Forward Fooding FoodTech 500 Initiative 2025 for AgriFoodTech companies

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Applications are open for Forward Fooding FoodTech 500 Initiative 2025. The FoodTech 500, created by Forward Fooding and inspired by the Fortune 500, is now accepting applications for its 2025 edition, offering international AgriFoodTech startups and scaleups a unique platform to gain recognition and global exposure.

The focus of this global initiative is on food, technology, and sustainability, showcasing entrepreneurial talent across the entire food supply chain and providing visibility to the most innovative companies in the sector. The FoodTech 500 highlights international AgriFoodTech startup and scaleup companies that are acting as a force of good for creating a brighter future of food. It is a ranking of the top 500 AgriFoodTech companies in the world, using a proprietary methodology to measure business size, digital footprint, and sustainability practices.

The FoodTech 500 is the ‘Fortune 500’ of the FoodTech sector – a ranking of the top 500 AgriFoodTech companies in the world. Their mission is to raise the public profile of FoodTech and give visibility to the most innovative companies in the sector, showcasing their valiant efforts in tackling the varied challenges the system faces. We have created a set of criteria to unify, rank and score the businesses that would define the future of food.

The big differentiator of the FoodTech 500 is that it is a global initiative. Its global coverage provides a more accurate picture of where we are in food tech by showcasing the latest developments from international startup and scaleup companies across the entire supply chain.

FoodTech 500 Benefits

Industry Prestige: Gain recognition as one of the top players in the AgriFoodTech industry, thanks to the world’s first Global FoodTech ranking.
Global Exposure: Access a vast network of industry stakeholders (20K+ industry contacts), including C-level Executives at Fortune 500 F&B companies, international investors and government representatives among others.
Showcasing Awesomeness: Be featured on the official FoodTech 500 website and the Official White Paper, putting your brilliance on display for the world to see, with over 350K+ downloaded reports on our website.
Highly-curated Industry Events: Get the opportunity to be a speaker or exhibitor at our international gatherings, conferences, and meetups, where you’ll get to network with the best innovators and industry experts out there.

Eligibility Criteria

All startups and scaleups from the Food Tech (or ‘AgriFoodTech’) sector – from early stage to more established businesses, operating all across the food supply chain.
At Forward Fooding they define Food Tech as ‘the emerging sector exploring how technology can be leveraged to create efficiency and sustainability in designing, producing, choosing, delivering and enjoying food.’ You can find out more about how we define Food Tech here.
On top of fitting the above definition, there are 3 main baseline criteria for submitting an application:

1. The company needs to be incorporated
2. The company needs to have an active website
3. The company is less than 15 years old

Some sub sectors we are focusing on include: alternative proteins, vertical farming, packaging & materials, surplus & waste management, restaurant tech, food & grocery delivery, food processing, food safety & traceability, consumer applications, kitchen robotics, irrigation & water tech, precision farming and Ag biotech.