United Nations World Food Programme

The WFP Innovation Accelerator was launched by the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme in 2015 to source new ideas, sprint pilot projects, and scale high-impact innovations by connecting them with WFP’s global network in over 120 countries and territories. From its base in Munich, Germany, the WFP Innovation Accelerator has grown to become one of the world's leading social impact startup accelerators. Together with the network of WFP regional innovation hubs and country office innovation teams, portfolio ventures and with the support of our partners, in 2023 the WFP Innovation Accelerator ran 14 programmes addressing a wide range of social impact and sustainability issues, including climate change, primary healthcare, gender equality, and emergency response. What we do We help innovators sprint from idea to impact Our Sprint Programme is an intense six-month acceleration programme that helps innovators and start-ups reach proof-of-concept and develop prototypes ready for implementation. Apply for access to US $100,000 in funding, world-class mentors, results-driven programming, and WFP’s vast field operations. We enable the scale-up of high-impact innovations Our Scale-Up Enablement Programme enables the rapid scale up of high-impact innovations by providing tailored strategic planning, fundraising, communications, knowledge management and mentorship support. We scale up innovations that have the potential to significantly disrupt hunger by improving the livelihoods of millions of people, increasing efficiency and effectiveness across multiple countries. We explore game-changing frontier innovations New technologies are rapidly developing and deeply transforming our lives and the world, including in the area of humanitarian aid. Our Frontier Innovations Programme explores game-changing innovations and new technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, edge computing and robotics to help humanitarians deliver on their mandate more effectively. We provide a platform for innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals WFP is committed to strengthening global partnerships that deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. Our Innovation Services Programme creates custom acceleration programmes, innovation journeys and ecosystem building activities with other United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, foundations and private sector organisations. Our goal is to drive systemic change through working together.