The systems that feed the world are under increasing strain. Climate change has made extreme weather more common, leading to less predictable growing seasons. Supply chains remain vulnerable to disruption, and a recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warns that land degradation and water scarcity are placing significant constraints on global agriculture. Yet demand continues to rise.
Challenges of this scale and complexity demand equally ambitious solutions. Across the innovation ecosystem, entrepreneurs are rethinking how food is grown, processed, distributed, and sustained. Drawing on advances in biology, engineering, artificial intelligence, and materials science, they are developing new approaches to some of the food system’s most persistent problems, working toward more efficient, sustainable ways to feed a growing world.
Here are 10 ventures and leaders from the VentureWell network helping shape the future of food.
Dirigo Sea Farm: Turning Ocean Crops Into Sustainable Materials
In Maine, Dirigo Sea Farm is turning farmed kelp into biomaterials designed to replace plastics at scale while helping build domestic demand for aquaculture-grown seaweed. Beyond its potential as a sustainable material, kelp is a remarkably versatile crop used in food products, animal feed, and fertilizer, and it has a growing range of consumer and industrial applications. As kelp grows, it naturally absorbs carbon and excess nutrients from surrounding waters, with seaweed farms helping to improve water quality while buffering the effects of ocean acidification.
The venture offers a compelling example of place-based innovation and the value of working alongside local farmers. “Aquaculture is now getting quite a bit of momentum in our state as a really viable alternative either to supplement traditional fisheries or [to operate] independently as aquaculture farmers on their own,” said founder Alexa McGovern. “Aquaculture is incredible because most of the species we’re farming in Maine are really beneficial for the environment as well.”
A participant in VentureWell’s Ocean Enterprise Accelerator, Dirigo Sea Farm reflects a broader shift in food systems innovation, where agriculture, environmental stewardship, and economic opportunity converge. The company’s work is a prime example of how a single crop can strengthen local economies while supporting healthier coastal ecosystems.
Earnest Agriculture: Bringing Soil Science to the Field
Managing agricultural waste can be costly and labor-intensive for farmers. Earnest Agriculture, a National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps™ participant and VentureWell E-Team Program and Aspire Climatetech alum, is addressing this challenge by converting waste—such as manure—into biofertilizer using patented bioreactor technology and proprietary microbes.
Founded by Eddy Mejia, a U.S. Army veteran and entrepreneur, and Dr. Gabe Price, a microbial ecologist who has spent more than a decade studying how microbes help crops thrive, Earnest Agriculture is translating scientific research into practical tools farmers can adopt without changing how they operate.
The results are promising. In 2024, the company reported an average yield increase of 5.2% across trial sites. For farmers facing rising input costs and tighter margins, that number is significant. It also shows what becomes possible when microbial ecology research moves from the lab to the field.
Farmers for Forests (F4F): Supporting Farmers, Restoring Forests
Restoring forest ecosystems at scale is often framed as a conservation challenge, but in rural India, Farmers for Forests (F4F) is approaching it as an agricultural and livelihoods challenge as well. The venture works with farmers to restore and protect biodiverse forest landscapes while expanding economic opportunity.
F4F’s community-led agroforestry model recognizes the close connection between climate resilience and rural economic opportunity. By aligning ecological restoration with local incentives, the organization helps farmers regenerate forest ecosystems that protect biodiversity and strengthen long-term land resilience. Their approach recognizes farmers as both food producers and environmental stewards whose work supports healthy ecosystems and thriving communities.
F4F participated in the Moonshots for Development Open Innovation Challenge Bootcamp, which is managed by VentureWell in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and helps advance practical, locally grounded solutions to climate and development challenges.
What if environmental restoration and production were part of the same system? What if resilience began with making better use of what we already have?
HydroPhos Solutions: Recovering Critical Nutrients From Waste
Phosphorus is essential for agriculture. Every living thing needs it, yet there is no substitute, and economically recoverable reserves are concentrated in a handful of countries. E-Team Program alum HydroPhos Solutions is responding with filtration technology that captures phosphorus from wastewater and returns it to agricultural use. The result is a circular system that reduces nutrient runoff while creating a new source of fertilizer.
The idea emerged after the company’s co-founders began studying the environmental impacts of excess nutrients in waterways. “We’re basically kind of closing the loop on taking phosphorus from a place where it’s very harmful and it’s a contaminant in our waterways and bringing it to where we do need it—to feed our population,” said co-founder Daisy Burns in an interview with NH Business Review.
HydroPhos’ efforts are rooted in the belief that the future of food security is not just about producing more but about using existing resources more effectively. In this case, part of the answer is already in the water.
Sadan Kulturel-Konak and Elizabeth Deimeke: Building Stronger Food Access Networks
Food system challenges are often framed as production problems, but for many communities, access remains a major barrier. Through VentureWell’s Ecosystem Futures Fellowship, Dr. Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor at Pennsylvania State University–Berks, and Elizabeth Deimeke, professor at Clark Atlanta University, are strengthening connections among universities, community organizations, food banks, and researchers to improve food distribution systems and, in turn, food security.
Earlier this year, Kulturel-Konak helped organize the Food Security and Access for Healthy Futures Symposium, which brought together more than 80 researchers, data experts, and community leaders to identify barriers to food access and develop collaborative solutions.
“This is the kind of ecosystem we need to build,” Kulturel-Konak said. “One where collaboration is not performative, but deeply rooted in trust, mutual learning, and shared response.”
The fellows’ approach underscores that food insecurity is as much a relational challenge as it is a technical one, requiring solutions that account for both.
