The 2021 FoodTech 500 finalists at a glance
In 2019 we set out our mission of making the FoodTech 500 the Fortune 500 of AgriFoodTech, a list of the top innovators and disruptors in the industry featuring the current and upcoming leaders of this emergent and ever-evolving sector. The quality of the companies that have applied to be part of the ranking has been growing year after year and now three years into the making, we are thrilled to share that the 2021 edition of the FoodTech 500 was a record-breaking one and has gone above and beyond our expectations.
For this year’s edition, we received 2,253 applications from international AgriFoodTech companies from over 85 countries, compared to 63 last year, which confirms our belief that the AgriFoodTech sector is becoming even more global. Moreover, the amount of applications received is a signal that even in times of uncertainty, a solid entrepreneurial cluster can become a truly resilient one.
Shortlisting the 500 finalist companies was, as always, a massive endeavor for us. Our selection process has revealed an incredibly diverse set of applicants who are tackling our food system from various angles and the impact they are generating is considerable. 98% of the finalist companies have raised investments with a whopping $9.6B+ in funding over time (compared to $4.6B+ last year). On top of that, more than 74% are revenue-generating companies.
Looking at the split in numbers of companies across the different verticals, this is quite representative of the reality of the global ecosystem. Agtech represents approximately 30% of the selected applicants, followed by the Next Generation Food&Drinks sector with 26% (including alternative protein), Surplus & Waste Management with 10.8%, and Food Delivery representing approximately 10.2% (you can learn more about our taxonomy here).
Moreover, among the 500 companies selected, it’s worth noticing that 6 of them have already joined the Unicorn club and more than 20 could be considered ‘Soonicorn’ or ‘Futurecorn’, in other words, companies that are on a good path to become Unicorns as they’re getting closer to achieve a $ 1 billion valuation.
When we analyse the results extracted from the scores and data to get an overview of the economic and growth dimensions of the startups applying for the FoodTech 500 list, we always strive to draw conclusions that allow us to understand the impact they are actually creating in terms of making our food system more sustainable. One of the revealing signs in understanding how the companies approach sustainability is the SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals) they tackle. This year we see that the focus was especially on solving issues revolving around Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3), and climate action (SDG 13).
Last but not least, founders’s diversity is also a key characteristic of the AgriFoodTech ecosystem and one that we are trying to give light to year after year. In 2021, 50% were founded by members of under represented communities, compared to 45.4% in 2020.
The FoodTech 500 official list will be officially revealed in February 2022. If you want to be the first one to access it, sign up HERE
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 from the finalist companies 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. To learn more about our methodology visit: https://forwardfooding.com/foodtech500-2020/methodology/
Business size
The business size score is generated via a proprietary algorithm from The FoodTech Data Navigator that predicts the business growth based on financial performance indicators. We use data acquired from independent sources such as the company’s headcounts, funding activities, and the number of office locations they operate from.
Digital Footprint
The digital footprint score is also generated via a proprietary algorithm from The FoodTech Data Navigator as a prediction of business growth based upon each company’s digital presence, social media performance and visibility on the web. The algorithm takes into account over 25 elements such as website authority and search engines’ ranking, website traffic as well as social media followers, traffic & interactions over the main social media platforms.
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. Thus, based on self-assessment from each applicant, a certain number of points were attributed to each question to derive each company’s sustainability score with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) they are achieving with their solutions.
What’s next?
At the end of February 2022, we will officially release the list and its final ranking, during a ‘phygital’ event that will be announced in the coming weeks and reserve a lot of surprises. In the meantime, you can register HERE to be first notified when we release the list.
Stay tuned and keep powering the Food Revolution!
The Forward Fooding Team
