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1Aug

Launch of the 2019/2020 SUN Pitch Competition

The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network, in collaboration with key partners, has launched the second edition of the SUN Pitch Competition for 2019/2020.

The SUN Pitch Competition will support innovative solutions for improved nutrition by connecting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets with technical assistance and investment opportunities through a series of National SUN Pitch Competitions leading up to the Global SUN Pitch Competition.

On the launch of the 2019/2020 SUN Pitch Competition, Jonathan Tench, Global Coordinator, SUN Business Network says: “This year’s SUN Pitch Competition promises to harness the innovations of over 1,000 SMEs from over 20 SUN Countries across Africa and Asia to address one of the world’s greatest challenges – to reduce the global burden of malnutrition. If we’re going to have any chance of doing this we’re going to need to invest in the new ideas coming from businesses in emerging markets to make safe, nutritious food affordable and available for all”. 

Through the SUN Pitch Competition, the SUN Business Network aims to showcase a deal flow of nutrition related investments from SMEs that can catalyse innovation in local food systems and improve the affordability and accessibility of nutritious and safe foods for low income consumers across Africa and Asia.

The SUN Business Network is calling for business associations, accelerators and investors to partner with the network and provide support to the most promising applications.

Building on the success of the 2018 SUN Pitch Competition, this year’s competition aims to distill the current global discourse on food innovation to challenge and support SMEs to identify and scale up disruptive, appropriate and commercially viable innovations that can improve the availability of affordable nutritious foods. The competition will focus on identifying SMEs that can provide big, inspiring and disruptive investment solutions for improving nutrition, to respond to one of the following food system innovation challenges:

  1. Food Design: How can your business offer an innovative solution to develop or introduce new, affordable and nutritious products for local vulnerable populations?
  2. Post-Harvest Loss Reduction: How can your business offer an innovative solution to reduce post-harvest losses along the supply chain and ensure the retention of nutrients in nutritious food? 
  3. Market Connectivity: How can your business offer an innovative solution to improve the linkage between the supply, demand and distribution of affordable nutritious food to especially remote populations? 
  4. Food Safety: How can your business offer an innovative solution to ensure food safety along the supply chain to improve the local consumption of safe and nutritious food? 

Applications for National SUN Pitch Competitions will open over the course of the coming weeks. All shortlisted finalists from national competitions will participate in a 3-month global acceleration programme prior to competing for a range of technical assistance and cash prizes generously contributed by our partners at the Global SUN Pitch Competition in April 2020. Participants will be judged against seven selection criteria; innovation, nutrition impact, socio-economic impact, commercial viability, scale, affordability and adaptability.

Keep up to date on the SUN Pitch Competition Website and follow us on Twitter @SUNBizNet

Find out more about the winner of the 2018 SUN Pitch Competition and SBN’s Nutrition Champion, Ope Olanrewaju!