LOS GATOS, Calif., Nov. 7, 2023 — SVG Ventures|THRIVE a global agrifood investment and innovation platform, have announced the winners of the 2023 THRIVE Global Impact Challenge.

The Challenge which is aligned with the UN Sustainability Goals was the culmination of a 10-month quest to identify the most innovative startups poised to tackle the challenges across four key themes: Soil health & biodiversity, increasing food security, reducing & offsetting GHG emissions and water management & quality. 

A total of 25 finalists were selected from an applicant pool of 912 startups from across 87 countries. Following a comprehensive evaluation process in collaboration with THRIVE’s corporate partners four category winners were selected in addition to the overall challenge winner.  Recognition awards were also presented to the top Female Founder and the People’s Choice Award Winner.

The winners were announced at the November 2, THRIVE Global Impact Summit that took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Santa Clara, California. In addition to the startup pitches the summit featured themed panel discussions, keynotes from USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production & Conservation, Robert Bonnie & Anantha Desikan, Chief Innovation & Technology Officer at ICL, who were the headline partner for the event as well as multiple industry networking opportunities.

“We’re proud to celebrate these visionary entrepreneurs who have risen to the challenge of solving some of the most pressing issues in agriculture.  We commend them for their outstanding contributions and their unwavering commitment to shaping a sustainable future for agriculture” – John Hartnett, Founder & CEO SVG Ventures|THRIVE.

And the winners are…

UCROP.IT was named the Overall Challenge Winner of the 2023 THRIVE Global Impact Challenge as well as the winner of the Reducing and Offsetting GHG Emissions category.  UCROP.IT from the United States enables verified sustainable agriculture on a global scale to be shared amongst farmers and companies.

Solena Ag also from the United States took home the prize for the Soil Health & Biodiversity category.  Solena harnesses the power of the soil microbiome to create personalized, data-driven agriculture.

LiVA Bio Technologies secured the Increasing Food Security Award.  The Israeli startup more than doubles fresh-produce shelf-life, using patented pre-biotic inserts applied to the packaging for less than $0.02 per insert.

Livestock Water Recycling scooped the top prize for the Water Management & Quality category.  Based out of Canada LWR is cleaning the worlds wastewater by transforming biomass from livestock and food production into RNG, carbon offsets, and natural fertilizers enabling food producers to maximize profits and their ESG.

Nigerian startup Airsmat was named the People’s Choice winner.  Airsmat is empowering African farmers with tech for higher yields, sustainability, and climate resilience. Transforming agriculture for a brighter future.

Tatiana Estevez Carlucci, CEO of Canadian company Permalution secured the Female Founder Award. Permalution has developed climate adaptation technology using fog and clouds and are on a mission to democratize a new water source.

The audience included hundreds of visionary entrepreneurs, investors, students and executives from across THRIVE’s corporate partner network including ICL Planet, Bayer, BASF, Driscoll’s, Kubota, Alberta Innovates, KOCH, KRONE, Microsoft, UFA, Land O’Lakes, & Corteva.

Read more about the 2023 THRIVE Global Impact Challenge here.

About SVG Ventures|THRIVE

SVG is a leading AgriFood Innovation and Investment platform headquartered in Silicon Valley, and comprised of top agriculture, food & technology corporations, universities and investors. With a community of over 9,000 startups from over 100 countries, SVG invests, accelerates and creates unparalleled access for entrepreneurs to scale globally to solve the biggest challenges facing the food and agriculture industries. SVG’s Corporate innovation program works with Fortune 1000 corporations transforming their businesses, accelerating their growth and driving their innovation priorities.  SVG’s global partners include leading government, agriculture, and technology corporations such as Alberta Government, Old’s College, Calgary Economic Development, Corteva, Driscoll’s, FCC, BASF, Kubota, Land O’Lakes, Shell, Trimble, Taylor Farms, Bayer, ICL, Nutrien, Intel, Agrofresh, Valmont, UFA, Yamaha Motor Ventures, KRONE and Wilbur-Ellis. Learn more at www.thriveagrifood.com. 

Media Contact

Helen Hartnett
SVG Ventures|THRIVE

helen.hartnett@svgventures.com
(408)375-3056