On March 31, London becomes the global stage for one of the most anticipated moments in the AgriFoodTech calendar: the Official Unveiling of the 2025 FoodTech 500 ranking.
Forward Fooding founders Alessio D’Antino and Max Leveau will take the Future Food Stage at IFE Manufacturing 2026 (#IFEM26) at ExCeL London to announce the full 2025 FoodTech 500 ranking, followed by a deep-dive into the trends reshaping AgriFoodTech.
The celebration will continue on April 1 in an event co-hosted by Forward Fooding, ScaleSpace White City, and Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein. The evening will bring together founders, investors, corporates, and food system thinkers for a night of reveals, conversations, and a live showcase of some of the most interesting products and technologies coming out of the global FoodTech ecosystem.
Now in its seventh edition, the FoodTech 500 has become the leading benchmark for AgriFoodTech innovation, dubbed the ‘Fortune 500’ of the sector. Since 2019, it has received over 11,700 applications across 180+ countries, with winners representing 70+ nations. This isn’t a regional leaderboard. It’s a map of where the future of food is being built.
What Is the FoodTech 500?
The FoodTech 500 goes beyond a ranking. Each year, it surfaces the companies working at the intersection of food, technology, and sustainability, the ones tackling the hard problems in protein production, supply chain resilience, food waste, precision agriculture, and beyond.
What makes the list meaningful is the rigour behind it. Applications are assessed across innovation, impact, traction, and team, not just funding raised or press coverage generated. The result is a cohort that reflects where serious, mission-aligned capital and talent are actually concentrating in the global food system.
The 2025 edition arrives at a pivotal moment. 80% of this year’s finalists are already revenue-generating (up from 74% in 2024), and 96% have received investment. Female-founded companies account for 38% of the list—a record high. The hype cycle is behind us. What’s left is a leaner, more serious ecosystem, and the 2025 FoodTech 500 reflects that.
The Reveal: What to Expect
On 1 April, the evening will open at 5 pm with networking and a live product showcase from UK FoodTech companies. Alessio D’Antino, Founding Partner & CEO of Forward Fooding, will take the stage alongside co-hosts ScaleSpace and the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Proteins to welcome the room and set the scene.
The official 2025 FoodTech 500 ranking will be unveiled, accompanied by a ‘State of the Art’ read on the global FoodTech sector: where the growth is, where the contraction is, and what the data is really telling us.
Tim Ingmire, VP of Global Innovation & Technology at pladis, which is the Official Sponsor of the 2025 FoodTech 500 for the second consecutive year, will take the stage to announce their continued partnership and the launch of the second edition of their Accelerator Programme.
The Founders Taking the Stage
Eight founders and senior leaders from FoodTech 500 companies will present their work to the room. These aren’t pitch competitions, but windows into what’s actually happening at the frontier of the food system; from novel fermentation to sustainable packaging to AI-driven plant signals. Here’s who’s speaking:
Zoe Yu Tung Law, Co-Founder & CEO of New Wave Biotech, is working on next-generation biotech solutions for the food and agriculture sector.
Thijs Bosch, CEO of The Protein Brewery, leads a company producing Fermotein®, a single-cell protein made through precision fermentation.
Olga Sukhman, VP of Operations & Marketing at AKA Foods, represents a company tackling food innovation through novel ingredients and product development.
Suzanne Robinson, Chief Commercial Officer at Kyomei, speaks for a UK-based company at the cutting edge of sustainable food solutions.
Johnny Drain, CEO of Hypesound, leads an Italian FoodTech company using sound technology to transform food production and fermentation processes.
Neil Foster, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Nuritas, represents a company using AI and genomics to discover and unlock bioactive peptides from food, with applications across health, nutrition, and food performance.
Carrol Plummer, Co-founder & CEO of Vivent Biosignals, leads a company that reads the electrical signals of plants to detect stress, disease, and environmental conditions in real time, giving growers an entirely new layer of crop intelligence.
Nick Hooton, Head of Finance at Notpla, represents one of the UK’s most recognised sustainable packaging companies, making seaweed-based alternatives to single-use plastic packaging.
The Live Showcase: Products to Try
Before and after the presentations, the room transforms into a live showcase of FoodTech 500 companies with products and technologies on display. This is where the evening gets tangible. Companies exhibiting include:
Aquagrain – transforms organic waste into a biodegradable soil additive that stores water and nutrients to help crops grow in challenging conditions while reducing the need for irrigation and fertiliser
Phytoform Labs – uses AI and precision gene editing to redesign and develop novel, Nature Identical™ crop traits, building climate-resilient, future-secure crops without introducing foreign DNA
Square Mile Farm – installs and manages modular, plug-and-play vertical farms inside workplaces to grow edible, aromatic, and decorative plants year-round
Savor – produces real fats—butter, palm oil alternatives, and more—without animals, farmland, antibiotics, or fertilisers
Raw Edge – uses fermentation technology to turn vegetables into delicious health-promoting products using patented and clinically tested lactic acid bacteria
Microlub – develops protein-based molecules that act as microscopic lubricants, allowing a significant proportion of fats and oils in food products to be replaced without losing the mouthfeel, texture, or taste consumers expect
N&E Innovations – upcycles food waste into ViKang, a patented antimicrobial agent that eliminates 99.9% of bacteria, viruses, and moulds to extend shelf life and improve food safety
Who’s Behind the Evening
The event will be co-hosted by two organisations doing serious work in the food and innovation space.
The Bezos Centre for Sustainable Proteins, supported by the Bezos Earth Fund, advances microbial food innovation through cutting-edge science, fermentation technology, and strategic collaboration. Meanwhile, ScaleSpace is a launchpad for high-growth businesses born from a partnership between Blenheim Chalcot and Imperial College London, where industry and academia meet to support the businesses of tomorrow.
The event also runs in partnership with Global Tech Advocates, the international grassroots tech community uniting the private sector across cities and regions worldwide.
Drinks on the evening are sponsored by Lowrise Brewery, Good Koffee, Ice Nine, and FirstGlass.
Join Us — or Stay Tuned
If you’re in London on April 1, this is the room to be in. Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking for your next partnership, an investor mapping the frontier of the food system, or simply someone who wants to understand where food innovation is actually heading, the FoodTech 500 unveiling is the place to find out.
Get your tickets HERE.
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