Representatives from 26 startups participated in IFT’s pitch competition to find the best startup.

The final day of the IFT FIRST Annual Event and Expo included The Pitch, a pitch competition at the Startup Pavilion. Representatives from 26 startups around the world gave their sixty-second pitch and competed for the title of Best Startup of IFT FIRST 2022.

The winner of the competition was Equinom, a food-tech company based in the United States and Israel. Equinom supplies plant-based ingredients to a variety of manufacturers with nutrition built into the seeds of the ingredient. Galit Fenreich, chief marketing officer, presented the startup to the audience and accepted the title of Best Startup of IFT FIRST 2022.

The following list includes all 26 startups that participated in The Pitch: Alchemeat, Antithesis Foods, Apparo, B.T. Sweet, CANE’d, Cella Farms, Dvash Organics, Equinom, Evergrain Ingredients, Green Era, Innovafead, Lemnature Aquafarms, Levelle, MycoLogic, Nutraberry, Otrafy, Paragon Pure, Planetarians, Prodigest, QALIPRO, Terviva, Thimus, Upcycled Foods, Vegify, Victory Hemp Foods.

The products and services presented ranged from fermented grain flour to women-focused sports nutrition to anaerobic food digesters. Following the pitch presentations, audience members voted for who they believed had the best pitch and represented the best startup. There were 177 unique votes tallied to determine the winner.

The Startup Pavilion was a part of the Business FIRST programming at the IFT FIRST event, which featured presentations and panels on ingredient trends, innovation, startup tips, and other business strategies. The Pitch was sponsored by Catapult Commercialization Services, Upcycled Food Association, and Schreiber Foods.

By winning the pitch competition, Equinom will receive substantial social media coverage from IFT and other outlets, a feature in the September issue of Food Technology magazine, and a six-month group membership to IFT.

‍