UN Food and Agriculture Organization Data for Farm Value Global Challenge

The FAO and the University of Helsinki's Viikki Food Design Factory have launched the Global Data for Farm Value Challenge to support startups using farm-level data in innovative ways. The goal is to unlock value for smallholder farmers, who often generate key insights but are left out of the data-driven agrifood economy.

📖 About the Challenge

The connection between agricultural data and smallholder farmers needs to be strengthened. This challenge seeks fair business models that include smallholder farmers in compensation mechanisms within the agrifood data ecosystem.

Startups are invited to:

• Develop scalable digital solutions that structure farm-level data in a usable and commonly used format.
• Create or propose business models where farmers are included and fairly compensated for their data contributions.
• Facilitate the integration of farm-level data into supply chain, sustainability, and market access platforms.
• Design transparent mechanisms enabling farmers to sell or trade data while maintaining ownership.
• Connect farm-level data with broader public and private sector initiatives to drive sustainability and economic value across the value chain.

🗓 Opportunity Details

• Date Published: August 7, 2025
• Application Deadline: August 25, 2025
• Category: Entrepreneurs
• Opportunity Locations: Finland, Italy
• Sponsor Organisation: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

🎁 Benefits

Participants in the challenge will receive the following benefits:

• Workshops on pitching and product-market fit for data-focused startups.
• Networking opportunities in the agrifood innovation ecosystem, spanning the UN, public and private sectors, and academia.
• Opportunity for 10 startups to pitch on stage at the FAO's Science and Innovation Forum (SIF) in Rome on October 16, 2025.
• Access to the World Food Forum during FAO's 80th anniversary celebrations.
• The top 4 startups from the SIF pitchers will pitch at Y Science, a side event of Slush, in Helsinki on November 19, 2025.
• A free ticket to Slush for the 4 finalists.
• A cash prize of €5,000 for the winner of the pitching competition.
• Access to the Data Refinery, a joint initiative by FAO and the University of Helsinki's Viikki Food Design Factory, including access to valuable datasets from FAO and partners.
• Mentoring with FAO's global digital agriculture and data experts through 1:1 office hours.

✅ Eligibility Criteria

To participate in the challenge, startups must meet the following requirements:

• Be registered companies with a minimum team size of 2 people, working at least 50% of their working hours on the solution.
• Have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) between 3-7 (Proof of Concept to Approved Prototype).
• Be at a funding level of at least pre-seed funding and at most Series A funded, with annual revenue not exceeding €500K/year.
• Startups can be located anywhere in the world.
• Be available and have funds to attend the FAO Science and Innovation Forum in Rome, Italy, on October 16, 2025, and (for the selected four pitching finalists) the Y Science and Slush events on November 18-20, 2025, in Helsinki, Finland.
• All submissions, presentations, and communications must be in English.

📝 Application Process

• Visit the UN FAO Global Data for Farm Value Challenge Application Portal to apply.
• Ensure all required information is submitted before the application deadline.

⏳ Application Deadline

August 25, 2025

🌟 Additional Information

For more details, visit the UN FAO Global Data for Farm Value Challenge page.

Apply directly through the UN FAO Application Portal.

• Workshops on pitching and product-market fit related to data-focused startups
• Networking opportunities in the agrifood innovation ecosystem spanning the UN, public and private sectors, and academia
• Opportunity for 10 startups to pitch on stage at the FAO's Science and Innovation Forum (SIF) in Rome on October 16, 2025
• Access to the World Food Forum during FAO's 80th anniversary celebrations.
• The top 4 startups from the SIF pitchers will pitch at Y Science, a side event of Slush, in Helsinki on November 19, 2025
• A free ticket to Slush for the 4 finalists
• A cash prize of 5,000 euros for the winner of the pitching competition.
• Access to the Data Refinery, a joint initiative by FAO and the University of Helsinki's Vikki Food Design Factory including accessing and using valuable data sets from FAO and partners
• Mentoring with FAO's global digital agriculture and data experts through 1:1 office hours