Empowering Start-ups Transform Food & Ag in Arid Places
Summary
In 2024, Tamkeen committed to launch the third edition of their FoodTech Challenge (FTC) to dramatically scale the impact of the competition and amplify the work of 10 impact enterprises, directly benefiting 200 co-founders and employees. Through FTC, Tamkeen will distribute $2 million in cash prizes and restricted grants over two years to four winning enterprises that are pioneering innovative solutions to address food security in arid, hot, and increasingly challenging environments. The most substantial FTC prize to date, this money will enable the winners to make tangible progress scaling their solutions in both the United Arab Emirates and applicable geographies across the Global South. Winners will be announced in May 2025, and in the first year post-competition, they will test, develop, and deploy their solutions in the UAE. In year two, the FTC winners will receive additional resources to scale their solutions in relevant geographies in the Global South.
Approach
In 2024, Tamkeen will launch an expanded third edition of FTC, in partnership with the International Affairs Office at the Presidential Court of the UAE. Seeking to rapidly scale and build on two successful competitions, the third edition is structured around three key focus areas related to the Food-Water-Energy nexus: Food & Water, Food & Energy, and Food Loss & Waste. This new edition of FTC also includes new, explicit pathways for impact in underserved markets in the Global South, building on the UAE’s longstanding tradition of solving shared challenges. FTC winners will, as a result, not only seek to create impact and integrate into the UAE ecosystem, but then utilize their scaling solutions for applicable geographies in the Global South.
FTC will launch its call for applications and amplify the call across start-up and agri-foodtech communities globally. FTC will then work with technical experts to review applications that will be evaluated through three competition stages before 10 finalists are selected. Those finalists will then be invited to Abu Dhabi to pitch and demonstrate their solutions.
Four winners will receive a $100,000 cash prize, a $200,000 restricted grant to test, develop, and deploy their solutions in the UAE in Year 1, and another $200,000 restricted grant to do the same in a priority market in the Global South in Year 2. By the conclusion of this commitment in 2027, the FoodTech Challenge will have distributed $2 million to four innovative companies that offer promising solutions for tackling pressing food security challenges at scale.
The FoodTech Challenge will bring its experience from running two previous competitions, its expert partners in the UAE’s agri-food tech ecosystem including Ne’ma and Silal who will help support FTC winners with their UAE pilots, and specialized vendors who will contribute expertise to outreach and judging.
Action Plan
September 23-24, 2024: The third edition of the FoodTech Challenge (FTC) launches at the CGI Annual Meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, marking the formal opening of the application window.
December 12, 2024: FTC’s application window closes.
January 7, 2025: Level 1 judging is completed.
February 18, 2025: Level 2 judging is completed.
February 24 – April 4, 2025: Level 3 judging (Technical Interviews) takes place.
April 7, 2025: The top 10 finalists are announced at a private event hosted with UAE leadership in attendance to celebrate all applications. At this stage, finalists begin refining their preparations for the competition’s finale event.
May 23, 2025: FTC’s finale event; finalists present their pitches and answer questions from a panel of VIP judges. Final voting will then commence, and the four winners will be announced.
June 2025 – May 2026: Year 1 of the four FTC winners working with FTC’s local implementing partners to test, develop, and deploy their solutions in the UAE.
June 2026 – May 2027: Year 2 of the four FTC Winners working with FTC’s global partners to test, develop, and deploy their solutions in the Global South.
Background
By 2050, the world population is expected to increase by more than 2 billion people. As the global population grows, so too does the demand for food. Meeting food needs around the world will require average food production levels over the past decade to increase by an estimated 70%. While economic development continues to lift people out of poverty and change global eating patterns, there is still an urgent need to plan for the reality where food production must increase at this rate. Transforming the entire food value chain will require bold action and innovative thinking.
With its arid desert climate, scarce arable land, and limited fresh water, the UAE is already experiencing challenges that will increasingly be faced by other countries. As part of the National Food Security Strategy 2051, the UAE is seeking to become the leader in global food security by implementing climate-resilient agricultural practices that can both boost production, and protect sensitive ecosystems. The development of new ways to nourish a rapidly growing population with finite resources and such a challenging climate can provide solutions that can then be readily replicated across much of the world.
In 2019, the UAE’s Food & Water Security Office (now Ministry of Climate Change & Environment (MoCCAE) ) and Tamkeen launched the FoodTech Challenge (FTC) to accelerate innovative food-tech business solutions in support of the UAE’s 2051 National Food Security Strategy. The FoodTech Challenge (FTC) is a global competition that identifies and supports leading early-stage, tech-driven solutions that are poised to transform food systems in arid, hot, and increasingly challenging environments. These environments, in addition to being among the most food insecure nations, are also underserved, untapped for innovations, and underinvested in by traditional agricultural practices. The first two editions of FTC focused on sourcing food tech innovations from around the world and bringing them to the UAE to catalyze growth in the local food and agriculture sector.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
The FTC is looking to collaborate with organizations that have expertise in food systems, agriculture, water and energy, and particularly those with experience in arid and resource-constrained environments. These partnerships will enhance the competition’s ability to develop and deploy scalable solutions across the UAE and the Global South.
Further, the FTC seeks access to technical experts who can provide guidance on innovative technologies and best practices, and can aid the FTC winners in scaling their solutions to contribute to a more food-secure future for all., The FoodTech Challenge offers partner organizations access to a curated pipeline of early-stage innovators, experts and entrepreneurs who may be future portfolio companies, partners, or stakeholders. In addition, FTC offers partners a platform for knowledge exchange and capacity building through a series of high-quality local and global partnerships. Partners also benefit from enhanced visibility and recognition through FTC’s global platform.
With regard to FTC’s innovation funnel, finalists will have the opportunity to engage with FTC partners to receive in-kind support and access to acceleration programs, including start-up accelerators Hub71, Sheraa, and startAD; the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture; AGRA; AGWA; and Al Tamimi & Company.