GlobalSF So Future Grand Challenge
The GlobalSF So Future Grand Challenge is for entrepreneurs and companies from around the world to propose solutions to urban food system challenges in the San Francisco Bay Area with the potential for global scale.
GlobalSF-Nestlé Waste Reduction “Pop-up” Pilot
Explore the future of shopping with Nestlé and GlobalSF to shape a waste-free future. The “pop-up” waste reduction pilot includes consumer-friendly refill prototypes to identify innovative solutions to help consumers and businesses reduce the impact of packaging on the environment.
Nestlé in partnership with selected startups, Purcell and TURN, will identify through first-hand observation what shoppers are truly looking for in the refill space.
Recognizing the need for developing a circular economy, Nestlé is committed to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 focusing on three core areas: eliminate non-recyclable plastics; encourage the use of plastics that allow better recycling rates; and eliminate or change complex combinations of packaging materials.
The Future of Shopping Pilot at The Market in San Francisco.
The Market - 1355 Market Street, Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94103
What is the Grand Challenge?
The Challenge offers global recognition and fosters growth and new opportunities for international startups in the SF Bay Area. For 2021, GlobalSF and Nestle will partner to select startups solving food and plastic waste challenges.
The UN estimates around one third of global food production (1.6B tons of food, worth an estimated $1.2T) is wasted every year, while sustainable packaging solutions are expected to be worth $440B by 2025.
Nestle and GlobalSF are looking to identify new business models that help consumers and businesses reuse packaging and pilot refill systems and waste reduction solutions in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Selected companies will receive a $10,000 cash prize from Nestle to test their solutions in San Francisco, and GlobalSF will provide global expansion, acceleration, and investment opportunities for one full year.
If you are a sustainable packaging startup aiming to minimize food and plastic waste, we encourage you to apply!
About GlobalSF-Nestlé Waste Reduction Pilot
Recognizing the need for developing a circular economy, Nestlé is committed to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 focusing on three core areas: eliminate non-recyclable plastics; encourage the use of plastics that allow better recycling rates; and eliminate or change complex combinations of packaging materials.
Nestlé and GlobalSF will identify consumer-friendly refill prototypes to be tested in a real-life pop-up shop. Nestle and participating startups can identify through first-hand observation what shoppers are truly looking for in the refill space.
How to participate?
GlobalSF So Future Grand Challenge application is now closed.
Send us a message by emailing Laura Jenkins, Director of Partnerships at ljenkins@globalsf.biz
GlobalSF Grand Challenge Partners
GlobalSF Grand Challenge Impact
The annual GlobalSF So:Future Grand Challenge, in partnership with the City and County of San Francisco and the State of California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), provides an opportunity for companies to make a global impact while expanding to Northern California.
Aligned with the UN Food Systems Summit to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the 2021 Challenge focuses on attracting companies with solutions to transform urban food systems to be sustainable, equitable, healthy, and resilient.
Committee Members
Sara Ahmed Holman
Startups across different funding stages provide solutions to urban food systems
COVID-19 has revealed massive inefficiency, vulnerability, social inequities, and waste throughout the global food system. California is the largest in the U.S. and the world’s 5th largest food and agriculture producer, and the agrifood sector is a $7.8 trillion industry. By 2050, the global population is estimated to reach 10 billion, with over two thirds of the population living in cities. These challenges offer a massive opportunity for innovators to find transformative urban food system solutions.
The San Francisco Bay Area offers both the ideal challenge and set of resources for companies seeking global scale and impact, while urban food system change is a unique lever to address environmental sustainability, equity, human health, and resilient economic growth.
GlobalSF calls for applications from innovators with solutions that can achieve significant impact, be implemented locally in the Bay Area, and have ability and aspiration to scale to other global cities.