The Yield Lab Institute, the St. Louis-based nonprofit think tank arm of agtech investor The Yield Lab, has teamed up with a division of the United Nations to launch its newest innovation challenge.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and The Yield Lab Institute are spearheading the new Sustainable Agtech Challenge, a global contest designed to source innovations aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change on the agri-food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. Startups selected for the program will receive in-kind services and mentorship and networking support.
Launched in 1972, UNEP is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and focuses on environmental and sustainable development within the United Nations system. Yield Lab Institute Chief Operating Officer Brandon Day said his organization connected with UNEP through the Latin American arm of its sister organization The Yield Lab.
“They’re interested in getting better connected to the startup and innovation in agtech from a policy perspective,” Day said of UNEP.
UNEP and the Yield Lab Institute plan to select around five startups for the Sustainable Agtech Challenge. Applications for the challenge closed earlier this month, with 115 startups entering the contest, Day said.
Startups applying for the innovation challenge were asked to submit solutions targeting one of three areas: specialty crops, row crops, or animal and alternative proteins. The Sustainable Agtech Challenge is planning to name its cohort companies in late August.
A key component of the innovation challenge will be a white paper policy assessment designed to provide policymakers and stakeholders with a blueprint on how to advance agtech innovation related to climate change.
“By virtue of applying for the challenge, each of the startups are providing valuable data and insights that I and my partners in Latin America are using to write about what are some things UNEP and its partners in the region could do from a policy perspective to be more supportive of agtech,” Day said.
The innovation challenge hopes to publish the white paper in December.
In addition to the Yield Lab Institute and UNEP, collaborators and sponsors for the Sustainable Agtech Challenge include agriculture organization Fontagro, innovation laboratory IDB Lab and Amazon Web Services.
