PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Air Protein, a modern food company which makes meat from CO2 and renewable energy, has received the Technology Pioneer Designation for its contributions in the field of food technology.
Air Protein, a Bay Area based sustainable food tech company, has been chosen from hundreds of applicants as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. Air Protein, a spin-off of the sustainability tech company Kiverdi, made their first chicken analog from CO2 in 2019 and has been on a course to transform the animal agriculture industry by introducing consumers to hyper-local, sustainably made, nutritious, traceable meat.
“We’re excited to welcome Air Protein to our 20th cohort of Technology Pioneers,” says Susan Nesbitt, Head of the Global Innovators Community, World Economic Forum. “Air Protein and its fellow pioneers are developing cutting edge technologies all over the world. Beyond their innovations, these firms are contributing greatly to improving the state of the world.”
Companies in the incoming Technology Pioneer cohort are at the frontier of industries like artificial intelligence, the internet of things, robotics, blockchain, biotechnology and other emerging STEM fields. The diversity is not limited to the fields in which they redefine their technology— the leadership in the Technology Pioneer companies represents an incredible variety of nationalities and cultures, and over a quarter of the finalists are companies founded and led by women. Selected finalists hail from around the world and are bringing revolutionary tech to communities beyond Sand Hill Road. The full list of Technology Pioneers can be found here.
Following the receipt of this prestigious award, Air Protein founder and CEO Dr. Lisa Dyson will be invited to enlist at World Economic Forum events, discussions and activities. Air Protein will also lend their expertise to the Forum over their two-year term as a Technology Pioneer and advise leaders across the public and private sector on issues relating to sustainable food production, world hunger and food technology.
"We are proud to join the other Technology Pioneers in the World Economic Forum," said Dr. Dyson. "With the world population set to reach 10 billion by 2050, we are committed to finding a way to sustainably feed the future with nutritious air-based meat. Our goal is to transform how we approach the way we produce food in a manner that is more in harmony with our planet. We're excited to work with the World Economic Forum and other Technology Pioneers to advance our understanding of the future of ultra-sustainable foods."
Leveraging a decade’s worth of research, the Bay Area based startup has been building an ecosystem of relationships with retailers, food service operators, chefs, and major food companies that are ready to champion the future of meat. One such partnership includes Kitchen Town, a Silicon Valley based accelerator of food tech startups. Rusty Schwartz, Kitchen Town founder and CEO stated, ”Air Protein's effort to reverse climate change is one of the most ambitious scientific inventions of our time.”
The 2020 Technology Pioneer cohort marks two decades of the World Economic Forum awarding companies for their innovations in technology. Many of the Technology Pioneer alumni continue to shift and push boundaries in their industries; past award recipients include Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Palantir Technologies, Spotify, TransferWise, Twitter and Wikimedia.
The 2020 Technology Pioneers were awarded based on their innovation, community impact and leadership, as well as their alignment with the World Economic Forum's Platforms.
All info on this year’s Technology Pioneers can be found here: http://wef.ch/techpioneers20
More information on past winners, information on the community and the application link can be found here.
About Air Protein: Air Protein makes air-based meat to sustainably feed the future. (www.airprotein.com)
About World Economic Forum: The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).
About the Global Innovators:
The Global Innovators Community is a group of the world’s most promising start-ups and scale-ups that are at the forefront of technological and business model innovation. The World Economic Forum provides the Global Innovators Community with a platform to engage with public- and private-sector leaders and to contribute new solutions to overcome current crises and build future resiliency.
Companies who are invited to become Global Innovators will engage with one or more of the Forum’s Platforms, as relevant, to help define the global agenda on key issues.