Colombian Team Cultivando Futuro Take Home Grand Prize at Thought For Food Global Summit
May 30 2017 - 6:41AM
Business Wire
Runner-Up Team Agrospheres Share Prize Money
with Fellow Finalists in Surprise Plot Twist
Colombian team Cultivando Futuro were named the Grand Prize
winners of the Thought For Food (TFF) Challenge, selected by an
independent panel of judges to take home the cash prize of $10,000
USD.
This Smart News Release features multimedia.
View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530005542/en/
Colombian Team Cultivando Futuro Take
Home Grand Prize at Thought For Food Global Summit (Photo: Ferdy
Daman Photography)
Co-Founders Dario Gonzalez, Carlos Castellanos, and Edisson
Ballesteros created an information and agro-commerce platform that
leverages open data to analyze market trends and provide key
information to farmers, wholesale buyers and organizations, while
facilitating direct sales between farmers, buyers, and
exporters.
Edisson Ballesteros says; “With this money, we aim to register
1000 farmers on the Cultivando Futuro platform. We will also use
the money to collect all the data NGOs and farmer unions in
Colombia need to make informed decisions about the future.”
In an exciting plot twist, two of Thought For Food’s core values
- collaboration and openness - were brought to life when the TFF
Challenge Runner-Up team Agrospheres (USA), chose to split their
$7500 prize between fellow Finalist teams Sparky (Uganda) and
Climate Edge (UK) in a surprise announcement. Agrospheres, who have
developed an enzyme delivery system that allows farmers to degrade
pesticides in a matter of hours, also won the $5000 Kirchner Food
Prize.
Payam Pourtaheri says; “We became so close to every team during
the TFF Startup Bootcamp, and decided it’s better to share among
everyone because we feel like a family. After spending a week with
the teams before the Summit, we understood how Sparky and Climate
Edge could benefit their customers with the prize money in the
short term. We were not surprised by the support at the Summit
because of all the support we received in the weeks before the
Summit. TFF is probably the best week in Agrospheres’ career. TFF
literally invests in the companies - it’s so much more than many
other competitions.”
Team Sparky will use the money to finish the prototype of their
thermo-dehydrator for fruits and vegetables, and begin customer
trials with smallholder farmers in Uganda. Climate Edge will use
the money to finance the latest hardware production of weather
sensors to boost their number of paying subscription smallholder
farmers in Latin America and Africa.
Winners of the $2500 Borlaug Foundation “Take it to the Farmer”
Prize are team From Challenge to Opportunity (India &
Switzerland), who will use the money to fulfil the administrative
requirements to sell their seaweed-based fertilizer and
nutrient-rich cookies. Wastebusters (Malaysia) won the $5000
Syngenta Open Business Model Prize and will use the money to
increase their manufacturing capabilities and refine their
production process.
Proposals were chosen from nearly 500 applications from over
3000 students, 1000 universities and 130 countries. The prize
winners were selected by an expert external panel of judges
including; Eric Katz, Co-Founder of Kulisha (2016 TFF Winner);
Ashley Lewis, Founder of Invest with Impact, and Mark Durno,
Program Director Agritech at Rockstart Accelerator..
###
Notes $2,500 Take it to the Farmer: From Challenge
to Opportunity, India & Switzerland$5,000 Syngenta Open
Business Model: Wastebusters, Malaysia$5,000 Kirchner Food
Prize: AgroSpheres, USA$7,500 Second Runner-up:
AgroSpheres - Prize to be split between finalists Sparky, Uganda
and Climate Edge, UK$10,000 Grand Prize Winner: Cultivando
Futuro, Colombia
About Thought for Food TFF is the world’s leading
platform for Next Generation Thinking, Collaboration and Innovation
for global food security. TFF brings people together across
sectors, disciplines, cultures and generations to create
opportunities for new ideas and solutions to flourish.
The annual TFF Challenge is the world’s largest open competition
for university students who are building the future of food and
agriculture. Student teams are empowered with tools and mentorship,
and submit proposals which seek to answer the question: How do we
feed 9+ billion people by 2050?
Find TFF on social media at @tffchallenge.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530005542/en/
Thought For FoodAlexandra
Connertyalexandra@tffchallenge.com+45 91754551+44 7541 214246
Syngenta (NYSE:SYT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Syngenta (NYSE:SYT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024