPN in San Pedro Zacatenco, Mexico.
Karla Rascon-Garcia
Impact Investing
Kirchner Food Fellow and Ph.D. candidate in Epidemiology at the University of California, Davis.
Leandro Amorim
Data Selfie: a personalized graphic expression
Head of Café.art.br, an information design studio that transforms data into stories.
Julia Giannella
Data Selfie: a personalized graphic expression
Designer and a researcher assistant at the Vision and Computer Graphics Laboratory (Visgraf) based at IMPA.
Haitao Yu
Scaling-up Rural and Community-Driven Entrepreneurship
Sustainability activist and world-traveler: from China, France, the US to Cambodia, Canada and more.