Startup competition Future Food Asia rebrands as Future Fit Asia for 10th anniversary

Future Food Asia (FFA) said it will rebrand as Future Fit Asia in 2026, reflecting a broader focus on the links between food, human health, environmental integrity and long-term resilience. The milestone 10^th anniversary conference will take place on May 12-13, 2026 in Singapore.

Founded a decade ago as an agrifood technology startup competition, FFA said its mission has expanded as climate risk, ecosystem degradation, chronic disease and ageing populations have made food systems central to human and planetary well-being.

“Food systems can no longer be separated from health, climate and environmental stability,” said Isabelle Decitre, founder of ID Capital. “The systems that produce what we eat now also determine how long and how well people live. Future Fit Asia reflects that reality.”

Future Fit Asia will focus on what it calls “future-fit systems,” which are integrated food, health, environmental and biotechnology solutions designed to support longer, healthier lives while remaining resilient to climate and economic shocks.

At the center of Future Fit Asia 2026 will be a curated Innovation Challenge selecting 10 high-potential companies from across Asia-Pacific with clear agriculture or food relevance and system-level solutions spanning food, health, environment and biotechnology. The selected companies, all at or near revenue, will showcase their technologies and pitch to a highly curated audience of global investors and corporate partners.

A central theme of the 2026 program will be toxicity, referring to the accumulation of harmful chemicals and pollutants in food, soil, water and the human body, which has been linked to chronic disease, ecosystem decline and reduced human health. While climate change has attracted significant policy and investment attention, the Grantham Foundation said toxicity remains a comparable but under-addressed risk.

A flagship component of the program will be the Grantham Foundation Detox Awards, delivered with Deep Science Ventures and backed by the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. The awards will provide US$90,000 in catalytic non-dilutive funding to support breakthrough solutions that reduce or eliminate toxicity in human and natural systems. The Detox Awards are open to both startups and academic teams.

The 10^th anniversary edition will bring together investors, scientists, policy makers and entrepreneurs in Singapore to explore technologies shaping the next generation of food, health and environmental systems.

Further details, including speakers and program highlights, will be announced in the coming months.

SparkUp is BusinessWorld’s multimedia brand created to inform, inspire, and empower the Philippine startups; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and future business leaders. This section will be published every other Monday. For pitches and releases about startups, e-mail to [email protected] (cc: [email protected]). Materials sent become BW property.