Applications Invited for Data for Farm Value Global Challenge

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About the Organization

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to "let there be bread". It was founded on 16 October 1945.

About the Event

FAO and the University of Helsinki’s Viikki Food Design Factory have launched the global Data for Farm Value Challenge to support startups using farm-level data in innovative ways. The goal is to unlock value for smallholder farmers, who often generate key insights but are left out of the data-driven agrifood economy.

The connection between agricultural data and smallholder farmers is in dire need to be strengthened. To unlock its innovative potential, we are seeking fair business models that have the capacity to include smallholder farmers in the compensation mechanisms in the data ecosystem surrounding the agrifood world.

Startups are invited to:

• Develop scalable digital solutions that render, and structure data generated at the farm-level in a usable, useful and more commonly used format.
• Create/Propose business models where farmers are included and fairly compensated for their data contributions, i.e. business models capturing value also for the farmers as data producers.
• Facilitate the integration of farm-level data into the supply chain, sustainability, and market access platforms
• Design transparent mechanisms that enable farmers to sell or trade data while maintaining ownership
• Connect farm-level data with broader public and private sector initiatives to drive sustainability and economic value across the value chain

Benefits

• Workshops on pitching and product-market fit related to data-focused startups
• Networking opportunities in the agrifood innovation ecosystem spanning the UN, public and private sectors, and academia
• Opportunity for 10 startups to pitch on stage at the FAO’s Science and Innovation Forum (SIF) in Rome on October 16, 2025
• Access to the World Food Forum during FAO's 80th anniversary celebrations.
• The top 4 startups from the SIF pitchers will pitch at Y Science, a side event of Slush, in Helsinki on November 19, 2025
• A free ticket to Slush for the 4 finalists
• A cash prize of 5,000 euros for the winner of the pitching competition.
• Access to the Data Refinery, a joint initiative by FAO and the University of Helsinki’s Viikki Food Design Factory including accesing and using valuable data sets from FAO and partners
• Mentoring with FAO's global digital agriculture and data experts through 1:1 office hours

Eligibility

• Registered companies with a minimum team size of 2 people working 50% of their working hours on the solution
• Technology Readiness Level 3-7 (between Proof of Concept and Approved Prototype)
• Funding level: At minimum pre-seed funding, at most Series A funded, with annual revenue no more than €500K/year
• Startups can be located anywhere around the world
• Availability and funds to attend the FAO Science and Innovation Forum in Rome, Italy, on October 16 and (for the selected four pitching finalists) the Y Science and Slush events on November 18-20, 2025, in Helsinki, Finland
• All submissions ,presentations and communications are required to be in English

How to Apply

Submit your innovative solution by 25 August 2025 to unlock value, empower farmers and revolutionize data!

Selected startups will have the opportunity to pitch at the FAO Science and Innovation Forum in Rome (13-17 October 2025)  and Y Science signature side event of Slush in Helsinki (19-20 November 2025) and access and use FAO's and partner's valuable data sets

Submit Solution

For more information please check the Link

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