The XPRIZE Prize Operations Platform (POP) is the central portal for competing teams during the life cycle of the prize. POP is a virtual system that allows competing teams to interact with each other and with the XPRIZE Prize Operations team.

POP is mostly used for finding team members, completing prize activities, and submitting documents for registration and testing.

The competition is structured into three main rounds: the Technical Submission Round, the Semifinals Round, and the Finals Round. The competition launched in December 2020 and is set to conclude in early 2024.

Teams can be formed by anyone, anywhere. They are often startups, university groups, small to midsize companies, high school students, families, or even individuals. Teams can have any background, including but not limited to scientific and/or technical disciplines such as food science or biochemistry, cellular agriculture, 3D printing, extrusion technology, fermentation, tissue engineering and others. We believe the best new ideas can come from anyone!

Follow the competition at xprize.org/feed, by subscribing to our newsletter, or joining the XPRIZE Community.

We welcome partners throughout all phases of the competition, whether you want to help recruit teams, support team success, secure an XPRIZE speaker or expert for your event, help scale winning solutions, or assist with testing operations. Contact feedthenextbillion@xprize.org to learn more.

The Winning Team will:

The winning team will develop multiple consistent cuts of chicken breast or fish fillet alternatives (85-115 grams / 3-4 ounces) that replicate the sensory properties, structure, versatility, and nutritional profile of conventional chicken or fish, while having a lower environmental footprint.

A bonus prize will be awarded to the team that develops a whole animal-origin-free growth media at the lowest production cost.

A $7,000,000 (USD) Grand Prize will be awarded to the team that develops the most innovative and practical solution that meets or exceeds the requirements of the competition.

The Second Place Team will be awarded $2,000,000 (USD) and the Third Place Team will be awarded $1,000,000 according to the Judging Panel’s discretion.

Following the recruitment phase, XPRIZE judges will assess all Technical Submissions to select the top 30 teams, with the group evenly splitting a Semifinal Prize of $500,000. These funds are intended to help offset costs associated with early solution development and for travel to Semifinal Testing locations.

A Finalist Prize purse in the amount of $2,500,000 (USD) will be shared equally between up to 10 Finalist Teams whose solutions are selected to advance to Final Testing.

A Bonus Prize of $2,000,000 (USD) will be awarded to acknowledge the breakthrough achievement of the team that develops an animal-origin-free growth medium at the lowest production cost.

Total Prize Purse: $15,000,000
Round 3 (Grand Prize): $7,000,000
Round 3 (Second Place): $2,000,000
Round 3 (Third Place): $1,000,000
Bonus Prize: $2,000,000
Round 2 Finalist Prize: $2,500,000(split between up to 10 teams)
Round 1 Semifinalist Prize: $500,000 (split between up to 30 teams)

In 2019, XPRIZE released the Future of Food Impact Roadmap, which identified “Alternative Proteins at Scale” as one of 12 key breakthroughs needed to advance Food Systems. Around that time, XPRIZE convened a consortium of Sponsors and Benefactors consisting of: ASPIRE, the dedicated technology program management pillar of the Abu Dhabi Government’s Advanced Technology Research Council, The Tony Robbins Foundation, and an Anonymous Sponsor to support the design and launch of XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion. As a sponsor group, they played a key role in advising on the competition design and with their continued partnership with XPRIZE to address the need for alternative proteins at-scale and visibility to the competition.