The World’s First FoodTech 500 finalists revealed

The History of the FoodTech 500

The idea for the FoodTech 500 first came over a team lunch at Forward Fooding HQ in 2019, where we hypothesized a data-fuelled way to rank innovative companies who are at the intersection of food, technology, and sustainability.

And so, the FoodTech 500 was created.

Inspired by the Fortune 500, the FoodTech 500 is the world’s first definitive list of the global entrepreneurial talent in the AgriFoodTech sector. Last year’s list had over 1,200 applications from over 54 countries, and quickly gained a reputation as the definitive guide for companies to watch in the future foodscape. After we had developed last year’s list, it showed us something we already knew; that the world of AgriFoodTech is diverse, future-thinking, and is shaping our very perception of the food landscape.

The 2020 Edition

When it came to developing this year’s list, we had high expectations. But even with such high expectations, the 2020 edition has gone above and beyond what we had anticipated. With 2052 applicants from over 60 countries, this year’s FoodTech 500 has revealed an incredibly diverse set of applicants who are tackling the food crisis from every angle.

What’s more, the 2020 edition has shown us that not even a global pandemic is capable of stopping the AgriFoodTech startup ecosystem. I believe that this crisis has highlighted the fragility of the supply chain and the number of applications we received this year signals that in times of uncertainty, a solid entrepreneurial cluster can become a truly resilient one.

Methodology

Our methodology for FoodTech500 blends human vetting with tech-powered data crunching to deliver the ultimate FoodTech 500 list.

We have manually validated each entry to create a shortlist of finalists.

Now the hard work begins, and we let take technology take the lead.

The process involves uploading key data from each individual application into Forward Fooding’s FoodTech Data Navigator to let the system assign a score to each company in scoring and ranking every single business based on a business size score, a digital footprint score, and a sustainability score.

BUSINESS SIZE: The first criterion the FoodTech Data Navigator  generates is a Business size score. This is a prediction of business growth based upon financial performance indicators. We take into account the number of employees, stage of funding and funding raised.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT: The second criterion the FoodTech Data Navigator generates is a Digital FootPrint Score which is a prediction of business growth based upon each company’s digital presence, social media performance, and visibility on the web.

The final score we generate is a SUSTAINABILITY SCORE. In the absence of a global framework to measure the business sustainability impact specifically for FoodTech companies, we have chosen to create, in collaboration with sustainability experts from the Department of Management of the University of Turin (Italy), a unique survey and a scoring framework based on a selected number of Sustainable Development Goals from the United Nations. 

Want to view the full list?

If you want to access the companies changing the future of food, check out the full ranked list HERE!

Each FoodTech 500 finalist has had an overall ranked position, and then within each company’s profile, we feature each individual scoring.

Congratulations

So here’s to the innovators and disruptors.

The young startups and scaleups that are building and scaling AgriFoodTech businesses, and addressing the rapid need for change across our food ecosystem.

All of the companies that have made it as a FoodTech 500 finalist this year have in our opinion become entrepreneurial success stories worth keeping an eye on, which is why we have made it our mission to share them. Congratulations to everyone – it’s a true testament to your amazing work bringing together food and technology as a force for good!

Forward Fooding is the world’s first collaborative platform for FoodTech Data Intelligence and Corporate Startup Collaboration.