OpCo: Modernizing Food Operations
Many food businesses still rely on fragmented systems and manual workflows. VentureWell FLIPspace participant OpCo is building operational technology designed to reduce inefficiencies across food distribution and related industries, with a focus on improving communication between enterprise systems.
Drawing on founder Philip Sambol’s two decades of experience across for-profit and nonprofit food ventures, the company is building vertical AI tools for complex food businesses—from logistics to bookkeeping—where data is often siloed, disconnected, and slow to move. Those gaps can delay decisions and create costly inefficiencies, ultimately making it difficult to move food through the supply chain.
OpCo’s work to modernize the systems underpinning food businesses speaks to a familiar constraint in the industry: too much time spent managing systems and too little time moving food where it is needed.
Shinkei Systems: Increasing Efficiency From Water to Market
Seafood is one of the world’s most valuable protein sources, yet much of its value can be lost within hours of harvest. A significant share is degraded or discarded before reaching consumers due to inefficiencies across the harvest-to-market chain. VentureWell E-Team Program and Aspire Climatetech alum Shinkei Systems is focused on one of the most overlooked points in that chain: what happens on the boat.
Founded by Saif Khawaja, Shinkei Systems is developing robotic automation that streamlines fish processing at sea, helping producers improve consistency with less strain. Its technology applies at scale the Japanese “ike jime” technique for humanely dispatching fish, preserving quality from the moment of harvest while taking some of the physical pressure off workers.
By combining robotics, software, and real-time data collection, Shinkei is improving visibility across a historically opaque part of the supply chain. The company sits at the intersection of efficiency and quality in global food systems innovation, building toward more resilient supply chains while reducing what is lost between water and plate—and improving what makes it through.
SunCulture: Expanding Access for Smallholder Farmers
For hundreds of millions of farmers worldwide, the difference between a successful harvest and a failed one often comes down to water. Across sub-Saharan Africa, unreliable rainfall and limited irrigation infrastructure leave farmers vulnerable. SunCulture was founded on the premise that access to water should not depend entirely on the weather. The company combines solar-powered irrigation systems, flexible financing, and support services to help smallholder farmers increase yields while adapting to unpredictable climate conditions.
What began as a startup is now one of the most influential agricultural technology companies in the region. SunCulture serves farmers across multiple African markets and holds more than 70% market share in the smallholder solar irrigation segment in sub-Saharan Africa. The company, a VentureWell Xcelerator participant, has been recognized by TIME Magazine, the World Economic Forum, and Fast Company.
Founder Samir Ibrahim points to patience and discipline as foundational to their work: “Solving big problems takes time. Stay focused, even when the path gets hard. Always listen to the customer, co-create solutions with them, and focus on solving the root problem, not just offering a quick fix. Build trust, deliver real value, and the growth will follow.”
TRIC Robotics: Imagining a Future Beyond Pesticides
What if protecting crops no longer depended on chemical sprays? Agtech startup TRIC Robotics—an alum of the VentureWell E-Team Program, Aspire Climatetech, and NSF I-Corps™—is making that future a reality with autonomous robots that use ultraviolet (UV) light to control pathogens and pests. This means growers now have a chemical-free alternative for crop protection.
Rigorous customer discovery helped inform the company’s approach. “The farmers were dealing with significant uncertainty with their sprays,“ said co-founder and CEO Adam Stager, Ph.D., in an episode of the VentureWell Voices podcast. “They were spraying a lot of chemicals and weren’t getting a lot of effective control. They were also seeing a lot of regulatory pressure, and labor was also a big challenge.”
Those conversations shaped a robotic system that moves through fields at night, delivering precise doses of UV light where they’re needed most. What began as a golf cart-sized prototype has grown into tractor-scale robots that help farmers reduce pesticide use while improving crop health and yields. Following a $5.5 million seed round in 2025, TRIC Robotics is expanding its technology and demonstrating how robotics can help make agriculture more productive, sustainable, and resilient.
UPCYDE: Turning Agricultural Waste Into New Materials
In Thailand, UPCYDE is finding new uses for agricultural byproducts that might otherwise be discarded or burned. Founded by entrepreneur and designer Mild Karoon-ngampun, the company transforms materials such as fruit peels, banana fibers, and coffee grounds into plant-based materials, packaging, and other consumer products.
A Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) program participant, UPCYDE sits within a growing movement in food system innovation and the circular economy, where waste is treated as a resource rather than an inevitable byproduct. The impact is multifold: The company is creating new value from agricultural waste streams while generating economic opportunities for producers and local communities.
As concerns about food waste and resource efficiency continue to grow worldwide, ventures like UPCYDE demonstrate how design, biotechnology, and entrepreneurship can build more resilient systems.
New Questions for the Systems That Feed Us
What unites these innovation leaders across their varied disciplines and geographic contexts is their willingness to look at familiar systems and ask new questions. What if waste became a resource? What if environmental restoration and production were part of the same system? What if food security depended as much on connection as production? What if farmers had access to tools once reserved for large-scale operations? What if crop protection relied on light instead of chemicals? What if resilience began with making better use of what we already have?
The answers are still unfolding, and new questions will inevitably emerge. While no single innovation will transform food systems on its own, meaningful progress is happening across farms, coastlines, research institutions, fishing vessels, and communities around the world, as entrepreneurs apply scientific insight and creative thinking to strengthen the systems that sustain us. Their work points to a simple truth: The future of food will be defined not only by how much we produce, but by how thoughtfully we nourish what nourishes us.